At Anchorage Digital, we are building the world’s most advanced digital asset platform for institutions to participate in crypto.
Anchorage Digital is a crypto platform that enables institutions to participate in digital assets through custody, staking, trading, governance, settlement, and the industry's leading security infrastructure. Home to Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., Anchorage Digital also serves institutions through Anchorage Digital Singapore, Porto by Anchorage Digital, and other offerings.
The company is funded by leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa, with its Series D valuation over $3 billion. Founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital has offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn more at anchorage.com, on X @Anchorage, and on LinkedIn.
Join Anchorage Digital, a pioneering leader in the crypto industry, as our key Legal Counsel in Portugal. This is a unique opportunity to build and shape our local legal and compliance landscape from the ground up. You'll play a pivotal role in ensuring robust operations, mitigating risks, and directly enabling our strategic growth in a dynamic, cutting-edge global sector.
We have created the Factors of Growth & Impact to help Villagers better measure impact and articulate coaching, feedback, and the rich and rewarding learning that happens while exploring, developing, and mastering the capabilities and contributions within and outside of the Member of Legal, Portugal Counsel role:
Technical Skills:
- Serve as the primary legal point of contact for all matters concerning the Portuguese entity, including representation in negotiations or mediation.
- Conduct comprehensive legal process mapping in partnership with Compliance, identify legal needs, and when needed support the central Risk team in performing risk assessments.
- Draft, review, and implement action plans in coordination with Compliance and Risk when necessary with specific timelines to tackle identified shortcomings.
- Support Compliance and Risk in the development and implementation of proactive compliance plans for Anchorage, based on current and upcoming legislation relevant to our industry.
Complexity and Impact of Work:
- Manage the full spectrum of legal needs for the Portuguese entity, including potentially sensitive and high-stakes disputes.
- Proactively identify and mitigate complex legal risks across various domains (employment, corporate, tech, tax) that directly impact Portuguese operations.
- Provide critical legal support for corporate matters including mergers, acquisitions, or restructuring efforts impacting the Portuguese entity.
Organizational Knowledge:
- Cultivate a deep understanding of Anchorage Digital's global business model, strategy, and products to provide tailored and effective legal advice for Portugal.
- Navigate the interplay between local Portuguese regulations and broader international/EU legal frameworks, guiding Compliance and Risk in establishing and maintaining holistic adherence.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with People, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Risk and Finance teams to integrate legal requirements seamlessly.
Communication and Influence:
- Clearly articulate complex Portuguese legal concepts and risks to non-legal stakeholders across all levels of the organization.
- Influence internal stakeholders to adopt compliant practices and implement mitigation strategies respectfully and effectively.
- Build strong working relationships with external legal counsel and internal global Legal and Compliance and Risk team members.
You may be a fit for this role if you have:
- A Portuguese legal qualification (Ordem dos Advogados registration) with significant post-qualification experience (e.g., 5-8+ years) in corporate, labor, or regulatory law, ideally within financial services or technology.
- Demonstrated expertise in navigating complex compliance landscapes, including advising on data protection (e.g., GDPR), anti-money laundering (AML), and other relevant financial regulations.A proven track record of proactively identifying legal risks, translating complex legal requirements into actionable plans, and driving their implementation in a dynamic environment.
- Exceptional contract drafting, review, and negotiation skills across a wide range of agreements (e.g., MSAs, NDAs, vendor/client agreements), with attention to industry-specific compliance.
- An agile, problem-solving mindset with a passion for building robust legal frameworks and contributing to a pioneering global crypto company.
Although not a requirement, bonus points if:
- You were emotionally moved by the soundtrack to Hamilton, which chronicles the founding of a new financial system. :)
About Anchorage Digital: Who we are
The Anchorage Village, what we call our team, brings together the brightest minds from platform security, financial services, and distributed ledger technology to provide the building blocks that empower institutions to safely participate in the evolving digital asset ecosystem. As a diverse team of more than 600 members, we are united in one common goal: building the future of finance by providing the foundation upon which value moves safely in the new global economy.
Anchorage Digital is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive workplace for everyone, and we are intentional about making sure people feel respected, supported, and connected at work—regardless of who you are or where you come from. We value and celebrate our differences and we believe being open about who we are allows us to do the best work of our lives.
Anchorage Digital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or veteran status. Anchorage Digital considers qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with other legal requirements. “Anchorage Digital” refers to services that are offered either through Anchorage Digital Bank National Association, an OCC-chartered national trust bank, or Anchorage Lending CA, LLC a finance lender licensed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, License No. 60DBO-11976, or Anchorage Digital Singapore Pte Ltd, a Singapore private limited company, all wholly-owned subsidiaries of Anchor Labs, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Protecting your privacy rights is important to Anchorage Digital, and we work to maintain the trust and confidence of our clients when handling personal or financial information. Please see our
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