Lending Counsel, Specialized Finance - Vice President

SMBC Group; Charlotte (NC); Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

SMBC Group in Charlotte, NC, seeks a Vice President to serve as Lending Counsel in Specialized Finance. You will review, draft, and negotiate credit documents, coordinating with front office and internal partners.

The role requires bar admission (NY or NC), at least 5 years in corporate lending, and strong drafting and communication skills. The team supports innovative capital solutions while offering a hybrid work model and opportunities to work within SMBC's global network.

Qualifications

• Admission to the New York or North Carolina bar.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in lending and project finance transactions.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, and risk management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and balance priorities.
• Excellent communication and teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Review, draft, and negotiate credit documents for domestic and cross-border transactions.
• Coordinate with front office and stakeholders on structuring credit deals.
• Support innovative capital solutions and structured transactions.
• Supervise external counsel.
• Monitor legal and market issues affecting lending.
• Maintain and update form documents.
• Provide guidance on New York law and U.S. market practice.
• Engage in continuing education and industry groups.
• Collaborate with SMBC Legal and internal partners to ensure standards.
• Escalate material issues to senior attorneys.

Skills

Legal drafting

Contract negotiation

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Team player

Education

Bar admission (NY or NC)

Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent

Job description

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Lending Counsel, Specialized Finance - Vice President

Job Level: Vice President

Location:

Charlotte, NC, US, 28202

Employment Type: Full Time

Requisition ID: 8246

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

Role Description

The Vice President and Counsel for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation will work within the Legal Department and report to the Head of the Specialized Finance Practice Group.

Role Objectives

Primary responsibilities include:

• Reviewing, drafting, and negotiating documentation for credit transactions, such as bilateral and syndicated credit agreements, reimbursement agreements, guarantees, security agreements, engagement letters, mandate letters, commitment letters, fee letters and term sheets, primarily in connection with domestic and cross-border corporate and/or project finance originations and restructurings.
• Working closely with the front office and other internal stakeholders to assist with the structuring and coordination of credit transactions,
• Providing support for innovative capital solutions and structured transactions, such as synthetic risk transfers, credit intermediation transactions and portfolio sales.
• Supervising and managing external counsel.
• Identifying and analyzing U.S. and cross-border legal, regulatory, and market issues affecting commercial lending businesses, including the legal risk associated with new products and activities.
• Maintaining and updating form documents.
• Providing periodic advice to other SMBC offices on matters of New York law and U.S. market practice, and
• Participating in continuing legal education seminars of relevance to the commercial lending businesses and participating in relevant industry groups (e.g., LSTA) in order to maintain current knowledge of developing law and market practice.
• Collaborate and coordinate with attorneys in SMBC Legal and other internal partners to ensure adherence to institutional standards and policies.
• Escalate material issues and developments to senior attorneys and members of management.

Qualifications and Skills

• Admission to the New York or North Carolina bar and a member of good standing of such bar.
• 5 years’ minimum experience at a law firm or in-house legal department advising financial institutions on bilateral and syndicated commercial lending transactions with a focus on corporate and/or project finance transactions. Excellent legal and analytical skills. Broad experience in general credit transactions, including secured and unsecured lending transactions, project finance, structured finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, insolvency and bankruptcy, and cross-border financing is preferred.
• Proven skills in legal risk management. Ability to see past the question and understand the bigger picture. Ability to balance competing demands and protect institutional interests. Ability to articulate complex concepts and ideas and apply them at a practical level to real-world situations.
• Excellent communication skills, technical drafting skills, and issue-spotting skills. Ability to work under pressure, operate comfortably in a fast-paced, demanding environment, and manage a significant workload with minimal supervision. Ability to think creatively and propose solutions.
• Must be a team player.

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at [e-mail].