Special Counsel, Transactions (M&A and Bank Partnerships)

Circle Internet Financial•San Francisco, CA

3d•Remote

About The Position

Circle is seeking an experienced transactional attorney to join the Transactions team within its Legal department. The role primarily supports Corporate Development and Ventures—including mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and venture investments—and Financial Partnerships, including agreements with banks and other financial institutions that support Circle’s reserve, treasury, and payments operations. The attorney may also support select commercial transactions involving Circle products and services for financial institutions. Reporting to the Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Transactions, this senior individual contributor will advise Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships, and partner with Business Development, Product, and other teams as needed. The attorney will independently lead transactions from inception through negotiation, signing, closing, and, where relevant, implementation or integration. The position calls for rigorous legal execution, practical business judgment, and a solutions-oriented approach in a fast-moving digital asset and payments environment. The role also includes building transaction templates, playbooks, diligence tools, processes, and metrics, and helping design and lead AI-enabled workflows across the Transactions team. AI is a core part of day-to-day transactional work: the attorney will help identify and improve workflows, test and refine tools and approaches, and support adoption by attorneys, interns, and business partners. The attorney remains responsible for reviewing AI-assisted work for accuracy, legal judgment, confidentiality, privilege, and risk, and must follow Circle’s AI, security, and data policies.

Requirements

J.D. or foreign equivalent and active membership in good standing of at least one U.S. State Bar.
At least 7 years of transactional legal experience at a leading law firm, an in-house legal department, or a combination of both.
Substantial experience with M&A and other corporate transactions, financial services transactions, or both, including structuring transactions, drafting first-turn agreements, leading negotiations and diligence, and independently driving complex matters through signing and closing.
Strong working knowledge of corporate and commercial law and sound business judgment.
Ability to coordinate legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, securities, and operational considerations while balancing legal risk, commercial objectives, and Circle’s strategic goals.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong ownership and organization, and ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously in a fast-moving environment prone to rapid change.
Demonstrated familiarity with and practical use of generative AI in legal or other professional workflows, with sound judgment about AI use, output validation, and protection of privileged, confidential, and material non-public information in a public company environment.
Passion for Circle’s mission and values, financial technology, and the potential of stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchain technology.
Curiosity and willingness to experiment with new tools and rethink how transactional legal work is structured and delivered, while preserving legal judgment and client service standards.

Nice To Haves

Experience with banking, deposit, custody, safeguarding, treasury, or other financial services agreements.
Experience with seller-side technology or financial services transactions involving regulated financial institutions, digital assets, stablecoins, payments, cross-border transactions, or other fintech businesses.
Experience building, implementing, or scaling AI-enabled workflows, prompts, templates, playbooks, or tools for a legal team.

Responsibilities

Support mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, asset purchases, and other strategic transactions, including structuring, due diligence, definitive agreements, signing, closing, and integration matters.
Advise on joint ventures, minority and venture investments, strategic partnerships with an equity component, and other non-ordinary-course transactions, including preparing and negotiating term sheets, investment agreements, side letters, and ancillary agreements.
Structure, draft, and negotiate agreements with banks and financial institutions supporting Circle’s reserve, treasury, and payments operations, including deposit, custody and safeguarding, account control, and cash management arrangements.
Serve as a trusted partner to Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships, leading matters involving Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and other stakeholders, and coordinating with outside counsel where appropriate.
Support select commercial transactions in which Circle provides products, services, or technology to banks and other financial institutions, working with Business Development, Product, and Legal subject matter experts to translate business objectives into contractual terms.
Develop and expand transaction templates, playbooks, diligence tools, processes, and metrics to increase speed, consistency, and effectiveness across recurring transaction types.
Help design and lead adoption of AI-enabled workflows across the Transactions team, using technology to improve diligence, contract review, issues lists, drafting, deal tracking, and other recurring work.
Identify recurring workflows suitable for redesign, streamlining, or automation; design and test approaches; build and refine prompts, templates, and playbooks; and help attorneys, interns, and business partners adopt effective practices.
Review and validate AI-assisted work product for accuracy and legal judgment, and protect privilege, confidentiality, and material non-public information while following Circle’s AI, security, and data policies.

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