Counsel, Commercial (Institutional)

Company: Coinbase

Location: Remote - UK

Salary: £99,360–£110,400 GBP (annual base salary, excluding equity and bonus)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Department: Legal & Compliance

About the Role

As Counsel, Commercial on the Institutional Legal team, you will provide hands-on legal support for Coinbase's institutional products across UK and international markets, covering prime brokerage, exchange, trading, custody, derivatives, and financing. The team is a small, highly experienced group of lawyers from traditional finance and fintech backgrounds, working with banks, brokers, hedge funds, market makers, and other professional trading clients. You will own the commercial legal work that enables Coinbase to build and scale first-of-a-kind institutional products at the intersection of crypto and traditional global markets.

Coinbase is a remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions called "surges."

Responsibilities

• Negotiate highly tailored agreements with strategic partners and sophisticated counterparties in the finance, payments, and digital asset space, including prime brokerage, lending, and derivatives documentation
• Own full product life-cycle negotiation for institutional products, advising on legal issues, risks, complex agreement structures, and company policies in a compliance-oriented environment
• Lead cross-functional efforts across Institutional Sales, Business Development, Product/Engineering, Finance/Tax, and Compliance to drive alignment and close deals
• Build scalable commercial processes and risk frameworks that give the business flexibility to execute on an aggressive global growth plan

Requirements

• Qualified solicitor or barrister (England & Wales) or licensed attorney with 5+ years of experience at a financial services institution (e.g., bank, e-money issuer, broker-dealer, asset manager) or at a law firm advising such clients
• Proven track record negotiating and drafting institutional financial agreements, including prime brokerage, securities financing, and/or derivatives documentation (e.g., ISDA, GMSLA, futures agreements)
• Experience providing full life-cycle negotiating for trading, custody, or financing products, including advising on legal risk and commercial structuring
• Familiarity with UK and/or EU regulatory regimes applicable to financial instruments, with the ability to navigate cross-border legal and regulatory considerations
• Experience leading legal workstreams across globally distributed, cross-functional teams involving Sales, Product, Engineering, and Compliance stakeholders
• Ability to utilize generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality

Compensation

Total compensation includes annual base salary, equity, and bonus eligibility. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Additional Information

Coinbase is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.

Coinbase is piloting an AI tool based on machine learning technologies to conduct initial screening interviews with qualified applicants. The tool simulates realistic interview scenarios and engages in dynamic conversation. Coinbase is also piloting an AI interview intelligence platform to transcribe and summarize interview notes. Coinbase will not use AI to make decisions impacting employment.

Candidates may submit a maximum of 3 applications within a 6-month period.