The Legal Support Senior Lead Officer is a senior-level, non-attorney professional who serves as a subject matter expert in derivatives documentation and negotiation practices, supporting global Markets business activities. This role works closely alongside senior negotiators and senior legal management, with a distinct focus on escalation management, negotiation analytics, and continuous improvement of negotiation outcomes.
This position is responsible for identifying patterns in negotiations, anticipating areas of friction, and strengthening how the function measures, communicates, and enhances its value to the business. The role combines deep derivatives documentation expertise with strong analytical and communication skills to drive data-informed insights, proactive issue resolution, and executive-level messaging.
The ideal candidate is a pragmatic, proactive professional who can influence stakeholders, translate complex negotiation activity into meaningful insights, and reinforce the team’s role as a trusted, revenue-enabling partner.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as a senior subject matter expert in ISDA Master Agreements, Schedules, Credit Support Annexes (CSAs), and related derivatives, futures clearing, and collateral documentation; engage in complex negotiations where needed to support escalation resolution and consistency of approach
- Act as the central escalation lead for negotiation-related issues, managing high-impact or complex escalations, identifying root causes, and driving structured, consistent resolution across stakeholders
- Create, identify, and analyze negotiations data for patterns in negotiation terms, positions, and counterparty behavior, using these insights to anticipate issues, inform strategy, and improve negotiation outcomes
- Partner with senior negotiators and business stakeholders to proactively mitigate escalation risk, address recurring themes, and improve client and counterparty experience
- Prepare, review, and advise on documentation and negotiation strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives, risk appetite, and market standards
- Own and develop the metrics and performance measurement framework for the negotiation function, defining key indicators that reflect efficiency, quality, and business impact
- Transform negotiation and operational data into actionable insights, trend analysis, and forward-looking recommendations, supporting earlier identification of risks and opportunities
- Lead the development of consistent, scalable, and automated reporting in partnership with PRISM and Legal Tech, reducing manual negotiation processes and enhancing data quality and transparency
- Build and deliver executive-level reporting and narratives that clearly articulate the function’s value, progress, and areas of focus, strengthening stakeholder confidence and engagement
- Establish and maintain structured feedback loops with business partners, ensuring input is captured, analyzed, and translated into continuous improvement initiatives
- Partner across Trading, Sales, Risk, Operations, Legal, and control functions to deliver coordinated, efficient outcomes and align escalation insights with broader risk and governance frameworks
- Drive enhancements to negotiation practices, including standardization, process optimization, and automation, improving consistency and efficiency across documentation and execution workflows
- Support quality control efforts by reviewing outputs, promoting best practices, and ensuring consistency of documentation, reporting, and escalation handling across the team
- Apply sound judgment in assessing risk and safeguarding the firm, its clients, and assets by ensuring adherence to policies, regulatory requirements, and strong control standards; appropriately escalate, manage, and report issues
Qualifications
- 10+ years of relevant experience in:
- Derivatives / ISDA documentation negotiation, and/or
- Transaction management, markets operations, or negotiation strategy within financial services
- Deep expertise in:
- ISDA Master Agreements, CSAs, and collateral documentation
- OTC derivatives and/or futures clearing documentation frameworks
- Strong understanding of:
- Financial markets products (rates, FX, credit, equity)
- Negotiation processes, documentation standards, and regulatory environment
- Demonstrated ability to:
- Identify trends and patterns in complex data and negotiation activity
- Translate insights into practical actions and executive-level messaging
- Experience working with reporting tools, metrics frameworks, or automation initiatives (e.g., PRISM, Legal Tech platforms preferred)
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and clearly articulate complex concepts
Education
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Advanced degree or relevant certifications preferred
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Job Family Group: Legal------------------------------------------------------
Job Family:Legal Professionals------------------------------------------------------
Time Type:Full time------------------------------------------------------
Primary Location:New York New York United States------------------------------------------------------
Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:$163,600.00 - $245,400.00
In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.
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Most Relevant Skills Please see the requirements listed above.------------------------------------------------------
Other Relevant Skills For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.------------------------------------------------------
Anticipated Posting Close Date:------------------------------------------------------
Automated Processing and AIWe use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.
Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.
Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right
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Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.
View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.
Skills Required
- 10+ years relevant experience in derivatives/ISDA documentation negotiation, transaction management, markets operations, or negotiation strategy
- Deep expertise in ISDA Master Agreements, Schedules, Credit Support Annexes (CSAs), and collateral documentation
- Expertise in OTC derivatives and/or futures clearing documentation frameworks
- Strong understanding of financial markets products (rates, FX, credit, equity)
- Knowledge of negotiation processes, documentation standards, and regulatory environment
- Ability to identify trends and patterns in complex negotiation data and translate insights into actions and executive-level messaging
- Experience working with reporting tools, metrics frameworks, or automation initiatives
- Experience with PRISM or other Legal Tech platforms
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with ability to influence senior stakeholders
- Bachelor's degree
- Advanced degree or relevant certifications
Citi Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Citi and has not been reviewed or approved by Citi.
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Healthcare Strength — Benefits coverage is positioned as comprehensive, including health, dental, and vision insurance plus on-site clinics, prescription drug support, and disability coverage. Family-building support such as fertility assistance is described as a notable differentiator within the overall package.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are framed as strong, highlighted by a 401(k) with matching and additional plan options like a Roth 401(k). Financial support is reinforced through discounts and broader financial guidance resources tied to the benefits ecosystem.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing support extends beyond insurance through programs like an Employee Assistance Program, counseling/legal resources, and gym or wellness reimbursement. These offerings increase the perceived total rewards value even when cash compensation sentiment varies by role.
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