Counsel, Corporate and Regulatory
Summary of Relevant Experience
Summary of Experience – Counsel, Corporate and Regulatory @ Stellar Development Foundation
- JD/MBA-credentialed attorney with active bar membership and four years of in-house legal experience at multiemployer funds and a Fortune 500 insurer, covering regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and plan administration across multiple jurisdictions.
- Regulatory compliance counsel who has designed and managed HIPAA and ERISA compliance programs, monitored evolving federal guidance, and translated complex regulatory frameworks into actionable internal policy for C-suite stakeholders.
- In-house litigator and advisor who tracked enforcement actions, managed outside counsel, and provided interpretive legal guidance on emerging rules affecting large financial and healthcare organizations.
- Corporate transactional contributor who led M&A due diligence on benefits and regulatory matters, demonstrating the cross-functional legal versatility central to a generalist counsel role at a mission-driven financial technology foundation.
Tailored from your background for this role. Paste it at the top of your CV when you apply.
Why this is a fit
Your ERISA/employee benefits/HIPAA background is specialized rather than the corporate governance and digital-asset regulatory expertise this role centers on, and your experience has no crypto or blockchain component—the core requirement here—though your JD, in-house counsel experience, and fintech target industry partially align.
About the role
Interested in working on cutting-edge blockchain technology and creating equitable access to the global financial system? Since 2014, the mission-driven team at the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has helped fuel the tremendous growth of the Stellar blockchain network, an open-source platform that operates at high-scale today. Developers and companies around the world build on it, and the SDF team is expanding to support the rapidly growing and changing Stellar ecosystem. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is looking for a versatile and mission-driven attorney to join our growing legal team as Corporate and Regulatory Counsel. In this role, you will be a "generalist with a specialization," owning the fundamental corporate legal functions that keep our Foundation running while serving as a strategic advisor on the complex regulatory frameworks governing digital assets, stablecoins, and decentralized finance. You will work at the intersection of law, technology, and financial access, ensuring that SDF remains a compliant and influential leader in the global blockchain ecosystem. In this role, you will: - Provide corporate/corporate governance counsel: - Entity Management: Oversee the legal lifecycle of the Foundation and its subsidiaries, ensuring all corporate filings, registrations, and "good standing" requirements are met across all operating jurisdictions. - Corporate Secretarial Duties: Help to maintain official corporate records and serve as an internal governance resource. - Provide regulatory strategy and advice: - Regulatory Analysis: Assist as an internal subject matter expert on the evolving global legal status of blockchain, tokenization, digital assets and decentralized finance. - Interpretive Guidance: Provide high-level legal interpretations of new guidance, interpretation, rules and legislation that impact the Stellar ecosystem’s long-term viability. - Precedent Monitoring: Track and analyze litigation and enforcement actions within the broader blockchain industry to identify emerging legal risks or shifts in "Control" and "Decentralization" definitions. You have: - Credentials: J.D. degree and an active member of at least one U.S. state bar. - Experience: 3+ years of legal practice, with experience in corporate and regulatory practices, with a familiarity of the areas of law relevant to blockchain. In house experience at a crypto company, a top-tier firm or a major financial institution is especially desirable. - Mission alignment: You are motivated by blockchain technology and a desire to promote financial access and you appreciate SDF’s role as a non-profit foundation. - Calm and cool: We work in an area defined by fast-paced developments and rapidly evolving areas of law, and some tasks will be easy while others will be challenging. Throughout, we want you to be confident and comfortable…and bonus points for a great sense of humor. Bonus Points if: - Basic crypto savvy. You own crypto, have a wallet and can navigate a few defi protocols! - A great sense of humor (we already said that, but we really mean it!) We offer competitive pay with a base salary range for this position of $140,000 - $220,000, depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, we offer lumen-denominated grants along with the following perks and benefits: USA Benefits/Perks: - Competitive health, dental & vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee + any dependents - Flexible time off + 15 company holidays including a company-wide holiday break - Generous paid parental leave for all parents, plus paid pregnancy disability leave for birthing parents. - Gym reimbursement ($80 per month) - Life & ADD (up to $50K) - Short & Long term disability - 401K with 4% match - Health & Dependent Care FSA Accounts - Commuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution - Health Savings Accou