Legal Counsel

Who are Yapily

Yapily is on a mission to enable innovative companies to create better and fairer financial services for everyone, through the power of open banking.

Yapily is an open banking infrastructure platform solving a fundamental problem in financial services today: access. Historically, card networks have monopolised the global movement of money, and banks have monopolised the ownership of, and access to, financial data.

Yapily was founded to challenge these structures and create a global open economy that works for everyone. We exist behind the scenes, securely connecting companies - from growth to enterprise - to thousands of banks worldwide, enabling them to access data and initiate payments through the power of open banking.

What we're looking for

We are looking for a proactive and experienced Legal Counsel (0-2 PQE, qualified in England & Wales) to join our in-house legal team. This is an excellent opportunity for a newly qualified or junior lawyer who wants to move in-house early in their career and gain broad commercial exposure in a dynamic fintech environment.

You will work closely with our commercial, product, compliance, and regulatory teams to support Yapily's growth while managing legal risk effectively. You'll be a solutions-focused team player who thrives in a fast-moving payments and open banking environment.

You are commercially minded and understand that legal is an enabler, not a blocker. You can balance risk with business objectives and provide pragmatic advice that helps us move quickly while maintaining our high standards of quality and regulatory compliance. You will help to foster a collaborative and fun "can do" mindset across the teams you support.

Learn more:

Key Tasks Commercial Contracting

• Draft, review, and negotiate a high volume of commercial agreements including customer contracts, supplier agreements, partnership arrangements, and NDAs
• Support the sales and customer success teams with fast contract turnaround, providing pragmatic commercial advice
• Develop and maintain template agreements and playbooks to enable business self-service
• Manage contract lifecycle and maintain the contract repository

Regulatory and Compliance Support

• Assist with regulatory compliance matters relevant to payment services and open banking, including FCA requirements, PSD2, anti-money laundering and e-money regulations
• Support the compliance team with policy development and implementation
• Keep abreast of regulatory developments affecting the payments and open banking industry
• Assist with regulatory correspondence and reporting obligations

Product and Technology

• Provide legal support for new product launches and feature development in the open banking space
• Review and advise on data protection matters, working alongside the DPO
• Support technology procurement and vendor management
• Advise on intellectual property protection and licensing arrangements

Corporate and Governance

• Assist with corporate governance matters including board materials and company secretarial tasks
• Support fundraising activities and investor relations from a legal perspective
• Maintain corporate records and statutory registers
• Assist with employment matters as required

General Legal Advisory

• Provide practical, solution-oriented legal advice across the business
• Identify legal risks and work collaboratively with stakeholders to mitigate them
• Support dispute resolution and manage external counsel relationships when required
• Contribute to legal process improvements and efficiency initiatives

This list is not exhaustive, and there may be other tasks that we ask you to be involved in from time to time. Above all, you are flexible and want to add value wherever you can. You understand that in a start-up, priorities change and we all need to be adaptable. Not only will you be comfortable when asked to input and lead in other areas, but you'll be comfortable being a self-starter and instigating changes yourself.

Qualifications and Experience

• Qualified Solicitor in England & Wales (0-2 PQE)
• Training contract or experience in commercial and/or corporate law, ideally with exposure to fintech, financial services, or technology sectors
• Demonstrated experience in contract drafting and negotiation

Technical Skills

• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills with attention to detail
• Sound understanding of general commercial law principles
• Basic understanding of UK data protection law (GDPR/UK GDPR)
• Ability to spot issues and assess risk appropriately for a start-up environment

Desirable Experience

• Previous in-house experience or secondment
• Exposure to financial services regulation, payments law, or open banking
• Experience with SaaS or technology agreements
• Knowledge of intellectual property or data protection law

Personal Attributes and Attitudes

• You love innovation - it's wired into your DNA.
• You have exceptionally high integrity. You'll treat all interactions with the confidentiality, sensitivity and diplomacy they deserve.
• You're commercially minded - you understand how effective risk management and regulatory compliance can positively impact our products, services and wider business.
• You think outside of the box and are pragmatic. You will bring in and iterate on the experience, skills and knowledge of best practice that you have seen elsewhere. You are always looking for better and cost effective ways to do things.
• You are driven and curious. You ask questions and you strive to understand.
• You understand that your stakeholders will have different strengths. You're happy to learn from them and to share your expertise.
• You enjoy solving problems. You don't get flustered easily. You're comfortable managing your time and can be counted on to skilfully handle issues.
• You understand the importance of attention to detail and ensuring quality outputs. Everything you produce is of high quality.
• You have a can-do approach. You think on your feet. Switching up tasks and juggling multiple priorities comes naturally to you.

OUR BENEFITS

• 25 days holiday a year (plus bank holidays) in the UK
• We also offer an additional holiday day after 1 year's service, up to the value of 5 days
• We're serious about work/life balance and operate hybrid working, giving you the flexibility to work from home, working from our amazing office space or work abroad for up to 30 days per year 'Nomad Working'
• Comprehensive Private Medical Insurance
• Life Assurance and Income Protection (UK only)
• Company Pension Scheme
• Enhanced Paternity and Maternity leave
• £200 annual Learning and Personal Development budget
• Cycle To Work Scheme
• Employee Referral Scheme which offers £1,000 per employee referral
• Monthly social budget
• Daily snacks provided in the office
• Dog friendly office

OUR VALUES We obsess about quality

• Our customers have entrusted us with a critical function in a regulated industry and we take that responsibility seriously. We always assume ownership and hold ourselves accountable.

We are curious

• Our innovation is powered by our collective growth mindset. We're lifelong learners who challenge assumptions, experiment, and iterate.

We act with integrity

• We're guided by our mission and earn and maintain trust by doing what's right, even when it's not easy.

We are do-ers

• We reject indifference and agility is our strength.
• We're motivated by challenges, and biassed towards action.

We problem-solve together

• We're diverse people in diverse places, and know the best solutions are born out of collaboration. We win, lose, and learn together.