Senior Legal Counsel (Business Banking) in Cardiff

Requirements

• You are a technically excellent lawyer with a minimum of 5 years of relevant post-qualification experience working in the banking and finance sector.
• You have a strong background advising on commercial and regulatory issues relating to banking products with specific knowledge and experience evidenced in business banking (including company law and insolvency aspects) and merchant acquiring.
• You are a strong communicator who can provide clear, precise, and practical legal advice, effectively articulating what is relevant and important in a concise manner.
• You can take a position on key issues, present persuasive recommendations, and constructively drive consensus among senior stakeholders.
• You have excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritise and work effectively and independently under tight deadlines across multiple projects.
• You are a team player and a keen problem solver, skilled at assessing risk and recommending solutions that balance commercial and risk considerations.
• You think ahead, anticipate relevant challenges, understand the commercial objectives of the teams you support, set clear objectives, and find effective solutions.
• You are proactive, take initiative to broaden your knowledge, and are passionate about the intersection of banking and technology and the transformation unfolding in consumer finance.
• You are excited to work in a fast-paced environment and to join us for the next stage of our journey at Monzo!

What the job involves

• We’re looking for a Senior Legal Counsel to join our team at Monzo, to help us build one of the best, most innovative banks in the world.
• You will report to Monzo’s Director of Legal Payments & Business Banking, be part of the Legal and Board Governance Collective, and work with a team of product lawyers to give first-rate legal advice and support to Monzo’s Product Collective, including areas like business banking and merchant payments.
• In this role, you’ll work closely with Monzo’s product collectives to build and deliver business banking and merchant payment products, and support the team in making money work for everyone.
• You’ll work at all levels in the organisation and with a wide range of stakeholders from Product Managers and Designers, to Operations professionals and Software Engineers, and Risk and Compliance.
• You will be the ‘go to’ for all things legal and regulatory, and an important part of a team trying to improve our customers’ financial lives.
• You’ll work directly with senior lawyers, product managers and engineers to provide legal advice and commercial insights to develop and grow Monzo Bank in the UK.
• In particular, you will:
• Partner with product managers to advise on legal matters relating to business banking and merchant payments (including issues relevant to providing our services to SMEs) and advise on the legal and regulatory requirements for a growing bank.
• Support Monzo with the operational and product changes needed to offer point of sale (POS) and online card payment acceptance to our business banking customers.
• Help to develop efficient ways of working to enable Monzo to scale quickly, ensuring Monzo operates safely and in accordance with the law and regulation.
• Provide training and knowledge sharing with other Monzonauts on the impact of laws and regulations on Monzo or our customers.
• Often act as the sole lawyer advising product managers or other colleagues (with support behind the scenes from more senior lawyers) and therefore act autonomously, take ownership of matters, identifying legal issues proactively, evaluating relevant risks and finding effective solutions to unique and complex business activities.
• You’ll work closely and collaboratively with Monzo’s Director of Legal Payments & Business Banking, General Counsel of Monzo Bank Limited and the other members of the UK Legal team to provide legal advice and commercial insights to Product teams.
• You’ll be a trusted advisor and will work proactively and collaboratively with other relevant stakeholders and teams across the Monzo Group, including the Product, Risk & Compliance, Supplier Operations, Financial Crime, Fraud, and Operations teams.
• You’ll work with Monzo’s Director of Legal Payments & Business Banking, other lawyers and compliance to identify legal and regulatory risks relating to existing and new products, ensure robust challenge and scrutiny of product changes as they go through Monzo’s governance process and to ensure that the businesses you support respond appropriately to new and changed legal and regulatory requirements.
• You’ll support Monzo’s global product development work by coordinating the legal review of products by collaborating with legal teams in the EU and US to identify local legal and regulatory requirements.
• You’ll work with colleagues across the Legal and Board Governance collective to improve the management of the activities of the legal team, including through identifying suitable technology solutions to streamline workflows, optimise processes and work efficiencies, and increase scalability.
• You’ll proactively manage relationships with external suppliers and law firms to enhance processes around cost management to ensure we are optimising our spend and extracting best value while delivering top-quality legal support.