Legal Counsel, EU

Lightspark is building open payments for the Internet—always-on payment solutions powered by Bitcoin, the only open, neutral network for moving value. With enterprise tools like Connect, UMA, and Spark, businesses can send and receive money instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost, anytime, anywhere. Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, but serves the world.

Striga, acquired by Lightspark, is a financial technology company with its place of operations and office in Tallinn, Estonia. As the first entity to secure a Virtual Asset Service Provider's license from the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit under the new licensing regime of 2022, Striga is a payments platform for businesses to build applications on without doing any of the heavy lifting related to regulatory compliance and building compliant software to blend crypto services and traditional financial services.

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Legal Counsel to lead and support a wide range of legal matters across our organization. This role is key to shaping and protecting the legal and regulatory foundation of our business as we scale. You will work closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams, providing pragmatic legal guidance that enables growth while managing risk effectively. If you thrive in a fast-paced, international, and regulated environment, this is an excellent opportunity to make a real impact.

As Legal Counsel, you will provide both strategic and operational legal support to ensure the company operates in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Your work will span corporate governance, regulatory compliance, contract drafting and negotiation, product and policy development, employment matters, data protection, intellectual property, and general legal advisory. You will also support regulatory and licensing efforts, advise on product launches and expansion, strengthen governance and control frameworks, and work closely with teams across the business to embed legal considerations into daily operations. This is a hands-on, high-impact role that blends legal expertise with commercial pragmatism.

This position is based on-site at our offices in Tallinn, Estonia.

What you'll do:

• Own and manage the full contract lifecycle, including drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and maintaining a wide range of commercial agreements.

• Ensure clarity, consistency, and compliance of customer-facing legal documentation, including terms, policies, and related disclosures.

• Lead legal analysis for strategic projects and business initiatives, ensuring alignment with regulatory and commercial objectives.

• Support the drafting, implementation, and maintenance of internal policies and best practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and robust governance practices.

• Manage corporate housekeeping matters, including preparing board documentation, attending meetings, keeping and formalizing minutes, and ensuring timely filings.

• Provide legal support on employment matters, including contracts, employee policies, and compliance with employment regulations.

• Support and coordinate data protection matters in close collaboration with the DPO, including implementing GDPR requirements, reviewing data processing agreements, and ensuring ongoing privacy compliance.

• Collaborate with the US-based Group Legal team to implement consistent legal standards and support cross-border projects across multiple jurisdictions.

• Support regulatory and licensing initiatives, including liaising with external counsel and other stakeholders.

• Support complaint handling processes where required, providing legal input on escalations and helping ensure compliance with regulatory and internal requirements.

• Monitor legal and regulatory developments and assess their potential impact on operations and strategy.

• Advise on legal considerations related to product launches and customer-facing documentation, including reviewing applications, flows, and disclosures for legal and regulatory compliance.

• Collaborate with Product, Compliance, Finance, Operations, and Risk to embed legal considerations into business decisions and effectively manage legal risks.

• Provide legal training and guidance to internal teams to ensure legal awareness across the organization.

What we're looking for:

• 6+ years of legal work experience in a financial institution (e-money institution, payment institution, bank, and/or crypto-asset service provider) or at a top-tier law firm advising clients in these sectors.

• Strong knowledge of contract law and commercial contracting practices, with the ability to draft, negotiate, and manage complex agreements efficiently and with minimal supervision.

• Strong attention to detail and precision in drafting, with a sharp eye for identifying legal, commercial, and operational risks in documentation.

• Proven track record in corporate governance, employment, and data protection matters, including GDPR implementation and data processing agreements.

• Solid foundation in EU financial services regulation, including PSD2, EMD, MiCAR, and AMLD, as well as related supervisory guidance.

• Experience managing internal and external stakeholders and coordinating complex legal operations, with the ability to provide strategic legal leadership and drive cross-functional initiatives.

• Experience supporting regulatory licensing, product launches, and cross-border initiatives in the fintech or payments/crypto sector is a plus.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally, influence at all levels, and translate complex legal concepts into clear, actionable advice for both legal and non-legal audiences.

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment, while effectively operating across time zones.

• Experience in a multinational, high-growth environment is strongly preferred.

• Fluency in English, with strong command of professional legal vocabulary in both written and verbal communication.

We offer a full-time position and a termless contract. The range of gross annual compensation for this role ranges between €72,061 - €84,594 plus an annual bonus as a percentage of base salary. We take into account an individual's qualifications, skillset and experience when determining salary. The salary range listed in the job posting reflects the new hire salary range across levels that would be applicable to the position. The final salary will be commensurate with the candidate's final level and represents the base salary only.

We encourage you to apply even if you may feel like your knowledge and experience do not precisely meet every point of this job description. At Striga, we support our team's growth and development over time.

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Lightspark is on a mission to build an open payment protocol for the Internet at scale and therefore we're committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace to reflect the customers we serve. We welcome interest from individuals of all backgrounds and levels of experience who share our mission. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. 

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the State of California Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.