The challenge

Your job: minimize legal risk across Deriv's fintech operations—where contract missteps create exposure, where disputes don't have clear precedents, and where legal operations need to scale as fast as the business grows.

You'll manage contracts from draft to termination, handle litigation where fintech creates novel questions, and design legal processes that eliminate manual work. You make judgment calls on complex matters, build frameworks that scale, and advise when compliance requirements conflict with commercial objectives.

This isn't legal administration. It's making legal decisions that shape what the business can build.

AI can draft contracts and research case law. Only you can negotiate terms that balance protection with speed, decide litigation strategy, and design legal operations that actually work

Why this matters

Deriv's mission is Trading for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime. Operating globally means navigating complex, often conflicting legal frameworks. Your legal work determines which products we can launch, which partnerships we can form, and whether our business operations withstand regulatory scrutiny and legal challenge.

Your legal expertise enables business growth by providing clear guidance on what's legally permissible and building frameworks that let us move fast without creating unmanageable risk.

Why Deriv

We're building AI for legal work. Not talking about it—building it. You'll partner with engineers to automate contract drafting, legal research, and compliance tracking. You decide what we build next.
You'll own outcomes, not just provide opinions. Handle complex legal projects with real business consequences. Make decisions, not just legal memos
You're part of strategy, not just risk review. Your legal assessments shape product decisions, partnership strategy, and operational approach.

What You'll Do

Draft and manage contracts where terms need to protect Deriv while enabling deals to close. Make calls on acceptable risk when standard provisions don't fit.
Own high-risk legal matters where precedent is unclear. Provide legal guidance that enables business decisions, not just identifies problems. Make judgment calls when legal safety conflicts with commercial objectives.
Assess exposure, decide litigation strategy, and manage external counsel on matters where fintech creates novel legal questions.
Create policies for contract governance and regulatory compliance that work as we expand. Update proactively as regulations evolve, not reactively when auditors find gaps.
Advise on cross-border legal matters including data privacy (GDPR and global frameworks), regulatory compliance, and licensing requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
Partner with engineers to build AI tools for contract drafting, legal research, and compliance tracking. Design processes that eliminate repetitive work so legal expertise focuses where it actually matters.
Translate complex legal requirements into practical guidance. Train teams on legal boundaries so they can move fast without creating exposure.
Collaborate with senior stakeholders across business, compliance, risk, and product functions to drive legally sound and commercially viable outcomes.

Who You Are

You are a qualified legal professional with 6+ years in corporate legal where you've owned complex matters, not just reviewed them. You've provided legal advice when the safe answer was 'no' but the business needed 'how.'
You understand fintech law in practice. You know how regulations work when technology moves faster than legislation.
You're comfortable with AI and automation. You use AI tools already or you're eager to learn to automate legal processes.
You assess risk without killing momentum. You're commercially pragmatic, helping business make informed decisions with sound judgment and accountability.
You explain legal complexity in plain language. You translate legal requirements into guidance that engineers, product managers, and executives can actually use. Strong English communication.
You have multi-jurisdictional experience advising global organizations. Exposure to data privacy frameworks (GDPR or equivalent) is desirable.
You demonstrate strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior decision-makers and balance competing priorities.

The honest reality

You'll own legal matters that shape business direction across global markets. You'll build frameworks that enable product launches and partnership opportunities. And you'll help create AI tools that make legal work more efficient.

The stakes are high. Legal decisions have real business consequences—contract terms determine partnership viability, regulatory compliance shapes market access, and legal guidance enables or constrains growth. You'll need sound judgment and the ability to balance legal protection with business pragmatism.

Location

You'll be based at our Dubai office in Business Bay, working with over 200 professionals from diverse backgrounds. Our culture is unique, and we live by our values and leadership principles, so it's worth learning more about Deriv's culture.

Senior In-house Legal Counsel

Job Description