Lead Legal Counsel

Trust Bank; Singapore; On-site; SGD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A digital-first banking institution in Singapore seeks a Lead Legal Counsel to oversee legal matters and regulatory risks. The role involves supporting product teams, managing legal documentation, and providing innovative legal support. The ideal candidate is a Singapore qualified lawyer with 7-9 years of experience in banking law and strong analytical skills. Trust Bank values inclusivity and offers a collaborative work culture.

Qualifications

• 7-9 years’ experience focused on finance/banking law.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience with retail and banking products.

Responsibilities

• First point of contact for product legal matters.
• Manage legal and regulatory risks for the bank.
• Draft and negotiate partner and ecosystem agreements.

Skills

Banking law

Technology and privacy law

Interpersonal communication

Analytical skills

Innovative thinking

Education

Singapore qualified lawyer

Tools

O365

Contentful

Figma

Job description

Trust is the first of a new breed of banks in Singapore – digitally native and focused on delivering a delightful customer experience. You will work in a fast‑paced and collaborative environment to solve new and interesting challenges each day. Together with our Trust team, you will help shape the future of our bank and be able to work on and solve many interesting challenges which we are facing, learn new ways of working, and help build delightful high‑quality products for our customers.

As Lead Legal Counsel you will work on and solve many interesting challenges, learn new ways of working, and, most importantly, build delightful high‑quality products for our customers.

Job Description

Your focus will be to support the business and product teams in Trust and its customer value propositions. You will help with the overall strategy in these areas and be a key decision maker for the legal team. You will also do the heavy lifting as an individual contributor on our lean and enthusiastic team, including helping with work outside your usual remit. We are an all‑hands‑on‑deck, start‑up kind of team, and we are all therefore “general” counsels in work that we cover – not specialised on a singular area.

A lot of your work will be focused on Trust Bank products, including the end‑to‑end customer journey, customer terms and conditions and product agreements. You will also provide general legal support across a full range of legal matters, and advise senior management and business, functional and operational teams at all levels of the Bank, ensuring the right legal risk management frameworks and governance processes are embedded from the start.

The Role’s Responsibilities

• First point of contact on legal team for the business for any matters on products and services of the Bank, lead drafting on terms and conditions, drafting and negotiation of partner and ecosystem agreements, and suggest solutions whenever possible
• Manage legal and regulatory risks and issues
• You will have supervisory responsibilities for two other legal counsel team members on the team
• Give legal advice, drafting and transactional support to the business in Singapore with a focus on retail banking, insurance, and other products
• Provide innovative and commercially minded legal support for third‑party contracts and share such updates with the business on overall status of legal contract workstream
• Anticipate the impact of legal and regulatory developments on the business and communicate such impact to the business
• Create simple/easy solutions that will make customers and colleagues smile
• Find ways to improve the Bank, and do not be afraid to try new things/solutions
• Develop standard bank documentation and be part of periodic review, propose changes to ensure the documents stay appropriate, taking account of legal, regulatory and market developments, and to improve the overall customer experience
• Work with other functions, like Compliance and Risk, to ensure robust processes, documentation and pre and post sales governance are properly embedded
• Ensure material legal risks are identified and appropriately mitigated
• Standardise key processes and documentation
• Assist the Chief Legal Officer to support the on‑going business, business growth and address legal risks
• Review and develop policies and procedures for the terms on which business is conducted, and processes for managing legal risks
• Manage process of engaging external counsel, including providing instructions and negotiating fee structures
• Develop and maintain good relationships with internal and external business stakeholders ensuring an open and cooperative environment
• Support the building of a sustainable legal function
• Provide advice, briefings, recommendations and reports on material legal risks and issues to stakeholders
• Suggest, coordinate and lead training activities for other lawyers in the team (and the wider group) from time to time

Role Specific Technical Competencies

• Banking law – Advanced
• Technology and privacy law – Core
• O365, Contentful, and Figma – Core

Our Ideal Candidate

• Singapore qualified lawyer, between 7‑9 years’ experience, with a focus on finance/banking law
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate at all levels
• Comfortable working in a fast paced, ever‑changing environment
• Comfortable with difficult and new laws, regulations, and practices, always with a proactive, can‑do, solutions driven attitude
• Experience in and understanding of retail products and/or banking products
• Proven record of finding innovative solutions and innovative thinking
• Understanding of risk management techniques
• Strong analytical and innovative legal skills
• Sound judgment on business practices and reputational risk
• Personal authority and integrity with proven ability to establish relationships and exert influence at all levels
• An inquisitive approach to practices, procedures, and specific transactions
• Exemplary integrity, ethics, independence, and resilience
• Experience in Digital or Technology legal a plus
• Interest in and understanding of the developing regulatory Fintech environment, engagement of Fintech companies and implementing various commercial and cooperation models with third parties

Coming as you are! Trust is an inclusive and open‑minded workplace. If you are good at what you do and care about doing a good job, that’s what we focus and want from you. So come as you are. 😊

Trust is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Trust are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to age, gender, physical ability, race, religion or belief, family or parental status, sexuality, or any other status protected by laws or regulations. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. We encourage applicants of all ages.

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