Head of Legal and Compliance UK

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About Unlimit

Founded in 2009, Unlimit is a global fintech company that offers a large portfolio of financial services, including payment processing, Banking as a Service (BaaS), and an on-ramp fiat solution for crypto, DeFi, and GameFi. The company's mission is to deliver solutions that eliminate financial borders, enabling businesses to operate locally and internationally easily across Europe, the UK, LatAm, APAC, India, and Africa. Unlimit has over 500 employees across 16 offices and five continents, including London, Frankfurt, Singapore, São Paulo, Hong Kong, and Mexico. For further information, please visit https://www.unlimit.com

About the job:

Unlimit UK Limited is an FCA licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI). It forms part

of the wider Unlimit Group, which hold various regulatory permissions in the payment

industry in multiple regions, including in the EU/EEA, Latin America, Asia, India and

Africa.

Unlimit is an active member of worldwide and regional card associations, payment

networks and methods. The range of Unlimit's global portfolio of services includes

acquiring and payment processing of card instruments and different payment methods,

IBAN Accounts, Card issuing, BaaS, cryptocurrency products and services.

We are hiring for the position of Head of Legal and Compliance (UK), to join our team

and lead both the Legal and Compliance areas in the UK. This role represents a key

EMD individual function, and the successful candidate will be expected to register as

such with the FCA.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drafting, maintaining, and amending a large suite of policies, guidelines, frameworks, procedures, manuals, instructions etc. on various matters in accordance with regulatory and internal requirements such as regulatory compliance, AML, data protection, security, governance and others related to the payments and financial industry, often in collaboration with other key functions (such as AML, Risk and Treasury);
• Managing the company's relationship with the Financial Conduct Authority FCA), through regular regulatory reporting (preparation and submission), ad hoc notifications and general engagement;
• Advising key department heads, the UK Directors, and the Global CEO regarding the legal and compliance obligations of Unlimit UK Ltd, ensuring those responsible for the day-to-day management of the business are fully briefed;
• Advising the business on the development of any new products or services, including;
• Working effectively as part of a multinational legal and compliance (regulatory, AML, data protection) team, establishing performing and managing relevant legal and compliance function processes, working closely with key stakeholders (including operational functions, internal control functions and with C-level on a local and global level) across the Group;
• Manage and provide ongoing legal and compliance coverage for the UK and European business operations.
• Research and provide actionable advice on legal, regulatory and compliance matters, and as part of the wider global business.
• Handle participation / membership with local and international payment systems and payment networks and counter-parties (Card Schemes such as Mastercard, Visa and other systems)
• Contractual review and management of relations with banks, payment systems and payment networks
• Draft, prepare, review, and negotiate various commercial documents such as agreements, resolutions, applications, forms, questionnaires, resolutions, letters, explanations, etc.
• Manage and support a variety of legal matters on areas including employment and staff matters (preparing, drafting and reviewing various legal agreements, documents, research etc.), legal research, guidance and advice to various functions of the company (operational, internal control functions, HR, Finance etc.), business and client related matters, client inquiries, claims and disputes, resolution, extrajudicial and judicial/administrative processes as the case may be etc.
• Participate in and manage specialized matters involving banking and payment sector regulations, technological elements and agreements, data protection, intellectual property (organising, researching, drafting and reviewing various legal documents, presentation of solutions to stakeholders and management etc.).
• Establish and ensure effective collaboration with third parties and external service providers (legal and consulting services providers, auditors, and other counter-parties).
• Plan, structure, and implement projects, management systems, deals and collaborations.
• Be comfortable with handling diverse routine legal work (contract reviews, negotiations with counter-parties) and related compliance work (filings, letters and communication with regulatory and competent authorities and various payment networks)

Experience:

• Qualified Lawyer/University degree in Law. LLM preferred and/or industry-related professional qualifications
• 5-10 years of experience in a legal department in a payments sector organisation in EU/UK, and/or a banking sector organisation, with exposure to acquiring, digital payments and products etc., with developed connections to outside EU/UK region.
• Expert knowledge of EU/UK sector-specific financial regulation.
• Able to meet deadlines and comfortable with changing requirements and
• priorities.
• Legal and business-friendly judgment, skilled in building consensus across cross- functional stakeholders and C-level.
• Ability to provide commercially astute risk-based advice and recommendations for business
• Excellent research and analysis skills. Able to analyze and present complex information clearly and concisely to various stakeholders
• Excellent time management and organizational skills
• Excellent communication in English

Desirable experience:

• Prior employment experience within UK or EU Regulators (in particular the FCA), with a preference for those who have held an EMD individual position or worked within authorisations and/or regulatory compliance roles.
• Prior experience within compliance audits or financial services advisory roles.
• Interest and exposure to cryptocurrency business and regulation.
• Hands-on experience in commercial law with national and cross-border contracts.
• Hands-on experience with employment law and corporate law.

We offer:

• Attractive monthly salary paid in line with experience;
• Modern workplace based in central London, with free lunch available on selected days;
• A team of top international professionals to work with and learn from;
• Flexible working arrangements, with hybrid working available;
• A discretionary bonus scheme, based on performance

Join Unlimit Team now!

Unlimit is an equal opportunity employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We welcome applications from all members of society irrespective of age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief.