Legal Counsel, UK

About iwoca

Small businesses move fast. Opportunities often don't wait, and cash flow pressures can appear overnight. To keep going, and growing, SMEs need finance that's as flexible and responsive as they are.

That's why we built iwoca. Our smart technology, data science and five-star customer service ensures business owners can act with the speed, confidence and control they need, exactly when it's needed.

We've already cleared the way for 100,000 businesses with more than £4 billion in funding. Our passionate team is driven to help even more SMEs succeed, through access to better finance and other services that make running a business easier. Our ultimate mission is to support one million SMEs in their defining moments, creating lasting impact for the communities and economies they drive.

We are recruiting a UK qualified lawyer to work across our UK business on commercial and regulatory matters and report to iwoca’s Head of Legal.

Day to day you will:

• Support and advise new ventures, which include business credit cards, an SME M&A platform, an SME credit score to help them monitor, understand and improve their business credit score and insurance brokerage that aims to disrupt an industry ill-suited to SMEs’ needs, to:

  • navigate the complex regulatory environment and structure the product accordingly;

  • build new features that solve real-world problems for SMEs;

  • manage contracts with partners; and

  • prepare and update customer terms and conditions;

• Support and advise the wider business on commercial and regulatory issues, in cooperation with the regulatory compliance team

• Identify and implement process improvements to make legal work more efficient, including building out and maintaining templates, playbooks and decision frameworks to produce better outcomes

• Instruct and manage external legal counsel, and manage legal budget with the guidance of the Head of Legal and business heads

There will be opportunities for you to:

• Advise and educate other members of the legal team on areas of your competence through formal and informal training

• Grow with a fast-growing business and get exposure to a wide range of Fintech products and services

We are looking for:

• You are a qualified lawyer in the UK with a minimum of 3 years post-qualification experience

• You have knowledge in payments regulations (including the PSRs, EMRs and FCA Handbook) and have demonstrated the ability to apply it in a commercial setting

• You have experience in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, including high value partnerships with regulated institutions

• You are smart, meaning you:

  • use thoughtful legal analysis to quickly cut through legal and commercial complexity

  • give concrete feedback in a way that facilitates decision-making

  • apply proportionality in your advice, considering solutions against legal risk and opportunity cost

• You are motivated, meaning you:

  • go above and beyond to deliver high quality legal work in line with deadlines

  • curious about all parts of the business and the challenges they face

  • are willing to learn about unfamiliar areas of financial regulation and develop into an internal subject matter expert

• You are humble:

  • no ego, we’re in it together and sometimes need to cover others’ work

  • you proactively reflect on individual and team performance on a task

• It would be also nice (but not required!) if you:

  • have some knowledge of regulations outside of payments, for example insurance or consumer credit

  • have some knowledge and understanding of lending businesses

  • appreciate the importance of quantifying legal risk to inform decision-making

At iwoca, we look to hire smart, passionate, humble individuals with a growth mindset. We prioritise a culture of learning, growth, and support, and invest in the professional development of our team members.

We value thought and skill diversity and encourage you to explore new areas of interest to help us innovate and improve our products and services.

Our friendly and inclusive environment, combined with our flexible work policies, ensures that you'll have the perfect balance between work and life, empowering you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The offices

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a brilliant place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, Berlin and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks

• Events and clubs, like bingo, comedy nights, yoga classes, football, etc.

The benefits

• Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership

• A private GP service (separate from Vitality) for you, your partner, and your dependants.

• 25 days’ holiday, an extra day off for your birthday, the option to buy or sell an additional five days of annual leave, and unlimited unpaid leave

• A one-month, fully paid sabbatical after four years.

• Instant access to emotional and mental health support.

• 3% Pension contributions and share options.

• Generous parental leave and a nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money.

• Cycle-to-work scheme and electric car scheme.

• Two company retreats a year, we’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield.

And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:

• A learning and development budget for everyone.

• Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers.

• Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.

Useful links:

• iwoca benefits & policies

• Glassdoor

• Kununu

• Trustpilot