Assistant General Counsel

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Virginia.

📋 Description

• Oversee Koalafi’s strategic approach and responses related to individual and class-action litigation, arbitration, potential claims, demand letters, subpoenas, and other contentious matters.

• Manage cases through their entire lifecycle, from initial evaluation, internal fact-finding, and discovery to motion practice, settlement strategies, trial preparation, and resolution.

• Evaluate legal, financial, operational, customer, and reputational risks and offer clear recommendations to senior management.

• Direct and oversee external counsel, including strategy for matters, staffing, budgeting, performance monitoring, and quality of deliverables.

• Keep transparent reporting on ongoing matters, key developments, potential risks, and emerging trends.

• Assist in managing responses to regulatory examinations, investigations, inquiries, enforcement actions, and information requests.

• Collaborate with the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Legal Operations team, external counsel, and internal stakeholders to develop response strategies.

• Act as the legal point of contact for federal and state regulatory bodies.

• Identify trends in regulatory matters and escalated legal complaints, communicating relevant risks to business leaders.

• Provide counsel to senior management regarding strategic business initiatives, new products, and shifting operational priorities.

• Work alongside Compliance, Risk, Operations, Product, Finance, and Sales teams to pinpoint and mitigate legal and regulatory risks.

• Convert complex or evolving legal requirements into practical, risk-based recommendations.

• Assess legal risks, potential exposure, business considerations, options, trade-offs, and strategic paths forward.

• Offer legal guidance from conception and design through to implementation, launch, and ongoing operations.

• Lead or support cross-functional legal initiatives on critical projects.

• Create practical frameworks, playbooks, and scalable legal processes.

⛳️ Requirements

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.

• Active law license in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, with the capability to practice as in-house counsel in Virginia and/or the District of Columbia.

• 8+ years of pertinent legal experience in a law firm, financial institution, fintech organization, regulatory agency, in-house legal department, or a combination of these settings.

• Experience in a fintech, rapidly growing lending environment, or another dynamic and highly regulated field.

• Familiarity with at least one of the following: lease-to-own products, point-of-sale financing, non-prime lending, bank-partnership models, or consumer-loan servicing.

• Significant experience overseeing complex litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations, enforcement actions, or other adversarial processes.

• Proven experience advising business leaders on new products, strategic initiatives, or operational changes, including recognizing legal and regulatory risks and translating them into practical, business-focused recommendations.

• Strong understanding of federal and state consumer financial services laws and regulations, encompassing laws related to lending, servicing, payments, credit reporting, collections, and lease-to-own products.

• Ability to evaluate legal risks in areas where the law or regulatory expectations may be evolving, incomplete, or open to interpretation, and to provide clear recommendations on options, trade-offs, and potential paths forward.

• Excellent advocacy, analytical, negotiation, collaboration, and communication skills, including the ability to provide senior leaders with succinct, actionable, and risk-based advice.

• Sound judgment with the capability to independently manage multiple high-stakes issues while effectively collaborating with cross-functional teams on strategic business priorities.

• A practical, proactive, and intellectually curious mindset, with a strong focus on execution and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

• Nice to have: Direct experience with the CFPB, FTC, state attorneys general, state financial-services regulators, or similar agencies.

• Nice to have: Experience in Capital Markets.

🏝️ Benefits

• Company bonus plan

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage

• 20 PTO days + 11 paid holidays

• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching

• Student Loan & Tuition Reimbursement

• Commuter assistance

• Parental leave (maternal + paternal)

• Inclusion and Associate Engagement Programs