Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Department
Legal

Role
Legal Counsel

About the Role
Flatpay is one of Europe's fastest-growing fintechs, challenging established providers with fairer pricing and a simpler product. As the business continues to scale in the UK, we are looking for our first Legal Counsel to become the legal go-to for the UK entity.

This is a broad, high-impact sole-counsel role covering commercial contracts, corporate matters, employment law, data protection, compliance, and AI. You will work closely with senior stakeholders and commercial teams, providing pragmatic legal advice and helping shape decisions that support the continued growth of the UK business.

As the first Legal Counsel hire in the UK, you will have significant autonomy and the opportunity to develop and grow the legal function as the business expands.

Key Responsibilities

Legal Business Partnership
- Provide clear, fast, and solution-oriented legal advice to Commercial, People, Customer Support, and Operations teams.
- Assess commercial, contractual, and regulatory risks associated with strategic decisions, product rollouts, and employment matters.
- Act as a trusted legal partner to the UK business and provide practical advice that supports commercial objectives.

Commercial Contracting
- Draft and review partner and supplier agreements.
- Manage terms and conditions and other commercial contracts.
- Develop and maintain contract templates, standards, and processes.
- Support the business in managing contractual and commercial risk.

Employment Law
- Own UK employment law risk and provide advice on complex or high-risk employment cases.
- Advise on sensitive exits and consultation processes.
- Instruct and manage external counsel on employment tribunal litigation.
- Provide final legal sign-off on settlement agreements.
- Act as the escalation point and legal risk owner for employment matters, working alongside the UK People team's ER Specialist.

Regulatory, Data Protection & Compliance
- Monitor developments in UK employment and other relevant legislation and advise the business on their operational impact.
- Support the business on matters including the Employment Rights Bill, gender pay gap reporting, and TUPE.
- Provide practical advice on UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Conduct risk assessments and support the development of internal procedures and compliance processes.
- Deliver and support employee training on data protection and compliance matters.
- Support legal considerations relating to AI and emerging regulatory requirements.

External Counsel & Stakeholder Management
- Manage relationships with third-party legal advisers and subject matter experts.
- Instruct external counsel on complex legal matters where specialist advice is required.
- Translate external legal advice into commercially practical recommendations for the business.
- Work closely with the Chief Legal Officer and wider group legal function based in Copenhagen.

Qualifications & Experience
- Qualified Solicitor in England and Wales with a current practising certificate.
- 3–5 years' post-qualification experience (PQE).
- Training contract and qualification at a recognised UK law firm, or an equivalent in-house route.
- Experience in private practice and/or an in-house legal environment.
- Strong technical grounding across commercial contracts, corporate law, UK employment law, and data protection.

About You
You are a commercially minded and pragmatic legal professional who can turn complex legal analysis into clear, actionable business advice. You are comfortable working independently and managing a broad range of legal matters with limited supervision.

As this is a sole-counsel role, you will be confident setting priorities, identifying when matters need escalation, and deciding when to instruct external counsel. You are an excellent communicator who provides practical answers that commercial teams can act on.

Desirable Experience
- Experience working within a scale-up, fintech, or technology business.
- Exposure to the payments industry.
- Experience with financial services regulation or an FCA-regulated environment.
- Experience supporting a fast-scaling commercial or field sales organisation.
- Experience working across international teams and business environments.

Additional Requirements
- Fluent English is required.
- Comfortable working with international stakeholders and reporting into the Chief Legal Officer and group legal function in Copenhagen.
- Ability to operate autonomously as the UK legal function's primary legal adviser.
- Strong commercial judgement and ability to balance legal risk with business objectives.

What You'll Receive
- Opportunity to become Flatpay UK's first Legal Counsel.
- High level of autonomy and direct impact on the UK business.
- Broad legal remit across commercial, corporate, employment, data protection, compliance, and AI.
- Opportunity to build and grow the UK legal function as the business scales.
- Close exposure to senior decision-making and the wider international legal team.