Sr. Counsel - Regulatory

Building the Future of Open Finance

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, Ninja Trader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.

Our Regulatory Legal team is the group responsible for maintaining and growing Kraken’s product offerings across the EU and UK and for advising the business on its day-to-day regulatory obligations. We’re a tight, experienced group of lawyers from a diverse range of tradfi, fintech, and crypto backgrounds who move fast, stay curious, and take pride in the commercial accountability of our advice – partnering directly with Compliance, Product, and senior leadership to keep our licensed entities running smoothly and our regulators well served.

The Senior Counsel role is a remote role based in the UK or the EU, and will report into the EU/UK Regulatory Legal team. The role exists to own the significant volume of ongoing, business-as-usual regulatory work that currently falls to a small group of very senior lawyers – freeing them to focus on strategic licensing initiatives, complex transactions, and team leadership.

You will operate as a practical legal generalist with focus on:

• Product advice covering Payward’s growing offerings in the EU and UK (Krak card, payments and staking, among other things)
• Cryptoasset Regime Compliance (under MiCA/EU or in the UK) — advising on regulatory obligations for CASPs including supporting on the steady flow of regulatory queries, notifications and supervisory correspondence that keeps our licensed entities compliant and our regulatory relationships strong; and
• Payments & e-money compliance — advising on regulatory obligations affecting our e-money and payment accounts and supporting related work streams as they arise.

We’re looking for a hands‑on lawyer with strong regulatory fluency and a track record of independently owning BAU regulatory relationships (ideally honed in the regulated financial sector).

This is a fully remote role for a qualified lawyer in the UK or EU.

• Provide legal support on cryptoasset, e-money and payment services regulatory requirements, including advising on account-access obligations and related operational compliance questions
• Support the team’s active licensing applications and other in-flight EU/UK licensing or registration work streams, including compiling application materials and coordinating with outside counsel
• Provide regulatory support on corporate transactions and structural changes affecting EU/UK entities (e.g., change‑of‑control notifications, corporate client migrations)
• Support the day-to-day relationship with regulators for our licensed entities
• Translate complex regulatory frameworks (e.g., MiCA and the UK Cryptoasset Regime, CBI and FCA rulebooks, AML/CTF, DORA, outsourcing requirements, and e‑money and payment services regulation) into pragmatic, actionable guidance for the business
• Foster a culture of clarity, favouring plain‑English communication, measurable risk tradeoffs, and decision‑ready recommendations

• Qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister of England & Wales, Irish Solicitor/Barrister, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State)
• 10+ years’ post‑qualification experience (PQE) in financial services regulatory law gained at a regulated financial services…