Senior Product Counsel - Payments

Column • San Francisco, CA

1d • $210,000 - $300,000

About The Position

For companies building financial technology and transforming the financial services space, the biggest bottleneck to their growth and innovation is often the underlying banks and infrastructure stack they rely on. We have spent our careers founding and scaling companies like Plaid, Square, Meta, Blend, and Affirm, and have seen this problem firsthand — builders and developers needing to partner with traditional banks, and creating API and abstraction layers over the patchwork that is the bank, its core, and many other vendors. All of this results in a complex (and often expensive) banking supply chain involving a user, fintech, BaaS middleware provider, bank, core and the Federal Reserve. At Column, we set out to simplify and fix this. We are a bank and a software company built from the ground up, offering builders and developers technology-forward banking solutions that cut out the hundreds of vendors, middleware providers, and abstraction layers. This means a safer, more transparent, and less costly banking supply chain. Come build with us!

The Opportunity As a Senior Product Counsel supporting Column’s Payments business, you will be responsible for providing strategic counsel for Column’s payments partnerships, working with our fintech partners to launch bank accounts, wallets, card programs, real-time payments, remittance programs, global money movement products, enhanced deposit insurance, sweep products, and payment processing capabilities. This isn’t a role where you’ll be toiling in obscurity – you’ll be a key strategic partner working directly with Go-to-Market, Engineering, Compliance, Risk, and Finance teams to drive product development and expansion. Your unique perspective, drawn from past experience launching products, will be invaluable as we navigate complex global regulatory environments while maintaining our competitive edge. Unlike many in-house counsel positions, this role offers true ownership. You’ll be the key decision-maker on product legal strategy, with direct access to leadership and the ability to shape Column’s approach to regulatory compliance and product development. Each fintech partnership is an opportunity to design new banking products, and you’ll not only have a seat at the table, you’ll be responsible for driving strategy and execution from start to finish. In connection with these launches, you will work closely with fintech partners, making this a hands-on and customer-facing role. You’ll collaborate with our partners to navigate card network rules, NACHA guidelines, global licensing regimes, and funds-flow requirements to build compliant, scalable payment solutions on Column’s platform. When our fintech partners approach us with rapid-fire ideas for new features, delivery channels, product structures, and UX changes, you will be the one to work closely with them to chart a path to launch. You will move fast, with bank-grade rigor and fintech-level speed. This role reports directly to the Bank’s General Counsel.

Requirements

• Currently licensed in a U.S. state, J.D. or equivalent, with 7–15+ years as a practicing lawyer; priority given to candidates with both law firm experience and in-house experience at a fintech and/or a financial institution.
• Deep expertise counseling product teams on banking infrastructure and embedded finance solutions, with particular depth in payments, money transmission, and money-movement regulatory frameworks.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory framework governing banking partnerships and fintech services.
• Familiarity with NACHA rules, card network operating regulations, Regulation E, UCC Article 4A, BSA/AML requirements, and OFAC sanctions frameworks as they apply to payment products.
• Experience advising on payment processing agreements, funds-flow structures, settlement mechanics, and chargeback/dispute frameworks.
• Comfort working at the intersection of law and technology — you can read an API spec, understand a funds-flow diagram, and translate technical architecture into legal risk assessment.

Responsibilities

• Drive Product Strategy & Innovation: Be the strategic legal voice enabling product innovation across our payments portfolio. Partner closely with business teams and fintech partners from ideation through launch, anticipating challenges and architecting creative solutions that balance business needs with regulatory requirements. Advise on the legal and operational implications of new payment rails, transaction types, and money-movement features.
• Own Regulatory Architecture: Build and evolve regulatory frameworks for existing and new products. Leverage your deep expertise in Reg E, NACHA rules, card network rules, money transmission, TISA, Reg CC, UCC Article 4A, and the evolving frameworks for real-time payments. Partner with compliance and risk teams to develop scalable approaches that protect the business while enabling growth.
• Lead Subject Matter Expertise: Be the go-to authority on legal and regulatory requirements impacting payments products, including ACH origination and receipt, wire transfers, card issuing and acquiring, card network rules, scheme compliance, payment processor relationships, push-to-card, and instant payment capabilities. Share insights on regulatory developments and their practical implications. Help establish Column as a thought leader in banking infrastructure.
• Manage Fraud & BSA/AML Risk Frameworks: Partner with compliance and operations teams on payments-specific BSA/AML, OFAC, and fraud risk considerations. Advise on transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, and sanctions screening as they apply to payment flows.
• Leverage Technology & AI: Embrace and drive the adoption of technology — including AI and automation tools — to increase the efficiency, speed, and scalability of legal workflows. Identify opportunities to use AI and partner with engineering teams to build legal tooling that gives Column a structural advantage.
• Scale Operations: Design and implement legal processes that can scale with hypergrowth. Improve partner onboarding efficiency while maintaining robust compliance. Build repeatable frameworks that enable the business to move faster.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, including options that are 100% covered by Column for you and 100% covered for your dependents!
• Comprehensive family planning and fertility benefits via partnership with Carrot, including reimbursement of up to $20,000 in qualified expenses
• FSA and HSA account options to enable use of pre-tax money for medical and dependent care expenses
• 401k plan, including self-directed brokerage options
• Flexible time-off policy - take the time off that you want and need to relax and recharge
• 100% paid parental leave, including 16 weeks for birth mothers, 12 weeks for primary caregivers, and 8 weeks for secondary caregivers
• Catered lunches and dinners for SF employees
• Commuter benefits
• Regular team building events, including annual offsite

What This Job Offers

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