Legal Counsel, Commercial

PayPal; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 204,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Generous paid time off

Flexible hybrid schedule

Job summary

PayPal is seeking a seasoned transactional attorney to provide best-in-class commercial support for major merchant and partner deals worldwide. You will partner with global sales teams to negotiate strategic agreements across PayPal's product and service offerings.

The role involves drafting and negotiating highly complex multinational agreements, coordinating cross-functional deal strategies, and delivering timely, high‑quality legal advice in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• JD required or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialized legal advice to enable business strategy while identifying and managing legal risk.
• Ensure awareness of and advise on compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Build strong partnerships with business counterparts across the enterprise to proactively identify potential legal risks and provide strategic legal guidance.
• Identify, analyze, and advise on potential legal risks, presenting mitigation options and recommendations to protect the company and enable business objectives.
• Escalate complex legal issues and significant risks to senior legal leadership where appropriate.
• Research and analyze new laws, regulations, and regulatory guidance affecting the company's global operations, assessing potential business impact and recommended actions.
• Manage assigned legal matters through resolution, coordinating with internal stakeholders and external counsel as needed.
• Maintain current knowledge of legal developments relevant to assigned business areas and communicate implications.

Education

Juris Doctorate (JD)

Job description

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers. We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary

This job uses specialized expertise to identify issues and recommend best practices. They lead functional projects and programs, partner where analysis requires an understanding of business trends, and their contributions may result in business or process improvements within the function.

Job Description

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide specialized legal advice and support to enable business strategy while identifying and managing legal risk.
• Ensure awareness of and advise on compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Build strong partnerships with business counterparts across the enterprise to proactively identify potential legal risks and provide strategic legal guidance.
• Identify, analyze, and advise on potential legal risks, presenting mitigation options and recommendations to protect the company and enable business objectives.
• Escalate complex legal issues and significant risks to senior legal leadership where appropriate.
• Research and analyze new laws, regulations, and regulatory guidance affecting the company's global operations, assessing potential business impact and recommended actions.
• Manage assigned legal matters through resolution, coordinating with internal stakeholders and external counsel as needed.
• Maintain current knowledge of legal developments relevant to assigned business areas and communicate implications.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Juris doctorate degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications

PayPal is seeking a strong transactional lawyer to be responsible for providing best-in-class commercial support for some of PayPal’s largest merchant and partner deals. The successful candidate will partner with PayPal's global sales teams to negotiate strategic and complex transactions with PayPal's merchants, marketplaces, and partners spanning all of PayPal's product and service offerings globally.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications

• The position will involve drafting and negotiating highly complex multinational agreements (including with large global merchant organizations) and providing sophisticated, quick, concise, and high-quality legal advice.
• The negotiations will include coordinating cross-functionally within PayPal to effectively craft deal strategies and to provide innovative advice for PayPal (including in the area of cross-border payment services).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Ideally this attorney will be well-versed in technology, licensing, and payment/financial services (including payments product solutions), with a critical eye towards risk and regulatory issues.
• Because the job will involve a large amount of drafting, editing, and writing, exceptional writing skills are an absolute necessity.
• The ideal candidate will be a confident self-starter with strong interpersonal and organizational skills and a demonstrated ability to: effectively and proactively provide sound legal advice; build credibility with business partners; exercise good business judgment; work with senior management; and implement policies and processes on a cross-functional basis in a fast-paced environment.
• At least 2 years' experience managing large deal closings that involved tracking the status of interrelated agreements, triggers, and stakeholder requirements
• Experience directly negotiating complex sales, marketing, or partner agreements with external parties
• Experience working with multiple client-side stakeholders such as sales, privacy, product, regional counsel, risk, and regulatory
• Ability to spot issues and problems, take initiative, find solutions, make recommendations, organize internal coordination, bring about decisions and implement change.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively navigate legal, compliance, and business needs
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to generate creative, original legal documents
• Hands-on experience, either as outside or inside counsel, to financial services, fintech, or technology companies
• Outstanding communication skills and ability to work both in teams and independently
• Strong negotiation and interpersonal skills and the ability to partner with internal and external stakeholders across the globe
• Experience in payments
• Ability to be highly engaged and succeed in a collaborative environment

Subsidiary

PayPal

Travel Percent

0

Primary Location : Pay Range

• Chicago, Illinois: ($130,500.00 - $193,600.00 Annually)
• Austin, Texas: ($130,500.00 - $193,600.00 Annually)
• San Jose, California: ($143,500.00 - $212,850.00 Annually)
• Washington DC, District of Columbia: ($137,000.00 - $203,500.00 Annually)
• Scottsdale, Arizona: ($123,500.00 - $183,700.00 Annually)
• Omaha, Nebraska: ($123,500.00 - $183,700.00 Annually)

Additional Location(s) : Pay Range

• Austin, Texas: ($130,500.00 - $193,600.00 Annually)
• San Jose, California: ($143,500.00 - $212,850.00 Annually)
• Washington DC, District of Columbia: ($137,000.00 - $203,500.00 Annually)
• Scottsdale, Arizona: ($123,500.00 - $183,700.00 Annually)
• Omaha, Nebraska: ($123,500.00 - $183,700.00 Annually)

Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits

• At PayPal, we're committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy.
• And we can't do this without our most important asset-you.
• That's why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing - physical, emotional, and financial - delivering meaningful value where it matters most.
• We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

• PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
• In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
• If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [e-mail].

Belonging at PayPal

• Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging.
• Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued.
• We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates.