Description:

Lead is a fintech building banking infrastructure for embedded financial products and services. We operate an FDIC-insured bank headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Additionally, we have offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and New York City, where our technical, product, design, and legal teams operate.

We are built for a constantly evolving financial landscape, where new ventures and technological advancements emerge daily. Guided by a team of entrepreneurs and technologists with decades of experience navigating intricate banking and payments regulations, Lead blends regulatory and technological expertise to help our fintech partners scale their operations with compliance and creativity.

Simply put, Lead offers the essential attributes that every fintech seeks in a partner bank. First, unparalleled technical expertise from a distinguished team of developers with an extensive understanding of the banking and payments systems. Second, oversight expertise, automated compliance systems, and bespoke program management to navigate the ever-shifting regulatory landscape. Finally, a commitment to transparency and operational rigor to ensure everyone's money does what it's supposed to do.

Role Description:
Lead Bank is seeking a Regulatory Product Counsel to support the Bank's Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and payments businesses. This attorney will provide practical, product-minded legal guidance to internal stakeholders across partner onboarding, product launch, product expansion, and ongoing partner oversight. The role is intended for a lawyer who can translate banking and payments regulation into actionable advice that helps teams move quickly within Lead's risk tolerance.

This attorney will work closely with Product, Program Management, Compliance, FinCrimes, Risk, Operations, Finance, and other legal team members to identify legal issues early, guide product design and operational decisions, and help the Bank scale its partner oversight and product review processes. This role is a key member of our risk team, reporting to Deputy General C

In this role you will:

Provide legal and regulatory guidance for the Bank's BaaS initiatives, including federal and state consumer lending and payments laws and regulations (TILA, ECOA, EFTA, FCRA, etc.), as well as privacy and information security.
Provide legal and regulatory guidance to clients and internal teams for the Bank's Payments initiatives, including federal and state consumer payments laws and regulations (EFTA, NACHA, GLBA, UDAAP, crypto, money transmission licensing, card network rules, etc.)
Advise cross-functional teams on the application of consumer financial laws and related regulatory requirements in fintech environments, including consumer and commercial lending, deposit, payments, and hybrid products.
Assess how product changes affect legal risk, operational controls, partner obligations, and required stakeholder approvals.
Track legal and regulatory developments that may affect Lead's BaaS and payments programs and help translate those developments into practical internal guidance.
Help build scalable review processes, playbooks, and documentation that improve consistency and efficiency across the legal function.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

J.D. and active membership in good standing in at least one state bar.
Approximately 6+ years of relevant legal experience in banking, fintech, payments, consumer financial services, or a comparable regulatory practice.
Ability to understand, interpret, and apply banking and payments laws to novel products, partner models, and technology-enabled services.
Experience reviewing or advising on consumer-facing product terms, disclosures, policies, or workflows.
Strong legal judgment, analytical rigor, and comfort balancing legal, regulatory, operational, and business considerations.
Strong communication skills and the ability to work cross-functionally with legal and non-legal stakeholders.
Practical, collaborative approach and willingness to build processes in a fast-moving environment.
Comfort leveraging AI tools to increase productivity and accuracy
Intellectual curiosity, ownership mentality, and comfort operating in an environment where structures continue to evolve.
Payment systems: Familiarity with operational and disclosure mechanics around how money movement products work including ACH, wires, card rails, FedNow, RTP preferred.
Stablecoins/Crypto: Familiarity with stablecoin- or crypto-enabled payment programs preferred.
Prepaid products: Familiarity with prepaid account and prepaid debit-card programs, including customer agreements, disclosures, error-resolution rights, and funds access preferred.