Original listing text, shown exactly as published by the company.
What You Will Be Doing (Responsibilities)
Legal & Strategic Leadership
- Define, execute, and evolve the legal and compliance strategy consistent with Blockstream’s mission, risk tolerance, and business objectives
- Advise the Board of Directors, executive leadership, and senior management on legal, regulatory, and governance issues
- Guide corporate governance, board processes, equity plans, capital raises, mergers & acquisitions, and restructurings
- Provide legal support in the context of industry consortia and associations that Blockstream is involved in
- Oversee external counsel selection and management and control legal budget, ensuring cost-efficient legal operations
Commercial & Product Support
- Oversee negotiation, drafting, and execution of complex commercial agreements (e.g. licensing, partnerships, APIs, custody, token issuance, SaaS, enterprise)
- Support product teams with assessments of legal risk, regulatory compliance, and legal architecture for new features, protocols, token standards, sidechains, and integrations
- Structure cross-border transactions and operations, including advising on jurisdictional compliance and entity structuring
- Define and oversee legal aspects of the Blockstream’s IP protection
Regulatory, Compliance & Risk
- Drive strategy for regulatory engagement in multiple jurisdictions (e.g. U.S., Canada, EU, Asia) in crypto, securities, fintech, payments, custody, data privacy, and related domains.
- Oversee compliance programs for anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, licensing, data protection/privacy (e.g. GDPR, CCPA), consumer protection, export controls, and security/compliance audits.
- Monitor emerging regulatory, policy, and legislative developments in crypto, blockchain, and fintech, and lead internal responses or adaptations.
- Manage legal risk and crisis response (e.g. litigation, investigations, disputes, IP enforcement, regulatory enforcement actions)
Team Building & Operations
- Hire, mentor, and develop legal, compliance, and contract teams
- Build scalable legal infrastructure: policies, playbooks, templates, workflows, contract management tools, compliance frameworks, self-serve legal tooling
- Promote cross-functional collaboration with engineering, security, product, finance, operations, and marketing groups
- Establish KPIs and reporting for the legal function; balance agility with legal rigor in a fast-moving environment
Employment & HR Legal Support
- Partner with the Director of People to ensure compliance with employment regulations across multiple jurisdictions
- Support internal investigations, terminations, and employment-related disputes as needed
What We Look For In You (Required Qualifications)
- Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent law degree from an accredited institution and active membership in good standing with at least one state/provincial bar association
- 12+ years of legal experience, including substantial in-house leadership experience within fintech, cryptocurrency, blockchain, financial services, payments, SaaS, or other highly regulated technology industries
- Demonstrated experience serving as General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, or senior legal executive in a fast-growing global organization
- Deep expertise in commercial transactions, including drafting and negotiating complex agreements related to enterprise software, APIs, partnerships, licensing, custody, token issuance, infrastructure, and technology services
- Strong knowledge of global regulatory frameworks affecting crypto, blockchain, fintech, securities, payments, AML/KYC, sanctions, privacy, and digital assets
- Experience advising executive leadership teams and Boards of Directors on corporate governance, legal strategy, risk management, financing activities, mergers & acquisitions, and organizational structuring
- Proven ability to manage multi-jurisdictional legal and compliance matters across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia
- Experience building and scaling legal and compliance functions, including policies, processes, playbooks, and operational infrastructure
- Demonstrated ability to oversee litigation, investigations, regulatory inquiries, disputes, and crisis management matters
- Experience managing outside counsel relationships and legal budgets effectively in a high-growth environment
- Strong understanding of intellectual property strategy, technology licensing, and product counseling for emerging technologies
- Ability to partner cross-functionally with engineering, product, finance, security, operations, HR, and executive stakeholders
- Excellent judgment, strategic thinking, communication, negotiation, and leadership skills
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, ambiguous, and highly technical environment
Nice To Haves (Preferred Qualifications)
- Prior experience in the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, blockchain infrastructure, or digital asset ecosystem
- Strong familiarity with Bitcoin technologies, sidechains, tokenization frameworks, custody infrastructure, and decentralized protocols
- Experience engaging directly with regulators, policymakers, industry associations, and standards bodies related to crypto or fintech
- Background supporting international entity structuring, cross-border operations, and global expansion initiatives
- Experience overseeing compliance programs involving GDPR, CCPA, SOC audits, export controls, and financial crime prevention frameworks
- Familiarity with open-source licensing models and legal considerations related to protocol development and distributed technologies
- Experience supporting capital markets activities, private financings, venture financing rounds, or institutional investment transactions
- Demonstrated success hiring, mentoring, and leading high-performing legal and compliance teams across multiple jurisdictions
- Experience implementing legal technology tools, contract lifecycle management systems, and scalable self-service legal frameworks
- Strong understanding of employment law and workforce compliance in globally distributed or remote-first organizations
- Previous experience working in engineering-driven or infrastructure-focused technology companies
- Interest in the future of financial infrastructure, cryptography, privacy-enhancing technologies, and decentralized systems
Work Environment
This is a hybrid position, with an expectation of 2–3 days per week in our Menlo Park office.
🔒 Stay Safe from Job Scams
All official Blockstream communication will come from an @blockstream.com email address. We will never ask you to share sensitive information or purchase equipment during the hiring process. If in doubt, contact us at hr@blockstream.com. Learn more about avoiding job scams here.
