Circle is hiring a Senior Counsel, Transactions, (Enterprise, Payments, and Ecosystem) — New York City - remote first in US. The overview below is synthesized from the employer posting on circle.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com: factual requirements and scope are preserved, but prose is rewritten with editorial context. Verify details and apply via the employer link.
Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest regulated stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet.
What you’ll be part of
Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, we're expanding into some of the world's strongest jurisdictions.
Under the direction of the Assistant General Counsel - Transactions, you will play an immediate and direct role in complex commercial transactional work, supporting our Enterprise Sales, Payments, and Ecosystem business segments globally as we offer new products and grow in new markets, including Circle's Arc network, a purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain for stablecoin finance. We are looking for someone who is highly proactive, accountable, team-oriented, capable of managing multiple competing pr
What you'll work on
- Be a trusted partner to Circle's Enterprise, Payments, and Ecosystem teams, working collaboratively and building strong lines of communication across global business teams, supporting enterprise sales, product partnerships and growth, and ecosystem business development functions globally, including commercial transactions in support of Arc.
- Structure, negotiate, and draft complex fintech, payments, crypto, and tech transactions across global markets, addressing legal risk in business-centric ways with the goal of strengthening commercial partnerships and advancing revenue opportunities, including partner, validator, and ecosystem agreements supporting the Arc network.
- Support the creation and expansion of contract templates and terms of use to reflect new and existing products and services, including Circle's stablecoin infrastructure, payments rails, Arc network integrations, and ecosystem partnerships.
- Aid in the development and implementation of processes, procedures, and metrics (including efficient contracting workflows) to increase the overall effectiveness of legal services provided to global business teams.
- Assist business leaders with contract interpretation and management as they execute deals with enterprise platforms, marketplaces, PSPs, and payments-native companies globally.
- Remain current on developments in finance, payments, stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchain infrastructure, including Arc's role as a settlement layer for global finance, to provide sound, practical transactional advice across Circle's global go-to-market motion.
What you’ll bring to Circle
You are passionate about financial technology and the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchains — a team player with a sense of humor who enjoys both learning and mentoring. Commercially minded, you keep the business objective front and center and communicate complex ideas clearly, both verbally and in writing, in a way that allows clients to act on them.
Core Requirements:
- 10+ years of hands-on legal experience in global commercial transactions, including in-house legal department and/or top-tier law firm experience.
- Extensive experience drafting and negotiating complex fintech, financial services, and technology agreements, including enterprise platform, payments, and ecosystem partnership transactions.
- Proven ability to support international business teams across multiple regions and markets, including willingness to participate in negotiation calls across global time zones.
- Experience advising Enterprise, Payments, Ecosystem, and other cross-functional teams on strategic partnerships and complex commercial initiatives.
- Strong understanding of legal and regulatory issues affecting payments, stablecoins, blockchain, digital assets, and technology product platforms; Americas and/or APAC exposure preferred.
- Ability to identify and manage legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, and operational implications, and to quarterback deals across stakeholders to drive alignment.
- Practical, business-oriented judgment with the ability to balance legal risk, commercial objectives, and Circle’s strategic goals in time-sensitive or high-pressure situations.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to distill complex legal, regulatory, and technical issues into clear, actionable guidance.
- Highly accountable, organized, collaborative, and comfortable working independently in a fast-moving, evolving environment while managing multiple projects simultaneously.
- J.D. or foreign equivalent, active membership in at least one U.S. State Bar, at least three years of prior top-tier law firm experience, and comfort using tools such as Slack, MacOS, GSuite, ChatGPT, and other AI-enabled workflows.
Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages.
Starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.
Base Pay Range: $230,000 - $297,500
We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where we hire.
Should you require accommodations or assistance in our interview process because of a disability, please reach out to accommodations@circle.com for support. We respect your privacy and will connect with you separately from our interview process to accommodate your needs.
#LI-Remote