Legal Counsel - Policy and Risk Management

1inch; Dubai; On-site; AED 367,000 - 551,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading DeFi company in Dubai is seeking a strategic legal advisor to support global crypto regulations and policy. You will engage with regulators and policymakers while shaping the company's regulatory strategy. Ideal candidates will have 7+ years of legal experience, especially in digital assets and financial regulations. The role offers competitive pay and unlimited vacation days, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.

Benefits

Unlimited vacation days

Competitive pay

Fully compensated work gear

Annual team retreat at a top location

Qualifications

• 7+ years of legal experience, ideally in-house or regulatory roles.
• US qualified lawyers with experience in US laws highly desired.
• Track record of global financial regulations in digital assets.

Responsibilities

• Monitor global regulatory developments in digital assets.
• Provide strategic legal advice to shape product and operations.
• Represent the company in discussions with regulators.

Skills

Legal skills in financial regulations

Critical thinking

Communication skills

Negotiation

Risk analysis

Job description

You will serve as a strategic legal advisor across global crypto regulatory, policy, and security issues, directly supporting the company’s growth, licensing, and strategic engagement with policymakers, regulators, and counterparties. You will be deeply involved in shaping regulatory strategy, external advocacy and crafting the company’s external thought leadership in security and risk management as the global DeFi landscape evolves.

Key Responsibilities

Regulatory & Policy

• Monitor and interpret global regulatory developments affecting digital assets and DeFi (e.g. MiCA, VARA, FinCEN, SEC/CFTC)
• Provide strategic legal advice to shape product, operations, and security strategies in response to emerging regulations and market developments
• Represent the company in discussions with regulators, policymakers, and industry bodies
• Contribute to policy advocacy through public consultations, comment letters, and industry working groups
• Draft public-facing white papers, articles and blogposts on the company’s security and risk management frameworks and toolings and collaborate with marketing to externally communicate regulatory, security and risk management thought leadership

Legal & Security

• Keep up-to-date with crypto and blockchain security and risk management innovations and technical solutions, analyze their applicability and impact working closely with IT Security and other cross-functional teams, and help assess new security and risk management vendors and partners
• Build and strengthen alliances with other DeFi projects to seek and share best practices in security and risk management
• Assist with implementing legal and enterprise risk frameworks, including policies, controls, and staff training
• Assist with other strategic company initiatives as needed

Financial Crime & Cybersecurity (Nice to Have)

• Support compliance with AML, sanctions, KYC, and market abuse regulations in the DeFi context
• Assist in enhancing internal policies and programs related to financial crime risk
• Coordinate with third-party vendors on transaction monitoring and risk analytics

What You’ll Need

• The core skills, knowledge, experience and mindset required to be successful in this role include the following:

Experience

• 7+ years of legal experience, ideally combining in-house, regulatory agency, law firm, or industry association roles
• US qualified lawyers with experience working with US laws, policymakers and industry groups is highly desired
• Track record of working with global financial regulations (US, EU, UK, APAC, Middle East) in digital assets, fintech, or financial institutions
• Proven experience engaging with policymakers, regulators, and trade associations on regulatory matters
• Hands-on experience drafting public-facing white papers or articles, and/or actively organized or participated in working groups that submitted commentaries to lawmakers or regulators
• Exposure to AML, sanctions, financial crime compliance, or regulatory investigations (bonus)

Skills

• Provide easy to understand and actionable business recommendations
• Skilled at navigating legal ambiguity in fast-changing technical and regulatory environments
• Proficient in translating legal obligations into operational processes and controls
• Excellent critical thinking, synthesis and communications skills
• Persuasion and influence over internal and external stakeholders
• Able to tactfully challenge the decisions of business teams and stand up for your views against senior stakeholders
• Able to see high level strategies and goals and dive into details to deliver creative, pragmatic solutions based on weighted risk analysis
• Able to manage multiple important initiatives across time zones and work under time pressure
• Familiarity with DeFi and the crypto industry (bonus)

Mindset

• Highly collaborative, practical, solutions-oriented.
• Able to balance legal risk with commercial realities.
• Proactive self-starter, can operate with limited supervision working across teams, timezones and countries.
• Comfortable managing policymakers, regulators, and business executives.

Why you'll love working with us

• Join a dynamic, creative team in a fast-paced and supportive environment
• Innovation and Collaboration in web3 tech are core to our success
• We’re open to new ideas— if you’ve got a vision, pitch it and make it happen
• Enjoy competitive pay that matches your skills and experience
• Be part of a company that’s shaping the future of DeFi
• Take time when you need it — we offer unlimited vacation days
• Get fully compensated for your work gear— we’ll set you up for success
• Travel with us! We host an annual team retreat at a top international location
• Explore life at 1inch Labs with us