Sr Director, Legal Counsel

FIS Capital Markets; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Experience in financial services

Global regulatory knowledge

Legal operations governance

Professional certifications

Leading large teams

Job summary

FIS Capital Markets is seeking a Sr Director, Legal Counsel to provide strategic legal leadership that enables business growth while safeguarding the organization from risk. You will oversee commercial transactions, governance, litigation, and regulatory compliance across a broad business landscape.

You will guide executives, align legal strategies with corporate objectives, manage external counsel, and build a high-performing legal team focused on risk management and enterprise resilience.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading legal functions within complex, regulated organizations.
• Expertise in commercial contracting, contract negotiation, and legal risk management.
• Strong knowledge of corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and business law principles.
• Experience managing litigation strategy, dispute resolution, and external counsel relationships.
• Proven ability to advise executive leadership on strategic business decisions and legal impacts.
• Strong understanding of mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and corporate transaction frameworks.
• Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on strategic legal, regulatory, and business matters.
• Lead the review, drafting, negotiation, and oversight of complex commercial agreements and business transactions.
• Develop legal strategies that balance business objectives with risk mitigation and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Direct high-impact litigation, dispute resolution, and external counsel engagements to safeguard organizational interests.
• Provide leadership on corporate governance practices, board-related matters, and regulatory obligations.
• Advise stakeholders on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions, including due diligence activities.
• Counsel leaders on labor and employment matters, employee relations issues, workplace investigations, and employment agreements.
• Develop and oversee legal policies, procedures, and operational frameworks that support enterprise objectives.
• Guide legal response strategies during crisis situations to protect reputation, business continuity, and legal standing.
• Build, lead, and mentor high-performing legal teams while driving operational excellence, accountability, and professional development.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Negotiation skills

Regulatory risk management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Law

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

Job Description

At FIS, our technology and our people are moving forward. We advance the way the world pays, banks and invests. We believe in building inclusive, diverse teams. Together, we innovate to help our colleagues, clients and communities succeed. If you’re ready to grow your career and make an impact in fintech, we have one question: Are you FIS?

About the Role

As Sr Director, Legal Counsel, you will provide strategic legal leadership that enables business growth while protecting the organization from legal, regulatory, and operational risk. You will oversee complex commercial transactions, corporate governance activities, litigation matters, and regulatory compliance initiatives across a broad business landscape. Working closely with executive leadership, you will guide critical business decisions and ensure legal strategies align with organizational objectives. Success in this role is measured through effective risk management, strong governance practices, successful business partnerships, and the development of a high-performing legal function.

What You Will Be Doing

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on strategic legal, regulatory, and business matters.
• Lead the review, drafting, negotiation, and oversight of complex commercial agreements and business transactions.
• Develop legal strategies that balance business objectives with risk mitigation and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Direct high-impact litigation, dispute resolution, and external counsel engagements to safeguard organizational interests.
• Provide leadership on corporate governance practices, board-related matters, and regulatory obligations.
• Advise stakeholders on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions, including due diligence activities.
• Counsel leaders on labor and employment matters, employee relations issues, workplace investigations, and employment agreements.
• Develop and oversee legal policies, procedures, and operational frameworks that support enterprise objectives.
• Guide legal response strategies during crisis situations to protect reputation, business continuity, and legal standing.
• Build, lead, and mentor high-performing legal teams while driving operational excellence, accountability, and professional development.

What you Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Juris Doctor, or equivalent legal qualification.
• Significant experience leading legal functions within complex, regulated organizations.
• Demonstrated expertise in commercial contracting, contract negotiation, and legal risk management.
• Strong knowledge of corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and business law principles.
• Experience managing litigation strategy, dispute resolution processes, and external legal counsel relationships.
• Proven ability to advise executive leadership on strategic business decisions and legal impacts.
• Strong understanding of mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and corporate transaction frameworks.
• Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills.

Added bonus if you have

• Experience supporting financial services, fintech, payments, banking, or technology organizations.
• Knowledge of global regulatory frameworks and cross-border business transactions.
• Experience implementing legal operations best practices, governance frameworks, and process improvements.
• Professional certifications or advanced training in corporate governance, compliance, or risk management.
• Experience leading large, geographically dispersed teams and complex enterprise initiatives.

What We Offer you

Opportunities to make an impact in fintech

Personal and professional learning

Inclusive, diverse work environment

Resources to give back to your community

Competitive salary and benefits

Privacy Statement

FIS is committed to protecting the privacy and security of all personal information that we process in order to provide services to our clients. For specific information on how FIS protects personal information online, please see the Online Privacy Notice.

EEOC Statement

FIS is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. The EEO is the Law poster is available here supplement document available here

For positions located in the US, the following conditions apply. If you are made a conditional offer of employment, you will be required to undergo a drug test. ADA Disclaimer: In developing this job description care was taken to include all competencies needed to successfully perform in this position. However, for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes, the essential functions of the job may or may not have been described for purposes of ADA reasonable accommodation. All reasonable accommodation requests will be reviewed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Sourcing Model

Recruitment at FIS works primarily on a direct sourcing model; a relatively small portion of our hiring is through recruitment agencies. FIS does not accept resumes from recruitment agencies which are not on the preferred supplier list and is not responsible for any related fees for resumes submitted to job postings, our employees, or any other part of our company.

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