Legal Counsel - UK

About Wise

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money. Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money. For everyone, everywhere.

About the job:

You’ll undertake a wide range of legal matters relating to Wise’s day to day and strategic initiatives. Your mission is to enable, protect and empower the business and people of Wise to help achieve growth with minimal distraction.  To achieve this you’ll be:

• Working closely and building relationships with multiple business teams across the UK, EMEA and multi-regional to advise on a wide range of legal matters and ad hoc issues as they arise, including financial regulation, consumer protection, payments, banking, marketing standards and partnerships;

• Working with the business and other members of the global Legal team and outside counsel on new product launches, market expansions including license applications, corporate matters and commercial agreements;

• Part of the core team of lawyers owning all aspects of the contract lifecycle with bank partners, online platforms, and enterprise customers, from structuring and drafting to negotiation.

• Responsible for assessing and advising the business on risks specific to API integrations, including country risk, feature launches, regulatory implications, and the overall relationship with a bank partner or online platform.

• Structuring and drafting multi-party commercial agreements, including allocating regulatory obligations, commercial terms, and KYC/AML responsibilities across several counterparties in a single deal;

• Advising on regulatory positioning in new and emerging markets, including reviewing external counsel memoranda, assessing local licensing and registration risk and drafting contractual language to manage regulatory exposure

• Mentoring and upskilling the business teams and other members of the Legal team including supervising responses to Legal support queries, making life simple and easy;

• Understanding the real risks to the business and advising on the operational impact and practicalities of those risks;  

• Reviewing current practices and developing and maintaining templates;

• Streamlining processes and structuring tasks related to legal matters globally;

• Staying up to date on legal developments in the UK and advising on future-looking initiatives; and 

• Working with the global Legal team to support the wider needs of Wise, for example training and workshops. 

About you:

We’re looking for someone passionate about payments, fintech and/or finance and with an eye on the future. You’ll have:

• 5 - 7 years PQE and be a UK qualified  (or another common law jurisdiction), with strong post-qualification commercial experience 

• Experience in the banking or payments industry;

• Previous law firm or in-house experience, focusing on payments, card processing, financial service, banking or investments;

• A proven aptitude for commercial contract structuring, drafting, and negotiation;

• A strong interest and experience in financial services regulation including payments, consumer protection, banking and investments;

• A broad legal knowledge that enables you to spot and resolve a variety of legal issues in upcoming product offerings (e.g. regulatory, contract, IP, privacy, consumer protection, risk); and an ability to distill complexity and to identify and clearly communicate practical, risk-based solutions;

• A focus on impact, through trusted relationships and attention to detail 

• Clear communication, project coordination, and management skills, including for partner relations;

• Ability to navigate complex issues and multiple stakeholders, advising the business on key risks, and developing solutions.

• Have a get-it-done, collaborative approach to problem solving. 

What we offer in return:

• Stock options as a part of compensation package;

• Lots of awesome Wise benefits 

• Flexible working – whether it’s working from home, school plays or life admin we get that flexibility is essential and you’re trusted to do the right thing;

• Wellbeing support – you and your family have access to an Employee Assistance Program, where you’ll be able to speak to qualified counselors on anything that matters to you;

• 6 weeks of paid sabbatical after 4 years at Wise on top of annual leave.

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.