Senior Legal Counsel

About Uphold

Uphold is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking, and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services, and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes pioneering financial services easy and trusted for millions of customers in more than 140 countries.

Uphold strips away the complexity and lack of transparency to open up Web3 finance for everyone.

To learn more about Uphold, please visit https://uphold.com.

The Opportunity

The Senior Legal Counsel will be responsible for general corporate matters, negotiating commercial agreements, and serving as a key contributor to the design and implementation of risk management strategies and regulatory compliance alongside Uphold’s General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs team and the Compliance team.

The ideal candidate is a self-driven lawyer with at least 5 years of FinTech/crypto PQE, capable of taking full ownership of a wide variety of legal and risk management matters relevant to a highly regulated and fast-growing company. As a result, the Senior Counsel will play an important role in the success and continued growth of Uphold.

The Senior Legal Counsel will report to the General Counsel, with a focus on the UK and EU markets.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate, draft, and execute commercial agreements with technology partners and vendors.
• Offer counsel on wide-ranging legal issues and advise executives within the company.
• Work alongside other departments across the company, including Regulatory Affairs, HR, Security, Compliance, Product, and Engineering.
• Advise on contract status, legal risks, and the legal liabilities associated with commercial transactions.
• Research and anticipate legal issues that could impact the company, including developments in the regulation of digital assets.
• Operationalize legal workflow and contract management across the company.
• Focus will be on the UK and EU markets.
• Other duties as required or assigned.

Qualifications

• Law degree from a recognized university.
• Admitted to the London bar or eligible for admission via motion/reciprocity.
• Minimum 5 years of PQE in the FinTech/crypto sector, either in-house or at a top-tier law firm.
• Experience in cryptocurrency or blockchain is a major plus; a genuine interest in digital assets is required.
• Experience working with the FCA and European financial regulators is a strong advantage.
• Strong interpersonal and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Excellent negotiating skills, particularly on legal and commercial matters.
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently while remaining a strong team player with a positive attitude.
• Business fluency in a European language other than English is a plus, but not required.

Salary: £120,000 - £160,000 

EEOC Employer

Uphold is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected class.