Senior Counsel - Product

## Building the Future of Open Finance Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system. Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our [culture page](https://www.kraken.com/culture) to understand what drives us and how we work. ## The team Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients. Join our growing Product Legal team, embedded with Kraken’s Product, Design, and Engineering teams to ship novel products and experiences that accelerate the global adoption of crypto and advance key global licensing initiatives.

## What You'll Do - Own cross‑functional product counseling across the build cycle (discovery → design → launch → iteration), delivering crisp, actionable guidance and risk‑based options to product, engineering, compliance, and leadership. - Translate complex regulatory frameworks (with a focus on MiFID, EMIR, derivatives, and market structure) into pragmatic controls and go‑to‑market guardrails. - Draft and negotiate client terms and conditions with clear, business‑aligned positions. - Lead licensing/registration workstreams: scope requirements, map pathways, coordinate outside counsel, compile application materials, and manage regulator interactions. - Support incident and supervisory responses with well‑reasoned written submissions and evidence packages. - Foster a culture of clarity, favoring plain‑English communication, measurable risk tradeoffs, and decision‑ready recommendations.

## What is Required - Qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister of England & Wales, Irish Solicitor/Barrister, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State). - 10+ years’ PQE in financial services law within a regulated financial services institution (e.g., an exchange, central clearing counterparty, broker-dealer/asset manager, trading firm, bank, brokerage, or crypto services provider) or in a law firm/private practice supporting such clients (ideally with some in-house or direct product counseling experience). - Experience with advising on regulated MiFID investment services and familiarity with relevant crypto-asset regimes, including MiCA, AMLD5, UK financial promotions, and/or e-money regulations. - Demonstrated experience leading licensing or registration efforts, including planning, applications, regulator engagement, and operationalization. - Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills with crisp, plain-English writing. - Ability to efficiently and confidently distill complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyers and product stakeholders. - Pragmatic, commercially accountable approach to legal and regulatory risk that prioritises providing stakeholders with a useful range of options and delivers clear recommendations to decision-makers. - Demonstrates an authentic passion for crypto and familiarity with the features of both Kraken and its competitors’ apps and products.

## Nice to haves - Expertise in MiCA framework applicable to CASPs including brokerage, custody and the operation of trading platforms. - Expertise in EMIR including the clearing obligation, regulatory margin for non-centrally cleared derivatives and transaction reporting, desirable. - Familiarity with using AI tools such as Enterprise GPTs to increase efficient provision of legal services, create custom GPTs allowing stakeholders to self-serve on commoditised legal and regulatory queries.

Kraken (legally Payward, Inc.) is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates trading of cryptocurrencies, stocks, futures, and ETFs in most US states. It serves over 10 million clients worldwide with $207 billion in quarterly trading volume and has expanded to tokenized equities for non-US customers.