About the opportunityThe core mission of the executive team is to execute an ambitious roadmap to build the most intuitive, compliant, and stable method of executing alternative asset investments. Our General Counsel will keep our products compliant while helping us push the boundaries of what's possible, finding the path to yes on novel product ideas rather than defaulting to no.
As General Counsel you will span legal research, thought leadership, and product innovation, adding value across every aspect of our operation. Reporting to the CEO and serving as a strategic advisor to the CEO and VP of Product, you will ensure our suite of products and services meets the highest standards of federal, state, and international compliance, while exploring creative ways to reduce friction for our users and keep our team on the cutting edge of the industry.
What you'll be doing- Lead, manage, and continue building a multidisciplinary legal and compliance team.
- Analyze legal issues through risk assessment, risk management, and pragmatic decision-making lenses and provide actionable solutions, rather than simply identifying areas of potential legal risk.
- Work on a range of matters such as securities and regulatory compliance, negotiating, reviewing, and drafting commercial agreements.
- Advise executive members on changes in law, regulation, and best practices that impact the business.
- Build and maintain a referenceable knowledge base to educate our stakeholders with respect to: Why our products are designed the way they are. Why do we use specific language in our product. What laws affect the business.
- Contribute directly to innovative fund structures and shape Sydecar's current and future products.
- Track evolving regulatory frameworks affecting alternative asset investing and, where appropriate, engage with industry groups and policymakers to help shape them.
- Field and respond to external inquiries regarding our business.
- Manage outside counsel, as necessary.
What we're looking for- Experience building and scaling legal teams inside fast-growing organizations.
- Experience partnering closely with product teams, where legal input directly shaped product decisions and outcomes.
- Strong written and verbal communicator who can flex between board-level summaries and in-the-weeds deal negotiation.
- Excellent strategic thinking, solid judgment, and the willingness to work with business partners to make decisions that are grounded in a practical application of the law, the technology, and the business goals.
- Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced, innovative, rapidly changing environment, and get up to speed on new areas of law quickly and effectively, and comfortably in a startup business environment.
- A JD from an ABA-accredited law school and an active bar license in good standing with 10+ years of legal practice experience and extensive in-house experience in the FinTech or venture capital space.
- Strongly preferred: deep expertise in the range of securities laws impacting venture funds and FinTech platforms, including the Securities Act, Exchange Act, Investment Company Act, Investment Advisers Act, and FINRA Rules.
Sydecar's valuesOur values are important to the way we live and work at Sydecar. They guide our priorities, behaviors and interactions.Be CommittedAs a team, we rise to meet challenges and recognize that we become stronger and develop character when facing adversity.
Be ExcellentWe measure our success not just by what we achieve, but by how we achieve it-through integrity, creativity, elegance, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Excellence is not just doing things well-it's looking for ways to do them better.
Be HumbleHumility is our key to personal and professional growth. We appreciate that great ideas can come from anywhere, regardless of seniority, pedigree, or experience. We care more about collective outcomes than who gets credit or who does what. We try to not let our ego cloud our judgment.
Win TogetherWinning is no accident. It is the result of collective hard work, perseverance, sacrifice, and most of all, loving what we do. Winning requires that we give extra-sometimes winning calls for late nights or extra effort, and we show up for clients and each other with urgency and heart. While excellence is a journey, winning is a destination.
