Legal Director, Wealthsimple
Commercial - Banking and Payments
Professional investing services made simple
Be an early applicant
Professional investing services made simple
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help everyone achieve financial freedom.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of legal experience in financial services, including a focus on technology contracts, gained at a major Canadian law firm or an in-house corporate legal department
- Experience with drafting and negotiating complex legal agreements used in banking and payments
- Familiarity with Canadian payments infrastructure, intermediaries and vendors
- Strong communication skills and ability to distill complex legal topics into clear, actionable advice for diverse audiences
- Collaborative and proactive mindset with a willingness to roll up your sleeves
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and evolving regulatory frameworks
- A strategic thinker with a builder mentality who thrives in a fast-moving, mission-driven environment
What the job involves
- Wealthsimple is looking for a Director, Legal (Commercial - Banking and Payments) to join our Legal team
- Reporting to the Senior Director, Legal, you will lead legal support for the negotiation, implementation and ongoing management of commercial agreements supporting Wealthsimple’s banking and payments infrastructure
- You’ll partner with cross-functional teams to identify and mitigate legal risks, with a focus on executing complex commercial agreements and supporting operational delivery
- Wealthsimple is building a new and novel neobank in Canada, with no existing blueprint to follow
- We’re looking for an innovative thinker with strong commercial legal skills and an understanding of the payments and banking regulatory regimes, who can dream and then execute within Canada’s complex and overlapping banking, payments and securities law frameworks
- Draft, review, and negotiate complex banking, payments, and commercial agreements, including with banks, processors, card networks, and infrastructure partners
- Own contract drafting and risk allocation for a broad range of commercial relationships critical to Wealthsimple’s banking and payments infrastructure
- Support resolution of legal issues related to commercial agreements, including disputes, renewals and compliance with contractual obligations
- Partner with Regulatory and Product Counsel to ensure agreements align with Wealthsimple’s legal and regulatory obligations
- Provide clear, actionable legal advice that balances commercial priorities with principled risk management
- Resolve legal and contractual issues in existing commercial relationships, often with cross-border and multi-party considerations
- Collaborate with Product, Compliance, Risk, and Finance to assess legal risks and develop strategies that enable growth and innovation
- Use AI and other tools to streamline legal workflows, improve contract processes and build scalable systems
- Contribute to the development of commercial templates, playbooks and best practices
Our take
Wealthsimple is one of a crop of robo-advisors trying to democratize investment management. These companies are disrupting the industry by automating many of the processes involved in investment removing the need for human advisors.
But while other so-called robo-advisors are focused on courting the high end of the market, Wealthsimple is trying to provide the same types of tools and advice to all users, regardless of the amount they have to invest.
Wealthsimple does have higher fees than some other robo-advisors such as Betterment and Charles Schwab. However, the company believes that it provides a more user-friendly platform, tailored to millennials who will be attracted to Wealthsimple due to its ease of use and social impact offerings.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-10% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
May 2021
$542.8m
LATE VC
Oct 2020
$87m
LATE VC
Total funding: $843.4m
Company benefits
- Retirement savings matching plan through Wealthsimple Work
- Company equity for full-time employees
- Access to Premium Client perks, including personal finance learning & advice and a boosted interest rate on deposits
- Paid parental leave (6 months topped up to 100% of salary)
- 20 vacation days per year
- 90 Days Away program
- Top-tier health benefits
- Life & disability insurance
- Generous sick and mental health days
- Employee resource plan including services like RMT, psychology, and physiotherapy
- Up to $5,000 per year for mental health supports
- Gender Affirmation benefits
- Up to $1,500 per year for professional development
- Up to $1,500 per year for wellness and home office expenses
- Employee resource groups
- Social impact hours
Company HQ
Fashion District, Toronto, ON
Leadership
Michael Katchen
(CEO)Previously worked as a Business Analyst at McKinsey and then at Ancestry.com as Country Director for Canada.
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