Derivatives Lawyer (Master Agreements)
Join a global legal solutions team shaping the future of derivatives negotiation.
Role Description
We are expanding our Derivatives Documentation team and seeking experienced Senior ISDA Negotiators to support complex negotiation work across global financial institutions.
If you have hands-on experience with ISDA, GMRA, GMSLA, and CSA documentation, this is an opportunity to work with high-performing legal professionals on transformative client projects. As a Senior ISDA Negotiator, you will play a central role in executing and improving our clients’ trading documentation frameworks. You will work closely with legal, credit, risk, and operations teams across jurisdictions to negotiate derivatives agreements that align with regulatory and commercial requirements.
This role is suited to specialists who thrive in technical detail, structured negotiation, and client collaboration. We welcome full-time permanent candidates to apply as well as consultants who can commit to a full-time 8-hours-per-day schedule for 12 months.
Company Profile
Cognia seamlessly extends corporates, banks and law firms’ legal capability to deliver sustainable outcomes. Our goal is to connect the legal sector, moving it from a siloed approach to integrated partnerships. We help in-house legal teams by bringing simplicity to complex matters and replacing broken procedures with efficient processes.
Cognia is a Chambers-ranked law company which integrates how legal services are provided so our team, partners, clients and communities thrive together with people at the heart of what we do. We encourage our people to bring their whole self to work and focus on enabling them to realise their full potential.
For more information, please visit www.cognialaw.com
Role Responsibilities
- Lead end‑to‑end negotiation cycles for complex master trading documentation, including ISDA Master Agreements, Credit Support Annexes, GMRA, GMSLA, CDEA, and MRRA.
- Act as the primary negotiation partner to international investment bank clients, engaging directly with counterparties, external counsel, and senior stakeholders.
- Craft high‑quality first drafts and refined mark‑ups, applying deep technical judgement to translate stakeholder instructions into precise, defensible negotiation positions.
- Review and challenge counterparty comments with confidence, identifying risks, proposing pragmatic alternatives, and escalating key issues with clear recommendations that support decision‑making.
- Drive stakeholder alignment across Legal, Credit, Risk, Operations, and Treasury, ensuring complex matters progress efficiently and with fully informed approvals across all functions.
- Represent Cognia and our clients in high‑value negotiations, managing both the technical depth and the relationship dynamics required to conclude agreements effectively.
- Lead documentation workstreams on large‑scale programmes, such as repapering, regulatory remediation, and multi‑jurisdictional uplift initiatives.
- Coach and guide junior and mid‑level negotiators, providing quality review, technical mentoring, and practical insights that support their development and strengthen overall team delivery.
- Enhance negotiation playbooks, templates, and internal processes, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, and risk control across all agreements.
- Maintain meticulous documentation and version control, ensuring negotiation logs, audit trails, and internal reporting are accurate, current, and client‑ready at all times.
- Act as a trusted escalation point, resolving complex drafting challenges and advising on commercial, legal, and operational impacts with confidence and clarity.
Requirements
- Experience at a Bank, Law firm or in-house legal department drafting and negotiating financial markets documentation including but not limited to ISDA, GMRA, GMSLA, ISDA/FIA CDEA and CSAs;
- A tertiary education in Law is preferred, though it is not mandatory.
- Experience in asset management is preferred but not required.
- Strong abilities in negotiation and document drafting
- Proven capability to collaborate and efficiently engage with stakeholders
- Skill in analysing intricate legal and contractual provisions
- Strong attention to detail
- Knowledge of and experience in relevant regulatory and legal matters, along with effective communication skills
- Competent in managing a substantial portfolio of multiple ongoing negotiations within a target-driven environment
- Ability to maintain resilience while handling demanding clients
- Language proficiency: English – both spoken and written (mandatory)