Global Head, Derivatives & Trading Legal

Kraken; New York (NY); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraken, the leading crypto exchange, seeks a senior derivatives counsel to own global derivatives structuring strategy and lead regulatory engagement across jurisdictions. You will shape product architecture, cross-border licensing, and risk alignment while building depth in the legal function to scale with regulatory expectations.

You will partner with in-house teams to manage interactions with regulators (CFTC, FCA, CySEC and others) and guide external counsel for specialized input, ensuring

Qualifications

• 18+ years’ post-qualification experience (PQE) in financial services regulatory law gained at a regulated financial services institution, major liquidity provider or in a law firm/private practice supporting such clients, with demonstrated ability to independently own BAU regulatory workstreams.
• Experience supporting regulator engagement (e.g., with the CFTC, NFA, FCA, CySEC, or an equivalent EU competent authority), including notifications, information requests, and supervisory correspondence.
• Substantial senior in-house or equivalent experience in derivatives legal, with demonstrated ownership of structuring strategy rather than transactional execution alone.
• Deep, expert-level command of at least one of the following derivatives regulatory regimes — US (CFTC, NFA; FCM, DCM and DCO structures), UK (FCA), EEA, or an offshore regime (e.g., Bermuda) — together with a high degree of fluency in at least one other.
• Direct experience with virtual asset markets.
• Experience structuring a product offering across multiple licensed entities in different jurisdictions, and holding a view on where activity, risk and the client relationship should sit.
• A track record of building or materially scaling a legal function or team, including hiring, levelling and succession.
• The range to operate at function level, setting strategy for the function as a whole, organising it to stay ahead of the regulatory perimeter, and holding senior lawyers to account for results and behaviour, not only for output.
• Credibility with regulators and the judgement to take positions in front of them.
• Comfort operating as the senior legal voice in a fast-moving, product-led business where the regulatory perimeter changes underneath you, and comfort staying close to the work rather than managing at a distance.

Responsibilities

• Own global derivatives structuring strategy.
• Hub-and-spoke architecture, unified balances, cross-margining, and where risk and client relationships sit across the group.
• Be the named senior legal owner for the derivatives and trading product lines.
• Hire, level and develop senior derivatives counsel across jurisdictions, building depth and succession.
• Act as the senior legal counterpart for derivatives regulatory engagement with regulators, pre-socialising positions with regulators and internal leadership.
• Collaborate with Regulatory Legal on supervisory relationships and on new permissions and variations tied to product launches.
• Direct external counsel where specialist input is required.

Job description

Kraken, the leading crypto exchange, seeks a senior derivatives counsel to own global derivatives structuring strategy and lead regulatory engagement across jurisdictions. You will shape product architecture, cross-border licensing, and risk alignment while building depth in the legal function to scale with regulatory expectations.

You will partner with in-house teams to manage interactions with regulators (CFTC, FCA, CySEC and others) and guide external counsel for specialized input, ensuring