The Senior Legal Counsel will advise on global legal, regulatory, and commercial matters supporting the growth and compliance of NEAR Intents. This role requires a lawyer who can bridge Web3 innovation and traditional regulatory frameworks, with a particular focus on US, EU, and Gibraltar regimes.
You’ll work closely with leadership, product, and compliance teams to ensure our products and operations align with evolving digital asset laws while enabling responsible global expansion.
Key Responsibilities
- Advise on product compliance, digital asset and fintech regulation across key markets, including US (SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC), EU (MiCA), UK (FCA) and Gibraltar (GFSC).
- Support product design to ensure regulatory compliance, including smart contract enforceability, token utility, and privacy considerations.
- Draft and negotiate commercial and partnership agreements, as well as user-facing documents such as terms of service and privacy policies.
- Guide entity structuring, governance, and cross-border compliance for global operations.
- Oversee risk and policy frameworks, including AML/CFT, sanctions, and data protection.
- Engage with external counsel, regulators and other stakeholders, and contribute to industry policy discussions.
- Operate our AML/LE portal, manage inbound requests, and publish transparency reports.
- Oversee the implementation and tuning of KYT systems as well as Running KYT systems and sanctions controls to ensure legal/compliance coverage, policy alignment, and effective coordination with product and engineering teams. (e.g. Chainalysis, TRM)
- Building relationships with CEX compliance teams.
- Investigations and operational response.
Key Requirements
- Qualified lawyer in the US, UK or EU (US experience strongly preferred).
- 7+ years’ PQE in a top-tier law firm or in-house legal role, with exposure to Web3 (DeFi preferred), fintech, or financial regulation.
- Experience with decentralized technologies, smart contracts, or blockchain infrastructure.
- Strong understanding of crypto asset regulation, AML/CFT, and cross-border compliance.
- Skilled in contract drafting, negotiation, and stakeholder management.
- Practical, business-minded approach to risk and regulatory interpretation.
We value
- ECOSYSTEM-FIRST: always put the health and success of the ecosystem above any individual's interest
- OPENNESS: operate transparently and consistently share knowledge to build open communities
- PRAGMATISM OVER PERFECTION: find the right solution not the ideal solution and beat dogmatism by openly considering all ideas
- MAKE IT FEEL SIMPLE: strive to make the complex feel simple so the technology is accessible to all
- GROW CONSTANTLY: learn, improve and fail productively so the project and community are always becoming more effective
NEAR is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. NEAR is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, please let your recruiter know during the interview process.
