About the role
Responsibilities
Leadership of the legal function:
* Lead, develop and hold accountable the team leads across the legal function * Hire and grow talent across the legal team * Report regularly to the Group Head of Legal & Compliance and C-level on material legal risks, disputes and structural matters * Work as a peer with Compliance, Finance, Product and HR leadership * Set group-wide legal policies, standards and escalation frameworks
Oversight of legal matters:
* Disputes: strategy for commercial, corporate, client and employment disputes * Corporate: the Group's holding and entity structure, corporate governance and company secretarial function * Commercial: B2B, IT and vendor contracts, banking and PSP arrangements, IP and brand protection * Regional operations: legal support for the Group's businesses across different regions, including cross-border employment and global mobility * Data protection: oversight of the Group's privacy framework and GDPR compliance
Personal mandate:
* Lead group restructuring, the legal side of M&A, and the Group's most significant disputes and arbitrations * Build contract playbooks, templates, approval workflows and legal tech that speed up time-to-contract * Regulatory licensing and compliance sit with the Group's Compliance and Licensing teams. You will work closely with them
Requirements
* 8+ years of legal experience, including senior and leadership roles * At least 3 years leading managers or team leads, not only individual lawyers * Master's degree in law or equivalent * Strong knowledge of Cyprus corporate and commercial law * Hands-on experience structuring and maintaining multi-entity groups across offshore, midshore and onshore jurisdictions * Track record of leading at least one cross-border acquisition, restructuring or major group reorganisation * Experience managing a portfolio of disputes, arbitrations or regulatory matters through external counsel across several jurisdictions * Deep experience with commercial contracts in financial services: client terms, partner agreements, IT and SaaS, PSP and banking * Knowledge of GDPR and international data protection frameworks * Experience with cross-border employment, global mobility and EOR models * Knowledge of financial services regulation (e.g. MiFID II, CySEC) sufficient for close work with Compliance * Experience managing external counsel and corporate service provider budgets and fee arrangements * Commercial judgement: ability to find ways to make a deal work safely, and to tell which risks are worth taking and which are not * Independence: ability to say no, explain why, and stand by the position with senior leadership when it matters * Clear communication: ability to explain complex legal risks to non-lawyers in a clear and short way * English at C1 level or higher * Ukrainian or Russian (working language of the team). What makes you a strong fit
Will be a plus
* Diploma-level professional qualification in Compliance or AML (e.g. ICA, ACAMS, CISI) * Senior legal experience at a global brokerage, a major crypto exchange or a Tier-1 neobank * Admission to the Cyprus Bar, or bar admission in the UK, US or another EU jurisdiction * LL.M. from a leading UK, US or EU university * Awareness of digital-asset regulation (e.g. MiCA, VARA) * Experience with legal tech or contract lifecycle management tools
We offer
* 21 paid vacation days per year * 10 paid sick leave days per year * Public holidays according to the Cyprus * Flexible working schedule * Hybrid mode (after probation period) * Medical insurance (after probation period) * Professional education budget (after probation period) * Language learning budget (after probation period) * Wellness budget (gym membership, sports gear and related expenses) (after probation period)