The RoleWe are looking for a talented, curious lawyer to serve as a legal partner to our product, engineering, and business teams. You will work across Kikoff's growing product ecosystem - including credit-building products, earned wage access (EWA), and new product lines in development - to help us move fast while staying on the right side of a complex and evolving regulatory landscape.
This role is a fit for someone who is early enough in their career to still be building depth, but far enough along to own problems end to end. You will have real ownership over your matters from day one and a direct line of sight into how legal decisions shape the product. You should be comfortable operating in areas of legal ambiguity, eager to learn both bank-partnered and direct-to-consumer product structures, and excited by the intersection of consumer financial services and technology.
What You'll Do- Act as a day-to-day legal advisor to product and engineering teams throughout the product development lifecycle, from concept through launch and iteration, escalating novel or bet-the-company questions as appropriate.
- Advise on the design, structuring, and regulatory implications of consumer financial products, including credit-building tradelines, earned wage access, and new product concepts.
- Research and apply federal and state consumer financial regulations, including TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA, UDAAP, state financial regulation, and the evolving EWA regulatory landscape.
- Provide guidance on marketing and communications under TCPA, CAN-SPAM, and other state and federal law.
- Support both bank-partnered and non-bank product structures.
- Advise on data privacy and consumer data protection requirements.
- Track regulatory developments - particularly from the CFPB, state regulators, and the courts - and translate them into practical, actionable product guidance.
- Support state licensing applications, renewals, and compliance filings.
- Draft, review, and negotiate consumer-facing terms and disclosures, a variety of different marketing materials, and commercial agreements.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with compliance, risk, marketing, and operations to embed legal guardrails without slowing the pace of innovation.
What We're Looking For- J.D. from an accredited law school.
- Be an active member of the California state bar or registered in-house counsel in California.
- 5-8 years of legal experience, including meaningful time in consumer financial services, fintech, or a closely adjacent regulatory practice. A mix of law firm and in-house experience is a plus, but we are open to candidates coming directly from a firm.
- Working knowledge of federal consumer finance statutes (TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA) and a willingness to build depth quickly in state lending and money transmission frameworks.
- Exposure to at least one of: credit-building or credit reporting products, earned wage access, consumer lending through bank partnership models, or payments.
- Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments, and a track record of turning legal research into clear, decision-ready guidance rather than a memo full of caveats.
- Good judgment, intellectual honesty about what you do and do not know, and a bias toward enabling the business rather than only identifying risk.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
- Experience and curiosity in the use of AI to support legal functions.
- Enthusiasm for Kikoff's mission and the opportunity to expand access to financial services for underserved consumers.
Nice to Have- Familiarity with consumer data privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA, GLBA), or the appetite to get up to speed on advising product teams on data collection, use, and sharing practices.
- Experience advising on products involving AI or algorithmic decision-making in a consumer finance context, including fair lending and model governance considerations.
- Exposure to multi-state licensing or regulatory examination processes.
- Exposure to corporate governance or securities work at a scaling company.
Why This RoleThis is a high-ownership seat on a small legal team at a company shipping real consumer financial products. You will not be a cog reviewing a queue of contracts. You will sit with product managers and engineers while decisions are being made, own your own regulatory questions, and grow into a subject-matter owner across one or more of our product lines.
Base Range
$200,000-$250,000 USD
