Lead Legal Counsel, Lending Partnerships

The Team

As a Lead Legal Counsel, Lending Partnerships at Upstart, you’ll be joining a close-knit, collaborative team of attorneys who work in a fast-paced innovative environment.  You will act as a key point person for our Lending Partnerships business, while also handling a broad range of commercial, business development, and transactional legal matters across the entire organization. This position is unique because it offers exposure to new legal issues and the opportunity to work on diverse tasks such as contract drafting and negotiation and a number of projects that will arise as we continue to scale. Experience drafting and negotiating complex B2B SaaS agreements is required. Experience drafting and negotiating commercial agreements involving financial services and/or technology licenses in a heavily regulated environment is a big plus.

If you have the confidence, creativity, and flexibility to tackle ambiguity and craft innovative legal arrangements with a bias towards action, this could be the right opportunity for you.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Build a deep understanding of our Lending Partnerships (LP) business and collaborate effectively with internal clients to understand and support their goals;
• Act as a key member of our LP commercial team to provide legal and strategic advice to assess and mitigate legal risks while driving business growth;
• Review, draft, and negotiate a wide variety of commercial agreements, including purchase agreements, loan sale agreements, servicing agreements, master services agreements, software licenses, SOWs, and other agreements;
• Engage with numerous internal stakeholders to escalate and resolve issues quickly and efficiently during negotiations; and
• Develop processes and templates for commercial transactions to support and drive rapidly growing business.

What we’re looking for: 

• Minimum Requirements:
• J.D. degree with solid academic credentials and a state bar membership (NY or CA preferred);
• 7+ years of experience at a law firm in a transactional practice area (ideally technology transactions, capital markets, or similar) or some combination of in-house/law firm experience with a focus on transactional/commercial matters;
• Demonstrated ability to act as legal point during intense/complex negotiations and to work effectively with sales leadership to manage expectations and goals;
• Experience reviewing, drafting and negotiating complex B2B SaaS agreements, preferably in a regulated environment or while licensing into a regulated environment;
• Not just an issue‑spotter but an issue‑solver, with a “can‑do” mindset, a habit of moving quickly, and ownership to drive matters from start to finish; and
• An exceptionally high bar for your own work product and a desire to work with teammates who operate at a similarly high standard.
  
  
• Preferred Requirements:
• 10+ years of experience, ideally with prior in‑house roles on high‑impact legal teams at a fintech, financial services, or technology company; start‑up or high‑growth company experience is a plus;
• Experience leading and closing complex commercial negotiations (for example, high value purchase agreements or strategic partnership deals);
• Genuine curiosity about how Upstart’s business works and a desire to jump in cross‑functionally to help teams solve problems, even when the work sits outside traditional legal lanes;
• Over time, a desire to mentor and collaborate with other members of the legal team, and to help build efficient, scalable processes as we grow and evolve;
• Strong communication skills with a demonstrated ability to translate complex legal and risk concepts into clear, actionable guidance for non‑lawyers; 
• Eagerness to dive into new products, AI and data issues, and unfamiliar areas of law with a solutions‑oriented, low‑ego mindset; 
• Entrepreneurial drive that sees ambiguity as opportunity, and obstacles as chances to build new solutions; and
• A strong sense of ownership, enthusiasm for technology, enjoyment in being continually challenged, and the ability to demonstrate strong judgment in ambiguous situations.

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

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