Senior Counsel - Product (UK & EU)

Kraken; Greater London; Remote; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraken is seeking a Senior Counsel (Consumer Legal) to join our UK/EU team. You will collaborating across product, design and engineering to deliver compliant consumer crypto products and services.

The role requires hands-on regulatory experience, strong drafting and a crypto-forward mindset, with a focus on MiCA, MiFID, and UK financial promotions.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor with English/Welsh or EU admission.
• 5+ years PQE in financial services law at a regulated firm or in private practice.
• Experience advising on MiFID, MiCA, AMLD5 and UK promotions regimes.
• Strong drafting, analytical and organisational skills with clear English writing.

Responsibilities

• Provide consumer crypto product legal guidance across product teams.
• Collaborate with Product, Design and Engineering to shape compliant products.
• Advise on regulatory risk and provide actionable options for decision-makers.
• Distill complex legal/regulatory issues into clear guidance for non-lawyers.

Skills

Regulatory fluency

Analytical drafting

Clear written communication

Commercial risk guidance

Education

Solicitor in England & Wales (or EU equivalent)

5+ years PQE in financial services law

Tools

MiCA knowledge

MiFID knowledge

UK financial promotions knowledge

Job description

About the Company

Building the Future of Open FinancePayward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.The teamFounded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world s longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients. Join our growing Product Legal team of 10, embedded with Kraken s Product, Design, and Engineering teams to ship novel products and experiences that accelerate the global adoption of crypto. We re a tight, experienced group of product lawyers from a diverse range of tradfi, fintech, and crypto backgrounds who move fast, stay curious, and take pride in the commercial accountability of our advice - partnering directly with product teams to chart clear, defensible paths to launch.

The opportunity

This is a fully remote role for a qualified solicitor in the UK or admitted in an EU jurisdiction. The opportunityThe Senior Counsel (Consumer Legal) role is based in the UK or EU within our Consumer Legal team, partnering on cutting edge consumer products including crypto trading, earn, payments, on-chain integrations, equities, and tokenised equities. Reporting to the Head of Consumer Legal, you ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with Product, Design, and Engineering teams to shape and ship novel consumer products and experiences. We re looking for a hands-on lawyer with strong product development instincts, regulatory fluency, and negotiation skills (ideally honed in the regulated financial sector) combined with a crypto-forward mindset. Curiosity, flexibility, and a bias for action at the intersection of crypto and traditional global markets are essential.

What you bring

• Qualified lawyer (Solicitor of England & Wales, Irish Solicitor, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State).


• 5+ years PQE in financial services law gained at a regulated financial services firm, crypto services provider, or in private practice (ideally with direct product counselling experience).


• Preference for experience with advising on regulated MiFID investment services and familiarity with relevant crypto-asset regimes, including MiCA, AMLD5, UK financial promotions, and/or e-money regulations.


• Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills with crisp, plain-English writing.


• Ability to efficiently and confidently distill complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyers and product stakeholders.


• Pragmatic, commercially accountable approach to legal and regulatory risk that prioritises providing stakeholders with a useful range of options and delivers clear recommendations to decision-makers.


• Demonstrates an authentic passion for crypto and familiarity with the features of both Kraken and its competitors apps and products.

Nice to haves

• Expertise in MiCA framework applicable to CASPs including brokerage, custody and the operation of trading platforms.


• Expertise in UK crypto-asset financial promotions regime and proposals for incoming authorisation regime for regulating crypto asset service providers.


• Expertise in MiFID frameworks applicable to investment services including derivatives, equities, funds and emerging tokenised financial instruments.


• Familiarity with using AI tools such as Enterprise GPTs to increase efficient provision of legal services, create custom GPTs allowing stakeholders to self-serve on commoditised legal and regulatory queries.

Our commitment

Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.