Legal Counsel/ Senior Legal Counsel (Payments), London

The Payments Counsel will be part of the Payments Legal team, and will serve TikTok, Bytedance and its affiliates, in respect of payments compliance matters with respect to Europe and the UK. The ideal candidate should have a good background in payments, product counseling as well as excellent judgment, acute ability to identify issues on first impression, and have the courage to counsel a fast-moving business.

Responsibilities

• Counsel and partner with product teams on a range of payment issues such as money transfer services, e‑money, payment tokens, AML, gifts, stored value cards and facilities relevant to the region.
• Actively collaborating and providing guidance with a wide variety of internal stakeholders, including product, compliance, business development on a range of issues related to product development and commercialisation of global payment projects and services.
• Working closely with colleagues across the global legal team to advise on payment issues in connection with the launch of features, projects or programs or payment solutions.
• Assisting and providing guidance to the global payments business regarding payments licensing and dealing with regulators.
• Help build scalable and effective processes for legal review and launch of new payment solutions, features and products.
• Stay up-to-date and serve as the subject matter expert of financial service regulations, including AML, money transmission, virtual currency, gifts, stored value cards and facilities, KYC, and KYB in the EU / UK region.
• Participate as a proactive business partner for senior managers and build a trusted advisor relationship with the various businesses within the group, including the TikTok product and global payment businesses.

Minimum Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with a minimum of 5 years experience in the fintech / payments industry dealing with money service business compliance requirements, anti-money laundering rules, know-your-customer requirements, and stored value facilities.
• Possess knowledge of sanctions and other financial crimes compliance rules and regulations.
• Global or regional exposure and experience gained in the Fintech startup space or creator economy industry is highly advantageous.
• Knowledge and experience with payment product compliance advisory and review.
• Experience managing global or regional compliance, as well as the risks and regulations applicable to consumer-facing financial services and products.
• Ability to understand and interpret regulations and regulatory guidance, and adept in simplifying complex themes into understandable communications.

Preferred Qualifications

• A passion for technology and the ability to understand complex business models and product use cases quickly.
• Hands‑on experience managing distinct projects and programs, with particularly strong skills in stakeholder management and influence and a strong sense of ownership.
• An entrepreneurial spirit – a self‑starter who thrives in a fast paced environment, deals well with ambiguity and focuses on driving impact.
• Excellent cross‑functional collaboration skills, including navigating leadership, external partners, and regulators and exercising sound compliance judgment in a complex and challenging environment.
• Has initiative, a positive attitude, collaborative and a confident self‑starter who thrives in a fast paced environment, deals well with ambiguity and focuses on driving impact.
• Pragmatic and possess strong analytical and problem solving skills.
• Independent, hard‑working, well organised and able to prioritise and manage numerous projects simultaneously and the ability to work under tight deadlines.