Sr. Counsel, Digital Assets

About this role

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose We are seeking an experienced Sr. Product Counsel to serve as a trusted advisor to help us shape the future of payments. As a member of our legal team, you will be the go-to subject matter expert responsible for advising the business on cutting edge, innovative and first-of-their-kind payment solutions at the center of the banking industry. You will partner with our Product, Compliance, Risk, Strategy, Marketing, Communications and our owner banks to solve a broad range of challenging and complex legal and regulatory issues across the product life cycle.

Essential Functions • Serve as first-line legal counsel to the product team on all legal matters arising in the business unit

• Interpret and apply U.S. and international legal and regulatory frameworks and requirements applicable to payments, digital assets, blockchain, bank regulatory, and privacy including the GENIUS Act, the National Bank Act, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), OFAC/sanctions compliance, EFTA/Reg E, UCC, UDAAP/UDAP, GLBA/Reg. P and evolving stablecoin and digital asset regulations.

• Guide business partners in the launch, experimentation, and scaling of innovative cross-border payment and digital asset solutions through commercially pragmatic, risk-calibrated legal guidance.

• Advise on evolving stablecoin and digital assets regulations.

• Support the Product and Contracts teams in the drafting and negotiation of commercial agreements.

• Partner closely with product, compliance, risk, and strategy teams to structure emerging payment, stablecoin, and blockchain solutions within evolving regulatory and network frameworks.

• Draft, review and approve clear and concise public facing disclosures, disclaimers, terms of use or other public facing documents pertinent to the products

• Assess legal and regulatory ambiguity and develop practical, innovation-enabling frameworks, policies, and guardrails for new products, corridors, settlement models, and payment rails.

• Advise clients both on individual customer contract issues and in designing contract language that supports business objectives.

• Advise on cross-border and international payment regulatory considerations, including digital assets, consumer disclosures, sanctions compliance, foreign exchange considerations, and settlement frameworks.

• Draft, review and negotiate a variety of complex commercial relationships supporting the business unit objectives, including strategic partner, sales and supplier agreements.

• Act as department expert on specialized product or legal issues in the context of contract negotiations, audits, litigation, regulatory exams and other legal proceedings.

• Assess legislative or regulatory developments with actual or potential impact on key product initiatives and strategies and partner with the business team to identify and implement related policies, standards, processes and practices.

• Liaison with other Legal and Compliance department personnel to provide seamless support to the business unit.

• Manage and supervise outside counsel as needed.

• May manage and supervise lower-level attorneys and/or other legal personnel.

• Assist with corporate governance functions.

• Support the company’s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.

Minimum Qualifications • Juris Doctor from an accredited law school; admission to Arizona or another State bar

• Eight or more years’ of in-house or corporate counsel experience, with strong background advising financial institutions or financial services companies on compliance with consumer financial services and privacy laws and regulations

• Ability to learn new substantive areas of the law

• Significant expertise and relevant experience advising financial services industry market participants regarding compliance with anti-money laundering, sanctions, data privacy, and consumer protection regulations including, for example, Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN guidelines, FATF recommendations, OFAC sanctions, GLBA, CCPA, GDPR, Regulation E, CFPA/UDAAP, and FTC Act.

• Demonstrated experience advising on emerging or evolving regulatory frameworks in payments, cross-border money movement, digital assets, blockchain technology, or related financial infrastructure.

• Experience supporting innovative or first-to-market financial products or payment systems in fast-evolving and ambiguous regulatory environments.

• Strong business and product acumen, including the ability to balance innovation, regulatory risk, operational realities, and strategic business objectives.

• Demonstrated ability to make risk-based decisions and develop practical paths forward with imperfect or evolving regulatory guidance.

• Ability to understand and be responsive to the business’s needs and partner cross-functionally throughout the organization to achieve results while mitigating risk

• Strong presentation skills and excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills to build partnerships and alliances internally and with external partners at all levels of the organization

• Demonstrated experience identifying and resolving legal and regulatory issues quickly and effectively, with an ability to m

Similar jobs

• Director, Digital Assets Legal Counsel — Blackrock · New York, NY | San Francisco, CA
• Assistant General Counsel, Digital Assets & DeFi — S&P Global · New York, NY | Charlottesville, VA | PRINCETON ONE INDEPENDENCE WAY, NJ
• Assistant General Counsel, Digital Assets & DeFi — Spgi · New York, NY | Charlottesville, VA | PRINCETON ONE INDEPENDENCE WAY, NJ
• Sr. Staff Engineer - Digital Assets — Earlywarning · San Francisco | Chicago | Scottsdale
• Senior Managing Counsel, Blockchain & Digital Assets — Mastercard · Purchase, New York
• Director, Digital Assets — Blackrock · New York, NY
• Director, Strategic Business Development, Digital Assets — Mastercard · New York City, New York
• Senior Digital Asset Advisory Compliance Officer — Morgan Stanley · Dallas, Texas, United States