Job description
Head of Legal & Public Affairs (DeFi)
Location: NYC (Hybrid)
Compensation: Competitive
About the Project We are a leading Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol that recently secured $70 million from world-class investors including Ribbit Capital, a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Pantera. We are building an open lending network designed to give anyone, anywhere, access to the best possible financial terms.
With over $10 billion in deposits, our network is experiencing explosive growth and is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the new internet-native financial system. Our mission is to power human ambition by providing open access to capital, removing the borders and fragmentation of traditional finance.
The Role We are seeking a visionary leader to scale our adoption by building and leading a world-class Legal & Public Affairs organization. Your mission is to empower our existing teams, strengthen our credibility with top-tier institutional partners and regulators, and enable us to move faster through clear, risk-weighted decisions. This is a critical leadership role as we expand our US institutional readiness and high-value partnerships.
Key Responsibilities:
Build & Scale: Design the organization, hire through scaling phases, and implement AI/automation-driven playbooks to increase team leverage.
Strategic Roadmap: Own the Legal and Public Affairs roadmaps, ensuring they evolve in lockstep with business priorities.
Institutional Readiness: Lead negotiations for complex, high-value partnerships (specifically US Institutional/TradFi) and build the frameworks to scale safely.
Velocity & Decision Quality: Convert ambiguous, high-stakes regulatory and legal topics into actionable paths forward with clear trade-offs.
External Representation: Act as a senior face of the company with partners, outside counsel, policymakers, and regulators.
15+ years of legal and public affairs experience, including significant in-house leadership in a high-growth tech or fintech environment.
Web3/Crypto Expertise: Significant exposure to digital assets, DeFi, trading/lending, and the product/regulatory interface.
Institutional Negotiator: A proven track record of negotiating major partnerships—especially US institutional-facing work—and operating effectively in the US context.
Strategic Leadership: Experience owning both Legal and Public Affairs strategy simultaneously (narrative, roadmap, and stakeholder management).
Team Builder: Demonstrated ability to design, hire, and manage high-performing teams through rapid growth phases.
Competencies & Traits:
- First-Principles Thinking: Strong decision-making skills under imperfect information.
- Business-Driven: A mindset that views legal as an enabler of growth, not a gatekeeper.
- Adaptability: High comfort level with ambiguity and a bias for action in a nascent market.
- Low Ego: A collective success mindset with a commitment to high support and open context sharing.
Location & Logistics:
- Location: NYC or Remote (must be within -5h GMT to +2h GMT to ensure team overlap).
We design our benefits around deep work and professional growth, ensuring you have the environment to do the best work of your career.
- Top-Tier Compensation: Competitive salary and equity packages.
- Flexibility: Real flexible working arrangements.
- Global Collaboration: Regular team offsites and time together in Paris.
- Health & Wellness: Comprehensive health coverage tailored to your location.
- Continuous Learning: Dedicated support and budget for ongoing professional development.
- High-Stakes Impact: The opportunity to shape the legal and regulatory framework of a generational shift in finance.
Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates. If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search.
Commitment to Equality and Accessibility:
At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the hiring process or you would like to see the job-advert in an accessible format please let us know at the earliest opportunity by emailing [email protected].
MLabs Ltd collects and processes the personal information you provide such as your contact details, work history, resume, and other relevant data for recruitment purposes only. This information is managed securely in accordance with MLabs Ltd’s Privacy Policy and Information Security Policy, and in compliance with applicable data protection laws. Your data may be shared only with clients and trusted partners where necessary for recruitment purposes. You may request the deletion of your data or withdraw your consent at any time by contacting [email protected].
