About the Role

We are seeking a commercially minded Legal Counsel to join our small, high-performing legal and compliance team. Reporting to the Head of Legal and Compliance, you will provide practical, commercially focused legal advice across a multi-entity financial services group operating across both traditional finance and DeFi.

This is a hand-on role suited to someone who is comfortable working independently, taking ownership of matters and operating in a fast-paced environment where priorities can change quickly. Whilst you will work closely with the business and compliance teams, you will also hit the ground running, exercising sound judgement and progressing matters with a high degree of autonomy.

The role provides exposure across commercial contracting, financial services regulation, corporate governance, privacy and data protection, technology and SaaS, digital assets, evolving regulatory landscape, and more.

Key responsibilities:

- Draft, review, and negotiate a range of commercial and technology agreements, with a strong focus on financial services, SaaS, customer and supplier agreements.
- Provide ad hoc advice to the business on legal and regulatory matters, including AFSL and AML/CTF obligations, consumer protection, privacy, marketing compliance, and digital assets regulation.
- Provide secretarial and governance support to a multi-entity group by organising and attending board and committee meetings, lodging ASIC notifications on varying subject matters and maintaining general corporate hygiene.
- Support legal reviews of new business initiatives and promotional materials, by balancing legal risk with commercial objectives and developing practical mitigation strategies.
- Stay up to date on legal and regulatory developments relevant to the business, particularly regarding digital assets, financial services, AML/CTF, and privacy. Communicate relevant updates and recommendations to stakeholders.
- Take ownership of legal matters from inception through to completion, proactively identifying issues, proposing solutions and escalating where appropriate.
- Manage relationships with external counsel, regulators, and counterparties.




- Key contributor to the development and implementation of departmental precedents, templates, policies, governance frameworks, and operational efficiencies.
- Support the Head of Legal and Compliance on strategic and operational legal matters across the group as required.

Requirements

- Admitted to practice in an Australian jurisdiction with approximately 2-5 years PQE, ideally gained in a financial services firm or private practice.
- Excellent legal research and drafting skills, able to clearly communicate complex legal and regulatory concepts and recommendations to non-legal stakeholders.
- Experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts.
- Thrive in rapid-paced, small business environments where you can forge trusted relationships with all teams and work collaboratively with legal, compliance, and commercial stakeholders.
- Be a flexible, adaptive, and strategic advisor who can balance legal risk with commercial objectives and provide pragmatic, solutions-oriented advice.
- Have the confidence and capability to work independently, take initiative and ownership of matters, and manage internal and external relationships.
- Be comfortable working in an environment where there may not always be an established precedent or clear answer, and able to use sound legal judgement to identify and work through issues.
- Experience with the Australian financial services regime, ideally including foreign exchange/international payments, derivatives, non-cash payment facilities and digital assets is highly regarded.
- Experience with AML/CTF, privacy, and consumer protection regimes is highly regarded.
- An interest in emerging financial services and digital asset regulation is highly regarded.





About you You are a pragmatic and commercially minded lawyer who enjoys being close to the business and playing a meaningful role in decision-making. You are someone who picks up a matter, evaluates what needs to be done, and carries it forward.

You don't need to be told what to do at every step. You are proactive, resourceful, and comfortable making decisions within your remit, while knowing when an issue needs to be escalated. You can move between detailed contract work and regulatory analysis, to governance matters and commercial discussions without losing sight of broader business objectives.

You are a team player who wants to get to know and spend time with your colleagues, whether it be in the boardroom or over a team lunch. You enjoy coming into the office (no hot desks here!) and understand the value of building strong, trusted relationships. You are approachable, collaborative, and respectful, and take the time to listen and understand different perspectives.

You bring a positive, practical attitude to the team and understand that the scope of your role can go beyond the description based on the business' needs.

Why Join Us?

You’ll be joining a growth-stage financial services group operating across foreign exchange, global payments, digital assets and emerging financial technologies. We combine the pace and agility of an entrepreneurial business with the complexity and sophistication of a regulated financial services environment, providing exposure to diverse legal, regulatory and commercial matters that few in-house roles can offer.

Working closely with the Head of Legal and Compliance, you will have the opportunity to take ownership of meaningful legal work from day one, partner directly with senior stakeholders across the business, and develop broad expertise across multiple areas of financial services law.

This is an ideal opportunity for a commercially minded lawyer looking to broaden their experience beyond a traditional in-house role, enjoy genuine autonomy, and build a long-term career within a collaborative, high-performing and dynamic team.

📌 Legal Counsel (Sydney)
🏢 EbonFX
📍 Sydney