Product Counsel

Kikoff; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Kikoff is seeking a talented lawyer to partner with product, engineering, and business teams across its growing consumer financial platform, including credit-building products. You will own matters from day one, translate complex rules into clear guidance, and shape product decisions in a fast-moving regulatory landscape.

This hybrid role is based in San Francisco, requires a California bar, and offers the chance to expand access to financial services for underserved consumers.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Active California state bar membership or in-house counsel status in CA.
• 5–8 years of legal experience in consumer financial services/fintech.
• Familiarity with federal consumer finance statutes (TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA).
• Experience with credit-building, earned wage access, or bank-partnered lending.
• Ability to translate legal research into decision-ready guidance.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to explain legal concepts simply.
• Interest in using AI to support legal functions.

Responsibilities

• Act as a day-to-day legal advisor to product and engineering teams through the lifecycle.
• Advise on design, structuring, and regulatory implications of consumer financial products (credit-building, EWA).
• Research and apply federal and state consumer financial regulations.
• Provide guidance on marketing and communications under TCPA, CAN-SPAM.
• Support bank-partnered and non-bank product structures.
• Advise on data privacy and consumer data protection requirements.
• Track regulatory developments and translate into practical guidance.
• Support state licensing applications, renewals, and filings.
• Draft, review, and negotiate consumer terms and commercial agreements.
• Collaborate with compliance, risk, marketing, and operations to embed guardrails.

Skills

California bar

5–8 years experience

Regulatory guidance

Clear communication

AI for legal

Education

J.D. from accredited law school

Job description

Kikoff: The Fintech Powering Financial Security at Scale
Kikoff is a profitable, pre-IPO fintech company on a mission to empower everyone to achieve financial security. With record revenue growth in 2025 and a unicorn valuation, we've built a suite of products that help millions of people build credit, access liquidity, and save money.
We're scaling fast. Join us if you want to build something meaningful and help millions of people move forward financially.

Why Kikoff:

This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.

The Role

We are looking for a talented, curious lawyer to serve as a legal partner to our product, engineering, and business teams. You will work across Kikoff's growing product ecosystem — including credit-building products, earned wage access (EWA), and new product lines in development — to help us move fast while staying on the right side of a complex and evolving regulatory landscape.

This role is a fit for someone who is early enough in their career to still be building depth, but far enough along to own problems end to end. You will have real ownership over your matters from day one and a direct line of sight into how legal decisions shape the product. You should be comfortable operating in areas of legal ambiguity, eager to learn both bank-partnered and direct-to-consumer product structures, and excited by the intersection of consumer financial services and technology.

What You'll Do

• Act as a day-to-day legal advisor to product and engineering teams throughout the product development lifecycle, from concept through launch and iteration, escalating novel or bet-the-company questions as appropriate.
• Advise on the design, structuring, and regulatory implications of consumer financial products, including credit-building tradelines, earned wage access, and new product concepts.
• Research and apply federal and state consumer financial regulations, including TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA, UDAAP, state financial regulation, and the evolving EWA regulatory landscape.
• Provide guidance on marketing and communications under TCPA, CAN-SPAM, and other state and federal law.
• Support both bank-partnered and non-bank product structures.
• Advise on data privacy and consumer data protection requirements.
• Track regulatory developments — particularly from the CFPB, state regulators, and the courts — and translate them into practical, actionable product guidance.
• Support state licensing applications, renewals, and compliance filings.
• Draft, review, and negotiate consumer-facing terms and disclosures, a variety of different marketing materials, and commercial agreements.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with compliance, risk, marketing, and operations to embed legal guardrails without slowing the pace of innovation.

What We're Looking For

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Be an active member of the California state bar or registered in-house counsel in California.
• 5-8 years of legal experience, including meaningful time in consumer financial services, fintech, or a closely adjacent regulatory practice. A mix of law firm and in-house experience is a plus, but we are open to candidates coming directly from a firm.
• Working knowledge of federal consumer finance statutes (TILA, ECOA, FCRA, EFTA) and a willingness to build depth quickly in state lending and money transmission frameworks.
• Exposure to at least one of: credit-building or credit reporting products, earned wage access, consumer lending through bank partnership models, or payments.
• Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments, and a track record of turning legal research into clear, decision-ready guidance rather than a memo full of caveats.
• Good judgment, intellectual honesty about what you do and do not know, and a bias toward enabling the business rather than only identifying risk.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Experience and curiosity in the use of AI to support legal functions.
• Enthusiasm for Kikoff's mission and the opportunity to expand access to financial services for underserved consumers.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with consumer data privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA, GLBA), or the appetite to get up to speed on advising product teams on data collection, use, and sharing practices.
• Experience advising on products involving AI or algorithmic decision-making in a consumer finance context, including fair lending and model governance considerations.
• Exposure to multi-state licensing or regulatory examination processes.
• Exposure to corporate governance or securities work at a scaling company.

Why This Role

This is a high-ownership seat on a small legal team at a company shipping real consumer financial products. You will not be a cog reviewing a queue of contracts. You will sit with product managers and engineers while decisions are being made, own your own regulatory questions, and grow into a subject-matter owner across one or more of our product lines.

Base Range

$200,000 - $250,000 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.

This is a hybrid position and requires being in the San Francisco, CA office three times a week.