Senior Legal Counsel

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore seeks a qualified lawyer for a 6-month STA (Jan–Jun 2027) to provide strategic legal advice on technology and operations matters across the Bank's client businesses.

You will review and draft technology agreements, support vendor management, and collaborate with risk, compliance, and information security teams to ensure regulatory clearances and compliant execution. Experience with API, blockchain, cloud and data privacy is preferred.

Qualifications

• Must be a qualified lawyer with 5+ years post-qualification experience.
• Strong knowledge of technology law, including API, blockchain, digital platforms and FinTech initiatives.
• Banking industry experience is preferred but not mandatory.

Responsibilities

• Provide proactive strategic legal advice on technology and operations issues across client businesses.
• Review, advise, draft and negotiate technology, software, outsourcing and e‑commerce agreements.
• Support vendor management, pre-litigation disputes and specialist technology advisory topics (IP, data privacy, SLAs, exit management).
• Coordinate with Compliance, Information Security and cloud governance for regulatory clearances and risk management.
• Liaise with external counsel, manage scope, cost and matter progression.

Skills

Technology law

Contract negotiation

Regulatory compliance

Vendor management

Open Banking APIs

Job description

Job Summary:

• This role is a Short-term assignment (STA) for 6 months (Jan -June 2027).
• Provide proactive strategic legal advice and support on key technology and operations legal issues and legal matters across the Bank's client businesses). Engage, build and maintain relationships with relevant stakeholders across the Bank's client businesses.
• Reviewing, advising, drafting and negotiating global and multi-country technology and operations transactions, including system and software integrations, software licenses, managed services, technology outsourcing and other technology and e-commerce arrangements.
• Provide legal support and expertise in relation to technology and operations developments which support the key digitisation initiatives of the Bank (including for example such as innovation initiatives, and working with FinTech companies and start-ups, electronic contracting, data and analytics projects, and other emerging technologies such as virtual banks, proofs of concept and pilots, and partnerships and collaborations, trading platforms, and blockchain initiatives).
• Provide legal support and advice for ongoing vendor and contract management issues including management of pre-litigation contract disputes and for specialist technology legal advisory support (including advising on topics such as technology, IP, liability, data privacy, confidentiality, service levels, exit management and supply chain governance issues) supported by the Enterprise Legal team and broader legal teams as required.
• Work with the Bank's various Risk owners such as Compliance, Regional and Country legal, information security and cloud governance teams, among others, to ensure that technology and operations projects and initiatives have the necessary legal and regulatory clearances, and comply with the Group's standards

Key Responsibilities

• Provide relevant stakeholders with accurate and timely information regarding the status of technology and operations matters. Drive best practices and lessons learned across the Bank network and create and provide training on legal issues in the sourcing and technology areas to legal teams, Technology and Operations (T&O) teams and group functions including supply chain management.
• Anticipating, identifying, mitigating, monitoring and reporting legal risks in relation to technology and operations projects and initiatives as required by the group's risk management framework.
• Support the Head, Legal, Business Technology in developing effective processes (including training, advice and support) to ensure that policies, procedures and standards to address legal risk are effectively implemented. Support the development and roll‑out of training programs on managing legal risk associated with third‑party provider contracts within the scope of the Business Technology Legal team.
• Support the API and Open Banking initiatives of the Bank.
• Support the Standard Chartered Bank Centre of Excellence for Legal initiative.
• Ensure close coordination with Vendor Management and other Legal teams, for example the client business Legal teams.
• Where external counsel/ legal support is appointed, liaise with external counsel/ legal support and ensure the scope of work is defined and appropriate, oversee the quality of work and manage external legal costs and ensure appropriate overall matter management.

Regulatory & Business Conduct

• Display exemplary conduct and live by the Group's Values and Code of Conduct.
• Take personal responsibility for embedding the highest standards of ethics, including regulatory and business conduct, across Standard Chartered Bank. This includes understanding and ensuring compliance with, in letter and spirit, all applicable laws, regulations, guidelines and the Group Code of Conduct.
• Effectively and collaboratively identify, escalation, mitigate and resolve risk, conduct and compliance matters

Key Stakeholders

• Head, Legal - Business Technology
• Client business leadership, management and project teams.
• T&O leadership, management and project teams.
• Supply Chain Management teams
• Vendor Management Teams
• Group functions management and project teams.
• Enterprise Legal team.
• Group Commercial Legal team
• Legal and Compliance teams - group, regional, business and country

Our Ideal Candidate

• Must be a qualified lawyer (solicitor, attorney or barrister) with 5+ years' post qualification experience.
• A good knowledge and understanding of technology legal matters including experience in current technology and operations trends (preferably in the financial industry) such as API, blockchain, digital platforms, virtual and digital banking and other FinTech initiatives as well experience in traditional technology procurement topics such as IP, Cloud, e-commerce, data privacy, information security and outsourcing.
• Experience in the banking industry (whether through in‑house or private practice) is preferred but not mandator