General Counsel

About The Role:

Pagoda is seeking a General Counsel to lead the full suite of legal, compliance, and regulatory functions.

As the leader of Pagoda’s Legal function, you will help drive Pagoda’s growth while balancing business risk. Pagoda is preparing to scale, and we need a business-minded senior leader to work across corporate, commercial, product, employment, and general legal issues.

As our General Counsel, it will be your responsibility to ensure that we do the right thing and focus on long-term impact. You will develop legal and compliance guidance and strategy that mitigate Pagoda’s legal and regulatory risks, and help Pagoda thrive in a challenging environment. The General Counsel will be a crucial partner to our product and business teams, informing product development and corporate growth. This is a VP-level role that reports to the COO and will work closely with the entire executive and broader leadership teams.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Provide legal counsel and guidance to the executive team and other upper management on all legal matters relevant to operating a Web3 startup
• Guide new and existing product development to ensure compliance with relevant laws/regulations (e.g. data privacy)
• Anticipate and identify potential legal issues and counsel executive and other upper management in order to develop legal strategies and solutions
• Conduct legal research and review the company’s litigation strategy pertaining to legal actions.
• Preserve all corporate records
• Create new entities and manage the organization’s intellectual property, trademarks, etc.
• Examine and review contracts (e.g. employee and vendor agreements) and other legal documents; research legal issues and recommend revisions as necessary.
• Build out and support Pagoda’s legal function to effectively accomplish the company’s goals and objectives
• Partner closely with People leader and People team on employee relations issues, employment law matters, and employment process improvement
• Select and retain outside counsel, as required, to obtain legal opinions or to handle claims and litigation
• Provide training to the company on various legal issues through workshops and meetings
• Engage proactively with the rest of the NEAR ecosystem as well as across the blockchain landscape

What We’re Looking For:

• Juris Doctor and membership in good standing of at least one state bar
• 10+ years of legal experience as either a commercial attorney, regulatory attorney, and/or technology-oriented high-growth startup
• Interested in blockchain technology with an eagerness to learn more about the space
• Experience supporting remote, global operational business teams as they grow and scale
• Experience hiring and leading a team of legal professionals
• A strategic thinker who can quickly identify key issues and navigate the complex regulatory landscape in the crypto space
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to take the initiative and build productive relationships internally and externally
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to manage multiple projects at once, follow through, and meet deadlines
• Self-motivated, self-directed, and eager to take ownership of opportunities to ensure solutions even in ambiguous situations
• Positive, empathetic team player skilled at collaboration and communication

We’d Love If You Have:

• Experience working at the SEC, FinCEN or CFTC is highly valued
• Practice experience in the crypto industry is strongly preferred

Here’s What Our Interview Process Looks Like:

Depending on calendar availability, from the first stage to the final stage, we do our best to keep the entire process to under three weeks. Our interviews take place via Zoom and typically consists of the following stages:

• Internal Recruiter Call (30 to 45 minutes)
• Meet with the Hiring Manager (30-60 minutes)
• Technical and Leadership Interviews (3 x 60 minutes)
• Meet & Greet CEO (45 min)

Please let us know if you require any special requirements for your interview and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

Ideal Location For This Role

This is a fully remote role; however, due to the nature and requirements of the role, you must be based in the US.