Senior Counsel at Arc (London/Remote)

Arc; Greater London; Hybride; GBP 110 000 - 150 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Arc, a London-based fintech, is seeking a Senior Counsel for a remote-first in-house role. You will own the full contract lifecycle for enterprise SaaS agreements, partnerships, and vendor negotiations, while advising on regulatory matters across FCA, GDPR, and product launches.

Candidates should have 5+ years PQE, UK qualification, and in-house experience. The role emphasizes strategic partnership with the C-suite, speed, risk management, and scalable legal operations to accelerate growth.

Qualifications

• 5+ years PQE in commercial/technology/financial services law.
• In-house experience preferred.
• Strong contract negotiation and regulatory advisory background.

Responsabilités

• Own the full contract lifecycle: SaaS agreements, partnerships, vendor negotiations.
• Advise on regulatory requirements and product launches.
• Partner with C-suite to assess risk and enable revenue.

Connaissances

Contract negotiation

Regulatory advisory

Commercial contracts

Formation

UK qualification (Solicitor/Barrister)

Outils

Ironclad

Juro

Notion

Slack

Jira

Description du poste

This opportunity was posted more than 30 days ago and no application deadline was provided. You can explore active listings below.

Senior Counsel at Arc (London/Remote)

A

Organising Institution / Firm

Arc

Not Specified by Organiser

London Area, United Kingdom (Remote)

Not Specified

Qualified lawyer (UK solicitor/barrister or equivalent) with 5+ years PQE in commercial, technology, or financial services law; in-house experience preferred; strong contract negotiation and regulatory advisory background

Full-time Job

Full Opportunity Brief

Decoding the Senior Counsel Mandate at Arc: A Strategic Career Playbook for In-House Legal Leaders

The legal recruitment landscape in the United Kingdom is undergoing a seismic shift. As technology companies scale globally, the demand for senior in-house counsel who can navigate the intersection of commercial law, regulatory complexity, and product velocity has never been higher. The recent posting for a Senior Counsel role at Arc - a London-based, remote-first opportunity attracting over a hundred applicants within days - signals a broader market truth: the most coveted legal seats are no longer in traditional law firms, but embedded within high-growth tech and fintech organisations.

Insight: A Senior Counsel role in a scale-up like Arc isn't just a job change - it’s a strategic pivot from advisory to ownership. You stop billing hours and start building legal infrastructure that scales with the business.

Why This Role Represents the New Apex of In-House Practice

Arc operates at the cutting edge of financial technology. While the job description is concise, the implications are profound. A Senior Counsel in this environment typically owns the full contract lifecycle - from enterprise SaaS agreements and strategic partnerships to vendor negotiations and data processing addenda. But the remit extends far beyond paper-pushing. You become the legal architect for product launches, the first line of defence on regulatory engagement (FCA, GDPR, e-money regulations), and a trusted advisor to the C-suite on risk appetite.

Unlike private practice, where success is measured by billable hours and client retention, in-house success at a company like Arc is measured by velocity of execution, reduction of legal debt, and enablement of revenue. The remote-first model further amplifies the need for asynchronous communication mastery, self-directed prioritisation, and the ability to build influence without physical presence.

The Unspoken Competency Matrix: What Arc Is Really Screening For

With 100+ applicants, the hiring team will deploy ruthless filtering. Beyond the baseline - 5+ years PQE, UK qualification, commercial/tech contracts expertise - the differentiating factors are subtle but decisive:

• Product Fluency: Can you read a product spec and spot the regulatory hooks (PSD2, FCA perimeter, consumer duty) before engineering ships code?
• Commercial Pragmatism: Do you redline for protection or for progression? Scale-ups need counsel who close deals, not perfect clauses.
• Regulatory Antennae: Have you engaged with the FCA, ICO, or PRA? Can you map a product roadmap to regulatory milestones?
• Stakeholder Translation: Can you explain a data transfer impact assessment to a VP of Engineering in 60 seconds without legalese?
• Tooling & Operations: Experience with Ironclad, Juro, Notion, Slack, Jira - legal ops isn't optional; it's the job.

Crafting an Application That Survives the 6-Second Scan

Your LinkedIn profile and CV must signal in-house readiness instantly. Recruiters at tech companies scan for keywords and patterns, not narratives. Optimise for:

• Headline: "Senior Commercial Counsel | Fintech & SaaS | FCA/GDPR | Contract Automation" beats "Senior Associate, Magic Circle" every time.
• Metrics-Driven Bullets: "Negotiated 120+ enterprise contracts/yr, reducing cycle time 40% via playbook deployment" > "Drafted and negotiated commercial agreements."
• Tech Stack Visibility: List CLM tools, e-signature platforms, project management software. If you've built a legal front door in Slack or Notion, shout it.
• Regulatory Artefacts: Mention specific frameworks: FCA Consumer Duty implementation, PSD2 RTS compliance, UK GDPR transfer mechanisms post-Schrems II.

Pro Tip: If you're currently in private practice, frame your secondment or client-embedded experience as "in-house adjacent." Highlight any instance where you owned outcomes, not just deliverables.

The Interview Gauntlet: Preparing for the Arc Assessment Loop

Tech legal interviews follow a predictable but rigorous arc. Expect three to four stages:

1. The Recruiter Screen (Cultural & Logistical Fit)

Remote work discipline, notice period, salary bands. Be ready with a total compensation expectation (base + bonus + equity) anchored to London fintech benchmarks (Senior Counsel: £110k-£150k base, 10-20% bonus, meaningful equity).

2. The Hiring Manager Deep Dive (Legal Competence & Judgment)

Case studies are standard. You may receive a 10-page MSA 24 hours before the call with instructions: "Redline for Arc's risk profile. Prioritise top 5 issues. Explain commercial rationale." Practice this weekly. Build a personal playbook library: limitation of liability caps, IP ownership in AI-generated outputs, data processing terms for sub-processors, termination for convenience clauses.

3. The Cross-Functional Panel (Business Partnership)

Expect a Head of Product, VP Engineering, and CFO/COO. They'll test: "Legal blocked our launch last quarter. How do you prevent that?" Your answer must demonstrate proactive legal design - legal reviews embedded in sprint planning, pre-approved fallback positions, self-serve legal FAQs for sales.

4. The Values & Leadership Conversation (Culture Add)

Arc's values (likely: ownership, transparency, user obsession, speed) will be probed. Prepare STAR stories showing: a time you disagreed with a commercial leader and how you resolved it; a regulatory crisis you navigated; a legal process you built from zero.

Remote-First Success: The First 90 Days Blueprint

Landing the role is step one. Thriving in a remote Senior Counsel seat requires intentional onboarding:

• Week 1-2: Legal Landscape Audit. Map every contract template, pending negotiation, regulatory filing, and open legal request. Meet every stakeholder (15-min coffees). Identify the "top 3 legal fires" and the "top 3 strategic opportunities."
• Week 3-4: Quick Wins & Playbooks. Deploy a one-page NDA self-serve flow. Standardise SaaS addenda. Publish a "Legal Front Door" Notion page with SLAs. Measure adoption.
• Month 2: Strategic Projects. Lead the FCA Consumer Duty evidence pack. Build the vendor risk tiering framework. Design the equity incentive plan legal framework.
• Month 3: Operating Rhythm. Establish monthly legal metrics review (contract volume, cycle time, risk exposure). Quarterly business reviews with each department. Annual legal strategy deck for board.

Career Trajectory: Where This Role Takes You

A Senior Counsel stint at a Series B/C fintech like Arc is a proven launchpad for:

• General Counsel at earlier-stage startups (Seed-Series A) within 2-3 years.
• Head of Legal / VP Legal at scale-ups (Series D+), often with 5-10 direct reports.
• Chief Legal Officer track at unicorns, especially if you lead international expansion or M&A.
• Legal Operators / Legal Tech Founders - many ex-in-house counsel build the tools they wished they had.

The equity component (even if modest) aligns incentives with a potential liquidity event - IPO or strategic exit - offering upside pure salary roles never deliver.

Market Reality: The best in-house lawyers don't wait for roles to be posted. They map target companies, connect with GCs on LinkedIn, comment thoughtfully on their posts, and ask for "coffee chats" 6 months before a role opens. This Arc role? The next one