Principal Legal Counsel, Corporate & Finance

About the role

Aave Labs is focused on making financial services more accessible through its innovative Aave Protocol, which connects decentralized finance with traditional finance. The Principal Legal Counsel will play a crucial role in managing legal matters related to corporate governance and finance across various jurisdictions.

This role involves advising senior leadership and managing the Group's legal entities, compliance programs, and corporate policies. Success in this position requires a strong background in corporate law and the ability to navigate complex legal frameworks while supporting the company's mission to simplify financial services.

Who this role suits

• A legal professional with over six years of experience in corporate or finance law.
• Someone who has worked at a leading offshore or onshore law firm and has senior in-house experience.
• An individual who is detail-oriented and possesses strong organizational skills.
• A trusted adviser who is comfortable collaborating with finance and operations teams.

From the employer

• Act as the principal legal adviser to Group boards, foundation councils and senior leadership on corporate, governance and finance matters.
• Manage the Group's legal entities across the Cayman Islands, UK, EU, US and other jurisdictions, including incorporations, dissolutions, statutory registers, filings and annual return.
• Build and run the Group's corporate compliance programme, including a compliance calendar of statutory, licensing and filing deadlines across all entities.
• Own Group-wide corporate policies, such as code of conduct, conflicts of interest, anti-bribery, sanctions, whistleblowing and personal account dealing, and run annual attestations and training.
• Track the ongoing corporate obligations of the Group's licensed subsidiaries, including FCA and MiCAR authorised entities.
• Support internal and external audits, bank and counterparty due diligence, and record-keeping and document retention requirements.
• Advise on and document treasury activity, including lending, borrowing, loan participations, custody arrangements and stablecoin and digital asset holdings.
• Work with Finance and external tax advisers on the legal structuring of transactions.
• Own the Group's signing authority matrix, document execution process and contract repository.
• Support the wider Legal team on commercial and regulatory matters as needed.

• 6+ years of post-qualification experience in corporate, finance or funds work.
• Significant time at a leading Cayman or other offshore law firm (or a leading onshore firm) and senior in-house experience.
• A track record as a trusted adviser to boards and senior leadership.
• Experience with entity management, board governance and corporate secretarial work across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience building or running a corporate compliance programme.
• Comfort working closely with Finance, Tax, Compliance, and Operations teams.
• Interest in or experience with crypto, DeFi or digital assets (helpful, not required).
• Strong organisation and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and judgement.

• Relocation assistance available for the right candidate.
• Equal opportunities employer, celebrating diversity and individual identity.