Head of Legal

Director of Legal High-Growth Embedded Finance Fintech | London | Permanent The opportunity We are partnering exclusively with a fast-growing, private equity-backed embedded finance business on a senior appointment to its legal function. The business provides financing solutions to merchants through some of the world's largest e-commerce and payments platforms, and operates across the UK, EU and US. The legal team The legal team is exceptionally strong, with many lawyers trained at leading US and international law firms. It operates less like a traditional in-house function and more like an internal law firm: lawyers do much of the drafting themselves, manage external counsel closely and in detail, and sit alongside the commercial business. The team is expected to own outcomes, not simply give advice. The role You will have a broad remit across finance, capital markets and wider commercial matters, and will be the senior lawyer the business relies on for its most complex transactional work. Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading on leveraged finance, banking, capital markets and high-yield work, including the business's funding arrangements
• Acting as a senior legal partner to the commercial business, understanding how deals flow through the organisation and shaping them from the outset
• Supporting and developing a talented team of mid-level lawyers, including running team meetings and managing performance
• Identifying inefficiencies, designing commercial solutions and taking ownership of their implementation
• Improving legal structures and processes, and contributing to product development
• Representing the business in front of partners, funders and counterparties Strategic project delivery forms a significant part of performance assessment and feeds directly into bonus outcomes. About you
• Top-tier law firm training is essential, ideally at a leading US or international firm in the corporate/finance space
• Around 10 PQE (or equivalent), typically with 5 to 7 years in private practice followed by a period in a senior, commercially focused in-house role
• Deep experience in capital markets, leveraged finance, banking/finance and/or high-yield bonds. US capital markets experience would be particularly attractive
• UK-qualified, US-qualified or dual-qualified
• Commercially pragmatic, with a "how do we make this work?" mindset rather than a risk-averse one
• Energetic, ambitious and confident in front of clients and senior stakeholders, with the appetite to challenge established ways of working
• Genuinely curious about the wider business and motivated by building something Regulatory and IP experience are not required. What's on offer
• A highly competitive base salary
• Bonus of circa 25%, linked to personal KPIs and wider business performance, with additional performance-related upside
• Equity participation
• A structured, well-documented onboarding programme designed to get you close to the business quickly This is a confidential, exclusive search being managed by Heriot Brown.