Legal, FICC - Structured Finance, Mortgages Attorney, Vice President, New York or Dallas

Goldman Sachs•Dallas, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Legal Department seeks an experienced attorney to join the Structured Finance and Mortgages legal team as counsel to the residential mortgage loan trading desk. The attorney will be the primary legal point of contact for negotiating, drafting, and executing whole loan purchase and sale documentation across residential mortgage loan types in bulk, flow, and co-issue transactions. The position involves daily, hands-on partnership with the trading desk, loan management, consumer compliance, and other internal control functions to move transactions from bid to closing efficiently while managing legal and regulatory risk. It is a highly visible role for an attorney who can own transactions end-to-end in a fast-moving trading environment and work directly with senior business leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing in at least one state.
At least 4 years of relevant transaction-based legal experience, with substantial experience in residential mortgage whole loan trading, mortgage securitization, or related structured finance or consumer lending practice at a top-tier law firm, bank, or non-bank mortgage originator or aggregator.
Strong working knowledge of residential mortgage products, including first lien, second lien/HELOC, non-QM, jumbo, agency-eligible, and non-performing or re-performing loans.
Working knowledge of consumer financial protection laws and regulations, including TILA, RESPA, ECOA, HMDA, the CFPB ATR/QM rule, state licensing and usury regimes, and GSE/Ginnie Mae requirements.
Proven ability to manage multiple time-sensitive transactions simultaneously in a high-volume trading desk environment.
Excellent judgment, strong business acumen, and ability to provide clear, pragmatic, risk-calibrated advice directly to trading and business personnel under time pressure.
Exceptional drafting, negotiation, and communication skills, with ability to build trusted relationships across Trading, Compliance, Risk, Operations, and senior management.
High degree of independence, ownership, and accountability; comfortable operating with a desk-lawyer mentality embedded in a commercial business.
Adept at developing interpersonal relationships.

Responsibilities

Lead negotiation and drafting of Mortgage Loan Purchase Agreements, flow sale and forward purchase agreements, and related ancillary documentation across residential whole loan asset classes.
Serve as primary deal counsel to the residential whole loan trading desk, advising on deal structuring, pricing mechanics, representations and warranties, repurchase and make-whole remedies, and loan-level due diligence issues.
Partner with loan management and operations on loan boarding, custodial and bailee arrangements, servicing transfers, document exception management, and post-closing loan file remediation.
Coordinate with consumer compliance and Fair Lending/Regulatory teams to support compliance with applicable federal and state consumer protection laws and investor and agency eligibility requirements.
Advise on representations, warranties, and repurchase frameworks, including defect taxonomy, loan-level and pool-level remedies, indemnification triggers, and dispute resolution mechanics.
Manage outside counsel on specialized or high-volume documentation projects, ensuring quality, consistency, and cost efficiency.
Support due diligence processes with third-party diligence providers, the trading desk, and legal, including loan file review scope, exception grids, and risk acceptance decisions.
Draft and negotiate master agreements with repeat counterparties, including originators, aggregators, GSEs, and institutional buyers and sellers.
Monitor legal and regulatory developments affecting the residential whole loan market and advise the business proactively on their impact.
Collaborate with tax, controllers, and technology on transaction structuring, new product approvals, and process improvements.
Assist with internal policies and playbooks for whole loan transaction execution, escalation protocols, and training materials for business partners.