Legal Counsel

About WalletConnect

WalletConnect is one of the core infrastructure teams in Web3 — we build the connectivity layer that lets wallets and apps communicate securely across blockchains. Since launching in 2018, we’ve grown into a network of 75,000+ apps, 700+ wallets, and 50+ million users. Our mission is to power the financial internet by making digital ownership and payments interoperable and accessible.

We’ve recently launched WalletConnect Pay — a payments solution that lets merchants and payment providers leverage blockchain rails for new payment experiences, like stablecoin checkout, payouts, and deposits.

Backed by $38M from investors like Union Square Ventures, Shopify, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and Uniswap Labs, we’re a global, remote-first team that values openness, simplicity, innovation, and ownership.

Why Now

We’re entering our most ambitious chapter yet. WalletConnect Pay is an end-to-end crypto and stablecoin payment method built on the world’s largest wallet network — already embedded in Stripe, Coinbase Commerce, Shopify, MoonPay, Shift4, and BitPay, with a landmark partnership with Ingenico bringing stablecoin payments to 40M+ terminals across 120+ countries.

As WalletConnect Pay scales into regulated payments infrastructure, the legal surface is expanding fast — product launches across multiple jurisdictions, commercial agreements with major payment providers and merchants, and evolving stablecoin and crypto-asset regulation globally. Our Chief Legal Officer needs a hands-on counsel who can own day-to-day legal work across product, commercial, and payments. This hire joins at the moment legal is becoming a core enabler of product velocity, not a bottleneck

The Role

This is a Legal Counsel position reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer. You’ll be a critical legal partner for WalletConnect’s product, commercial and engineering teams — embedded in the work, not advising from the sidelines. You’ll provide real-time legal guidance on product features, review and negotiate commercial agreements, and navigate the regulatory landscape across payments, crypto-assets, and data protection.

This role is designed for someone who wants to be in the weeds. You’ll work alongside product managers and engineers as features are being designed and help the team ship with confidence. On the commercial side, you’ll own the contract lifecycle for merchant, PSP, and partner agreements — building scalable templates and processes rather than handling one-off bespoke deals.

Day-to-day, you’ll split your time across product legal counselling, commercial contract work, and regulatory support. You’ll work across jurisdictions — easily spanning U.S., UK, EU, LatAM and APAC markets — and collaborate closely with the Chief Legal Officer on strategic priorities. We’re looking for someone technically curious, comfortable with ambiguity, and excited about using AI tools to accelerate legal workflows.

Requirements

Product & Engineering Partnership

• Serve as a key legal partner for product teams — provide real-time guidance on product features, user flows, and technical architecture from a legal and regulatory perspective.
• Embed in the product development lifecycle: participate in design reviews, plan for legal and compliance risks early, and help teams ship confidently within regulatory boundaries.
• Advise on data protection, privacy, and consumer-facing legal requirements across product surfaces.
• Monitor and interpret regulatory developments affecting product design — stablecoin frameworks (EU MiCA, U.S. Genius Act), payments regulation, and data protection (GDPR, international equivalents).
• Translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into actionable product guidance that engineering and product teams can work with directly.

Commercial Contracts

• Support the contract lifecycle for merchant, PSP, acquirer, and partner agreements — drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and closing.
• Build and maintain scalable contract templates and playbooks that enable the BD team to move faster with less legal dependency.
• Support commercial negotiations with a pragmatic, deal-enabling mindset — balancing risk management with commercial velocity.
• Develop standardised legal processes for recurring deal types, reducing turnaround time and creating repeatable frameworks.
• Review third-party agreements and assist with onboarding procedures.

Payments & Regulatory Support

• Support analysis of payments licensing, stablecoin regulation, and crypto-asset compliance across key jurisdictions (U.S., EU, and other markets).
• Support licensing applications and regulatory filings as WalletConnect Pay expands into new markets.
• Track and advise on evolving regulatory frameworks and cross-border payments regulation.

Cross-Functional Legal Support

• Support the Chief Legal Officer on corporate governance, fundraising documentation, and strategic legal initiatives as needed.
• Contribute to internal legal knowledge — build training materials, FAQs, and self-serve resources that reduce the legal team’s reactive workload.
• Support data protection and privacy requirements and initiatives.
• Use AI tools (contract review, drafting, legal research, internal materials) to accelerate legal workflows and improve team productivity.

What You Bring

Must-Haves

• Qualified lawyer with 5-9 years of post-qualification experience.
• Experience in product, commercial and/or technology law.
• You’ve drafted and negotiated commercial agreements at pace.
• Strong understanding of payments, fintech, or financial services regulation — you know how regulated products get built and shipped.
• Experience working closely with product and engineering teams — you’re comfortable in technical conversations and can translate legal requirements into actionable guidance.
• International and cross-border legal awareness — comfortable working across jurisdictions and navigating multi-market regulatory complexity.
• Proactive, autonomous working style — you take ownership and take initiative to collaborate with other teams.
• Enthusiastic about AI-assisted legal workflows — you actively use or want to use AI tools for contract review, drafting, research, and knowledge management.

Nice-to-Haves

• Background in a law firm or government office with a move to high-growth technology firm — combining rigorous legal training with commercial pragmatism.
• Experience at a neobank, payments company, or fintech where legal worked at engineering and product speed.
• Experience in Web3, blockchain, or crypto — helpful but not required. Traditional payments and fintech experience without crypto experience is welcomed.
• Experience building scalable legal processes, templates, and self-serve tooling for commercial teams.

Benefits

• Fully remote position with a budget for your home office or work environment.
• Regular team offsites to incredible locations around the world.
• Opportunities to travel to conferences and community events.
• Generous PTO and parental leave.
• Meaningful Learning & Development budget.
• Competitive compensation package including salary, equity, and potentially tokens.
• Healthcare coverage for US-based team members.
• The chance to build at the forefront of onchain payments with one of the most recognised companies in Web3.