Legal Counsel (Netherlands or U.K)

The role

The Legal Counsel will serve as a strategic partner and legal advisor across the business. This person will focus on licensing, financial product development, and financial partnerships.

What you will do

• Advise product and engineering teams on legal and regulatory aspects of product design, development, and launch.
• Translate complex regulatory requirements into clear guidance.
• Partner with business teams and compliance to develop and execute licensing and market entry strategies across the EU and UK.
• Oversee license applications.
• Provide regulatory guidance on payments, money transmission, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange, and cross-border transactions.
• Identify potential regulatory risks and develop mitigation solutions.
• Provide legal support for corporate governance, board matters, employment, privacy, intellectual property, fundraising, and strategic transactions.
• Serve as a strategic business partner to leadership, product, engineering, and growth teams.
• Manage external counsel and consultants.
• Build scalable legal processes and frameworks.

Required qualifications

• 7+ years of legal working experience (in-house or private practice)
• Excellent academic credentials
• Traineeship at a top-tier law firm
• Experience advising fintechs and/or other financial institutions
• Strong knowledge of financial services regulations and payments regulations (including MiCAR, PSD2, EMD, Dutch Financial Supervision Act and AML legislation)
• Proven ability to provide practical, business-oriented legal advice
• Experience working collaboratively with product, engineering, compliance, and business teams
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills
• Self-starter who thrives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
• Strong project management skills

Nice to have

• Knowledge and experience with cryptocurrency and/or Banking as a Service (BaaS) products
• Startup or high-growth company experience
• Significant experience with international regulatory regimes and cross-border transactions

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Equity in a rapidly growing company
• Opportunity to work in a fast-paced startup at the forefront of fintech innovation
• Opportunity to make a significant impact on global financial infrastructure
• Collaborative work culture with emphasis on personal and professional growth

About the company

OpenFX is building the infrastructure to power the next generation of cross-border payment systems for institutions. The team is backed by Accel, Lightspeed, NfX and other top-tier investors.