3-5+ years in legal operations, compliance, or paralegal roles within the RIA space
Knowledge of SEC RIA requirements, including Form ADV and vendor oversight
Experience building and managing tracking systems or processes end-to-end
Strong attention to detail and good judgment in handling legal matters
Excellent written communication skills and ability to build trust across teams
Comfortable using AI tools and verifying their outputs
Proficient in Google Workspace and modern compliance tools
Responsibilities
Own the full vendor lifecycle, including due diligence and contract repository management
Run vendor due diligence and manage annual security questionnaires
Maintain version control for all advisor- and client-facing agreements
Design and oversee the intake process for legal and compliance requests
Triage and route legal questions to appropriate owners
Develop and manage the ADV update and compliance calendars
Review outside counsel invoices and track legal spend against budget
Utilize AI tools to enhance efficiency in legal processes
Benefits
Competitive salary and equity package
Unlimited PTO + paid company holidays
Access to holistic medical, dental, and vision plans
Company 401(k) with Mega backdoor Roth options
NYC office in Union Square
Lunch and snacks provided in the office, with dinner for late stays
Access to virtual mental health care and health concierge services
Counseling for stress management and other personal issues
Full Job Description
The Role:
Savvy is hiring its first Legal Operations Associate to refine and mature its legal and compliance function. As a registered RIA and broker-dealer, we have a growing list of FINRA and SEC obligations. Savvy's rapid growth has driven a corresponding surge in compliance and contract volume, outpacing the administrative capacity available to manage it.
You'll take ad hoc, attorney-owned administrative work and turn it into clear, repeatable, AI-enabled processes. This will include overseeing the contract lifecycle, vendor due diligence, legal request intake, the ADV and compliance calendars, advisor compliance, and outside counsel spend. You'll work closely with the General Counsel and leadership and have real freedom to design your own systems and use AI tools from day one. Broker-dealer experience is a plus. Responsibilities: Contract & Vendor Management
Own the full vendor lifecycle: due diligence, a negotiation playbook and template library to keep terms consistent across similar vendors, and a version-controlled contract repository
Run vendor due diligence, including a single source of truth vendor inventory, risk-tiering all vendors (prioritizing those handling PII), and managing annual security questionnaires
Own version control for all advisor- and client-facing agreements so all contracting is uniform and up to date
Review first-pass redlines and handle routine agreements (e.g., NDAs, standard vendor contracts) using the playbook, and escalate to counsel when required
Legal & Compliance Intake
Design and oversee the intake and escalation process for legal and compliance requests, consolidating disparate channels into a single, organized view so all requests are tracked through resolution
Triage and route all questions and requests to the appropriate owner, maintaining visibility into all open items
Keep a running log of recurring contract and compliance questions to cut down on repeat escalations to counsel
Compliance & Regulatory
Develop and own the ADV update calendar and firm-wide compliance calendar across all of Savvy's RIA and BD obligations
Run the quarterly and annual IAR attestation cycle and drive near-100% on-time completion of advisor oversight compliance requirements (trade oversight, OBAs, gifts and entertainment, attestations)
Support regulatory filings, exams, and inspections, and track regulatory changes that affect the business
Translate compliance requirements into plain-language reminders and checklists for advisors
Outside Counsel & Budget
Review outside counsel invoices against engagement terms and flag inconsistencies
Track outside counsel spend against budget and give Finance a clear quarterly view, flagging variances early
AI & Automation
Own and maintain our Claude-based internal legal tools (such as contract playbooks and regulatory change management skills), as well as helping design additional tools to improve efficiency
Use AI to triage intake, draft reminders and redlines, automate repetitive tracking, and review the output before trusting it
Must Have:
3-5+ years of experience in legal operations, compliance, or paralegal roles within the RIA space
Working knowledge of SEC RIA requirements, including Form ADV, IAR oversight, and third-party/vendor oversight expectations
Proven experience building and owning a tracking system or process end-to-end (trackers, calendars, logs, repositories)
Strong attention to detail under hard deadlines and good judgment about what you can handle yourself versus what needs counsel's sign-off
Clear written communication and the ability to build trust across Legal, Product, Operations, and Finance teams while handling confidential information with discretion
Comfortable using AI tools day to day, with a habit of checking AI output before relying on it
Strong proficiency in Google Workspace and modern compliance and CLM tools
Nice to Have:
Broker-dealer and FINRA experience (a significant plus)
Hands-on experience with ComplianceAlpha, a CLM platform, or Notion
Experience reviewing outside counsel invoices or tracking legal spend
Paralegal certificate, JD, or relevant compliance designations (e.g., Series 65, Series 7)
Prior experience at a high-growth fintech or startup
Benefits:
Competitive salary and equity package
Unlimited PTO + paid company holidays
Access to holistic medical, dental, and vision plans
Company 401(k) (including Mega backdoor Roth options), Commuter, and HSA/FSA plans
NYC office in Union Square
Lunch and snacks provided in the office, & dinner if you stay late
Access to virtual mental health care (Spring Health) and health concierge (Rightway) to help you find the right care
Access to counseling for stress management, dependent care, nutrition, fitness, legal, and financial issues (Guardian WorkLifeMatters EAP)
