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Payward (parent company of Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks) is seeking a Deputy General Counsel to serve as the Global Head of Derivatives and Trading Legal. This is a newly created, function-owning role designed to consolidate global derivatives structuring strategy under a single senior owner.
You will own the global derivatives and trading legal function across a complex, multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape. The role encompasses futures and options products across the group, margin trading in the US, and a suite of trading products including leveraged and liquidity products, prediction markets, indices, market data, evaluation-based trading services, and structured yield.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning global derivatives structuring strategy, including product structure, venue and entity architecture, clearing models, and coherent derivatives delivery across separately licensed entities in the US, UK, EEA, and Bermuda.
- Solving cross-entity problems such as hub-and-spoke architecture, unified balances, cross-margining, and determining where risk and client relationships sit across the group.
- Serving as the named senior legal owner for derivatives and trading product lines, integrated into the product launch process from inception.
- Leading and building the global derivatives and trading legal team, including hiring, leveling, and developing senior counsel across jurisdictions.
- Partnering with Global Policy and Government Relations on regulatory engagement with the CFTC, NFA, FCA, BMA, CySEC, and other regulators, pre-socializing positions before they land.
- Supporting supervised entities carrying derivatives permissions, working on continuous supervisory relationships and new permissions tied to product launches.
- Bringing structuring judgment in-house and directing external counsel where specialist input is required.
The role reports into the General Counsel and oversees senior derivatives and trading counsel across the US, UK, and EEA, with the function set to grow. The general counsel of the acquired US futures brokerage (NinjaTrader) reports into this function.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Attorney admitted to practice in the US, or qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister of England & Wales, Irish Solicitor/Barrister, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State).
- 18+ years' post-qualification experience (PQE) in financial services regulatory law, gained at a regulated financial services institution, major liquidity provider, or law firm supporting such clients, with demonstrated ability to independently own BAU regulatory workstreams.
- Experience supporting regulator engagement (CFTC, NFA, FCA, CySEC, or 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 derivatives regulatory regime (US CFTC/NFA/FCM/DCM/DCO structures, UK FCA, EEA, or offshore regime such as Bermuda), together with high degree of fluency in at least one other.
- Direct experience with virtual asset markets (core requirement).
- Experience structuring a product offering across multiple licensed entities in different jurisdictions, with clear views on where activity, risk, and client relationships should sit.
- Track record of building or materially scaling a legal function or team, including hiring, leveling, and succession planning.
- Ability to operate at function level, setting strategy for the function as a whole, organizing to stay ahead of the regulatory perimeter, and holding senior lawyers accountable for results and behavior.
- Credibility with regulators and judgment 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, and comfort staying close to the work rather than managing at a distance.
NICE TO HAVES:
- Exposure to prediction markets, margin lending, or tokenized and structured products.
- Experience integrating acquired regulated entities and their legal teams into a group legal function.
