Senior Counsel - Product (UK & EU)

Kraken

2d • Remote

About The Position

Payward’s Product Legal team is embedded with Kraken’s Product, Design, and Engineering teams to help develop and launch products that advance the adoption of crypto. The team comprises product lawyers with traditional financial services, fintech, and crypto backgrounds and partners directly with product teams to provide commercially accountable legal advice and clear, defensible paths to launch.

The Senior Counsel role is based in the UK or EU and sits within the Consumer Legal team. The role partners with teams developing consumer products and experiences, including crypto trading, earn, payments, on-chain integrations, equities, and tokenised equities. Reporting to the Head of Consumer Legal, the Senior Counsel works closely with Product, Design, and Engineering to shape and ship products. The position calls for a hands-on lawyer with product development instincts, regulatory fluency, negotiation skills, and a crypto-forward mindset. Curiosity, flexibility, and a bias for action at the intersection of crypto and traditional global markets are important.

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer: Solicitor of England and Wales, Irish Solicitor, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State.
• At least 5 years’ post-qualification experience in financial services law, gained at a regulated financial services firm, crypto services provider, or in private practice.
• Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills, including crisp plain-English writing.
• Ability to efficiently and confidently explain complex legal and regulatory issues to non-lawyers and product stakeholders.
• A pragmatic, commercially accountable approach to legal and regulatory risk, with the ability to provide options and clear recommendations.
• Authentic interest in crypto and familiarity with Kraken’s and competitors’ apps and products.

Nice To Haves

• Direct product counselling experience.
• Experience advising on regulated MiFID investment services.
• Familiarity with crypto-asset regulatory regimes, including MiCA, AMLD5, UK financial promotions, and/or e-money regulations.
• Expertise in MiCA requirements applicable to crypto-asset service providers, including brokerage, custody, and operation of trading platforms.
• Expertise in the UK crypto-asset financial promotions regime and proposals for an incoming authorisation regime for crypto-asset service providers.
• Expertise in MiFID frameworks applicable to investment services, including derivatives, equities, funds, and emerging tokenised financial instruments.
• Familiarity with AI tools such as Enterprise GPTs to improve the efficiency of legal services and create custom GPTs that enable stakeholders to self-serve on commoditised legal and regulatory queries.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Product, Design, and Engineering teams to shape and ship consumer products and experiences.
• Provide legal and regulatory advice on consumer products, including crypto trading, earn, payments, on-chain integrations, equities, and tokenised equities.
• Distill complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyers and product stakeholders.
• Assess legal and regulatory risk pragmatically and commercially, offering stakeholders useful options and clear recommendations to decision-makers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed