Head of Legal – Legal (Openbank Branch in Germany) in Frankfurt am Main bei Santander

Head of Legal – Legal (Openbank Branch in Germany)

Mission and responsibilities:

As a Head of Legal in our German branch, you will lead the German Legal department and you will work with the different stakeholders (Product, Fraud, Risk, IT, Compliance, etc.) of the Bank and will be in charge of all legal matters related to the activity of our branch in Germany and the activities covered by Zinia in the German Market.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead the legal department of our branch office in Germany, with high working capacity, responsibility, communication and team management skills.
• Providing strategic legal advice to senior management and other departments on a wide range of legal issues.
• Participate in the development and updating of the internal regulations of the legal area (models, policies and procedures), using the reference provided by Santander Group,(models, policies and procedures), adapting it to local regulation and group standards.
• Ensuring an appropriate legal structure in the transactions carried out by the branch,supporting the business teams and ensuring alignment with global policies and standards.
• Act as the main representative of the branch on legal issues and ensure effective liaison with regulators and supervisors;
• Overseeing and coordinating the branch's disciplinary and litigation proceedings, and identifying potential risks resulting from such litigation and disciplinary proceedings and identifying potential risks arising from such litigation and disciplinary proceedings,as well as managing litigation and proceedings that are of direct concern to the branch in conjunction with the global legal departments in accordance with the relevant global policies at all times.
• Reviewing and supporting the drafting of corporate documents, commercial agreements (including NDAs), affiliate agreements, third-party agreements, T&Cs…. etc subject to, among others, German regulation.
• Supporting Openbank’s HQ legal department in a variety of tasks ranging from regulatory filings, corporate governance, business development, and more according to German branch may require;
• Capturing know-how and aiding with knowledge sharing;
• Managing legal & operational risk;
• Identifying and consulting on legal risks concerning the development of new products and services according to German and European regulation and liaising with specialist external counsel in relation to new products, expansion into new market verticals, and areas relating to compliance, privacy, investments or security;
• Helping to interpret and monitor changes to regulatory guidelines while proactively handling regulatory developments and advising internal stakeholders;
• Developing and implementing processes for efficient and streamlined operations surrounding contract negotiation and processes;
• Developing and maintaining form agreements, contract management systems, and other databases;
• Serving as lead counsel on strategic deals, resolving issues that arise in existing commercial relationships, and handling pre-litigation legal disputes and inquiries
• Driving all ongoing compliance review processes, including necessary filings, policies, and procedures;
• Providing time-sensitive support on a wide array of legal inquiries concerning all aspects of your country’s operations;

To be successful in the role you must have:

• Degree in Germa Law. Fully qualified lawyer in Germany.
• +10 years experience in a similar role.
• Proven experience in the banking sector, in particular in consumer credit, distance marketing of financial products, payment methods and t marketing of banking and investment products.
• Fluency in English with excellent communication skills;
• To keep your composure under pressure;
• A collaborative mindset;
• Confidence making decisions where there’s ambiguity or incomplete information;
• To excel at leadership while also getting hands-on;
• The ability to handle significant and complex legal matters with short turnaround times;
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills;
• Experience with complex transaction management;
• To thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure, entrepreneurial environment;
• To be passionate about the job;
• Experience in fintech or financial services and especially in payment service providers, consumer lending and e-commerce platforms will be a plus!

What do we offer?

• Immediate incorporation to a dynamic and agile company with a growth and expansion project.
• Working in start-up mode with the support of Grupo Santander.