Associate Legal Counsel at Prodigy Finance

Job description

Why this is an amazing opportunity

This role is perfect for a legal professional who thrives in a complex environment, who wants to supercharge their career by experiencing first-hand what it is like to be part of an energetic, extremely fast growing company.

The sense of impact and reward will be huge. You will help to build a business which makes a very real difference in the world. Be a part of delivering socially responsible financial services to tomorrow’s leaders; make it possible for students from more than 100 countries to obtain the finances to fulfil their dream of studying at the world’s top universities and schools.

We are a non-hierarchical team; this means that you are going to get exposure to all aspects of our business immediately. You’ll own the role and its responsibilities and will work closely with the broader team. The opportunity to gain as much accountability as you can handle, and to have a huge influence on scaling the company, is completely in your hands.

Our team is very international and very sociable; you will interact with stakeholders in the business around the world on a regular basis. Being an organisation that’s passionate about education, we place a high value on learning and personal growth.

One of our goals is to build one of the top FinTech teams and cultures anywhere in the world. This means putting a lot of time into ensuring we only hire people with exceptional potential, and creating the best working environment possible. If you want to work somewhere where you're learning from some of the best brains in Fintech, this would be a good fit.

Why join Prodigy Finance

• Be a part of a pioneering global growth company
• Experience the excitement and learn from being part of an incredibly fast-growing young company. No kidding - exponential growth. Happening right now
• Be pivotal in scaling the business by identifying smart solutions and partners with tech at the heart of it
• Enjoy the agility and flexibility offered by a startup culture. A sociable, relaxed and friendly work environment (with a serious coffee culture where you can wear shorts to work)
• We will help you make your mark. Make a real impact on the business and experience a steep learning curve with huge opportunities to grow and develop
• Gain an inside perspective on the functioning of a venture-backed Fintech startup, backed by top VCs, learn day-to-day management and build functional expertise
• Build a platform that helps to make a very real difference in the world

What you will do in the role

As Associate Legal Counsel, you will be representing Prodigy Finance’s interests and advising on legal matters, whilst offering business insight into legal issues that may arise. You will assist and work closely with the Head of Legal and the Legal Team to provide commercial legal advice to the business.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Contracts Management Database:
• Populate and update the contract management database
• Send out reminders to General Counsel and business owners to take appropriate action in respect of procurement and other third party agreements (e.g. renewals, pricing negotiations, termination notices, etc.)
• Record keeping of electronic folders – ensuring electronic copies are kept and stored for all third-party contracts
• Legal Projects:
• Driving, facilitating and implementing legal projects, including collecting and documenting actions, drafting project plans, compiling and drafting reports for feedback to various committees, etc.
• Analysing reports, opinions and advice from external legal, regulatory and government sources and reduce the information to succinct updates, tasks lists, overviews, summaries and action tracking
• General:
• Conduct legal, factual research and records research
• Identify relevant judicial decisions, statutes, legal articles, codes and other pertinent material
• Organise and analyse information
• Cross-check and validate information
• Prepare written reports and correspondence
• Check and edit legal forms and documents for accuracy
• Build and maintain databases and organise and track case files
• Review and monitor new and updated laws and regulations
• Maintain and organise electronic legal library and opinions

What you need to be great at

• Proven ability to establish a high degree of credibility, respect and trust at all levels, including with senior management
• Ability to lead, take responsibility and act autonomously including an ability to make difficult decisions
• Strong personal communication skills, quick thinking and commercially aware
• Strong team player who is both committed and flexible
• Big match temperament; ability to operate, discuss, negotiate and interact at a senior level
• Fast learner; ability to understand, process and keep up with fast changing start-up environment
• Resilient; long working hours can be expected, especially when a transaction is going through completion
• Calm under pressure; the ability to keep calm in a crisis and to cope well with conflicting deadlines
• Possess the self-confidence and self-motivation to deliver against tight deadlines under high pressure
• Ability to work autonomously in a high pressure and constantly changing environment

Who we are looking for; track record must haves

• SA or UK qualified lawyer from top law school
• Relevant post-qualification legal experience
• Ideally experience gained both at a reputable law firm and in-house at a bank or financial firm
• Good understanding of the UK legal and regulatory environment
• Excellent project management, administrative and communications skills
• Commercially minded, driven and able to advise on a broad range of legal matters and drive the business forward
• A sound knowledge and understanding of global markets and legal systems

Experience that would be nice to have (but we’ll trade off if everything else fits)

• Broad knowledge of UK corporate and finance law preferred
• UK experience highly desirable
• Fintech experience
• Startup experience. Sometimes the earth moves beneath your feet at Prodigy Finance so you've got to be comfortable with ambiguity, able to wear lots of hats, and adapt easily as we continue to grow

The Prodigy Finance fit; attributes which run true in everyone at Team Prodigy

To be an A player at Prodigy Finance, you need to possess – in spades - the following attributes:

• Innovative + Smart
• Be curious enough to want to know more, think out the box, maybe even break the box, show initiative and be smart about it to find implementable, impactful solutions.
• International + Accountable
• Push yourself to be better every day. Work with others across the world, be resilient, add value and then hold yourself accountable. Encourage and celebrate each other.
• Energetic + Fun
• Sense of humour = survival. Bring energy and fun. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Work hard and find the time to play. We’re in this together.