Senior Legal Counsel

Standard Chartered; Singapore; On-site; SGD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Standard Chartered is seeking a qualified lawyer for a 6‑month STA in Singapore to provide strategic legal guidance on technology and operations matters. You will review and negotiate global tech transactions, support digitisation initiatives with fintech partners, and advise on IP, data privacy and vendor governance.

You will collaborate with risk, compliance, information security and cloud teams, and help train T&O colleagues while overseeing external counsel where needed.

Qualifications

• Must be a qualified lawyer with at least 5 years post-qualification experience.
• Good knowledge of technology and operations law in financial services.
• Experience with API, blockchain, fintech and outsourcing topics is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice on technology and operations matters across the bank.
• Review, draft and negotiate global tech and operations transactions and outsourcing.
• Support digitisation initiatives, fintech collaborations, data analytics and e-contracting.
• Advise on IP, data privacy, liability, confidentiality, SLAs and vendor governance.
• Coordinate with risk, compliance, information security and cloud governance teams.
• Train and share best practices with T&O teams and group functions.
• Liaise with external counsel, manage scope and legal costs.

Skills

Technology & ops law

Contract negotiation

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management

Education

Qualified lawyer, 5+ PQE

Job description

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, elevate, 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 mandatory.

Experience working at a regional and / or global capacity is beneficial.

Understanding of risk management techniques.

Exemplary integrity, ethics, independence and resilience.

Be collaborative, and a strong team player.

Personal authority with proven ability to establish relationships and provide strong direction at senior levels.

Taking responsibility over matter management, including following up with relevant stakeholders and decision‑makers regularly.

Role Specific Technical Competencies

• Commercial Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Legal Analysis
• Legal Function
• Legislative Analysis
• Litigation

About Standard Chartered

We’re a global bank connecting clients to our differentiated network, offering growth opportunities in the world’s most dynamic markets. Our strategy, which combines cross-border capabilities and leading wealth management expertise, helps us deliver our purpose - to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity.

Over our 170-year history, and across a unique geographical footprint connecting Asia, Africa and the Middle East to each other and the world, we’ve built a bank like no other, with diverse capabilities and partnerships that set us apart.

What We Offer

• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions, and geographies.
• In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.
• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market‑leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global employee assistance programme, sick leave, mental health first‑aiders and self‑help toolkits.
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual, and digital learning.

Recruitment Assessments

Some of our roles use assessments to help us understand how suitable you are for the role you’ve applied to. If you are invited to take an assessment, this is great news. It means your application has progressed to an important stage of our recruitment process.

Visit our careers website to learn more about us: www.sc.com/careers.