Legal Counsel, YNAB
Humbly Confident
$130-170k
+ Eligibility for profit share twice a year
Mid and Senior level
Remote from US
More information about location
Paid app, free classes and personalised support for financial education
Job no longer available
Paid app, free classes and personalised support for financial education
101-200 employees
FintechB2CLifestylePersonal healthEducationPersonal financeMental healthFinancial ServicesSaaSSocial Impact
Job no longer available
$130-170k
+ Eligibility for profit share twice a year
Mid and Senior level
Remote from US
More information about location
101-200 employees
FintechB2CLifestylePersonal healthEducationPersonal financeMental healthFinancial ServicesSaaSSocial Impact
Company mission
To help people get good with money, so they never have to worry about money again. Join us!
Role
Who you are
- The short of it is: You’re the person we’re looking for if you see legal and data compliance requirements not as a burden, but as an opportunity to build an even better company and product
- You’re the person we’re looking for if you’re committed to being in the day-to-day work, bold about diving into the details, and excited to roll up your sleeves and execute on any legal or data compliance job at hand—all while working closely and collaboratively with people from across the company
- Live in the United States
- Be a member in good standing of at least one U.S. state bar
- Have at least three years of experience practicing law
- We’re looking for a leader and doer in legal and data compliance, and we value a diversity of experience and skills at YNAB
- Previous in-house legal counsel experience
- Experience working with a SaaS or technology company
- Knowledge of data privacy compliance laws & regulations
- Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection
What the job involves
- With a quickly-growing customer base and an ever-changing landscape of laws and regulations, we’ve decided it’s time to hire our first-ever Legal Counsel to help us tackle legal and data compliance the YNAB way
- You’ll balance many tensions in doing so
- As we’ve hinted, this role covers two distinct but related areas
- The legal function will be your primary priority and focus, but you’ll also be responsible for data compliance
- This will allow you to work within a broader scope to protect both YNAB’s business interests, while also creating processes that appropriately protect customers’ data as we continue to grow
- We value collaboration here, so you won’t make these decisions in a vacuum (in fact, what’s the opposite of a vacuum?)
- You’ll work closely with every department at YNAB, and your guidance will be a vital help to our executive team, which has ultimate responsibility for legal decisions
- All along, you’ll genuinely seek to understand each team’s processes and pain points, while also keeping the big-picture goals of the company at the forefront of every decision
- You’ll carry confident opinions while seeking pragmatic solutions, and you won’t shy away from considering creative solutions to complex problems
- You’ll be reporting to Chance, our Head of Operations. He gets to obsess about building a great company and making sure that people really love their work at YNAB. He cares deeply about YNAB and the people who make it a success
- When he’s not championing the YNAB team experience, you’ll find him with his family outside in Southern Utah, usually on a hike, a mountain bike, or the lake
- As we mentioned, you’ll be a critical help to the entire Executive and Owners team
- As a few examples: Angela, our Head of Support, may want your input on our GDPR process. Perhaps Sebastian, our Head of Technology, brings you into a discussion about our cookie consent options
- And Lindsey, our Head of Marketing, will want your help to make sure that we have the right liability coverage for the next YNAB Fan Fest
- In particular though, you’ll work closely with our CEO Todd. Todd started at YNAB in 2010 after a search for a budgeting solution ended up in a conversation with YNAB’s founder, Jesse
- One job led to another, and since then he’s been a part of developing and scaling up Support, Product Design, and Product Management at YNAB until, in February of 2021, he became YNAB’s CEO
- He lives in a small New England town with his wife and three teenagers, where he keeps life as simple as he can—eating, sleeping, sitting, feeding the birds, cutting flowers, and ultrarunning
- You’ll also work closely with Kendal, our Security Lead. She joined us a couple months ago and jumped right into all things security—she’s responsible for cybersecurity, governance & compliance, and customer protection
- She lives in Cape Town, South Africa and loves long distance running, being outside and drinking very good wine
- Truthfully, you’ll probably cross paths with—well—everyone at YNAB. We can’t even list them all, really! But we can say that we are all excited that you’ll be joining us
- We try to schedule most meetings between 12-3 pm Eastern time (16:00-19:00 UTC) Monday-Thursday. Outside of your meetings, we trust you to set your own schedule by balancing your team’s needs with your own needs
- We’ve adopted a four-day work week (still 100% paid!) and rarely work more than that
- As our Legal Counsel, you’ll work collaboratively across the company as our in-house legal and data compliance expert
- Your role is not a consultant who merely informs stakeholders of risks and tradeoffs, but a teammate who works closely with them to see the project through to the end
- You’ll remain connected to the broader team and company objectives, do the research to deeply understand the risks and opportunities, and bring creative solutions along with your own opinion of the best course of action for YNAB
- This is a big-picture-but-also-hands-on role, and as the first person we’re hiring into it, you’ll certainly help us shape it and determine what’s most important to focus on
- With legal as your primary focus, you’ll be a critical resource to help leadership make well-informed decisions in legal matters, clearly articulate our policies and practices, ensure they comply with regulations, and protect our business interests
- You’ll immerse yourself in the YNAB context, including the value of the YNAB voice, how we treat customers, partners, and employees, and our degrees of comfort with various risks
- Policy development and review: You’ll review, create, and update internal and external legal and compliance policies and guidelines (for example: our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and HR-related policies), and relish the opportunity to do so in the YNAB voice
- Legal guidance: You’ll provide legal advice across all departments, and make informed and opinionated decisions when things are open to interpretation
- You’ll be risk-aware, but not completely risk-averse, and you’ll be empowered to make decisions and provide guidance to leadership that aligns with our core values and business goals
- You’ll need to be scrappy and willing to wear many different legal hats on any given day
- Collaboration and communication: You’ll be a valued resource for each team in understanding their specific legal needs and working alongside them to see things through
- You’ll need to confidently speak lawyer and translate for those of us definitely-not-lawyers
- Intellectual property: You’ll safeguard, expand, and help defend our intellectual property
- Protect business interests: You’ll ensure we have appropriate processes and adequate protection in place (you'll work with our Security Lead on some of that). You'll be responsible for our liability insurance coverage and renewals
- Contracts and agreements: You’ll draft and negotiate legal agreements such as B2B sales contracts, strategic partnerships, or employment contracts. You’ll review vendor agreements and suggest edits if necessary prior to our acceptance
- External counsel: You’ll manage our relationships with various external counsels. You’ll work hand in hand with them to solve specialized or more technical legal issues, and you’ll know when to hold the line to stay true to our values
- Monitor evolving legal landscape: You’ll stay current on legal developments and regulatory changes, to ensure proactive compliance and mitigate risks associated with new laws and regulations
- We’ve distinguished ourselves from the competition as a brand customers can trust
- When it comes to our customer’s financial data, our marketing and privacy practices, or the way we iterate on our products and services, that trust is incredibly important and valuable
- It really can’t be understated. We all impact that trust, but you’ll play a critical role in ensuring that we maintain—and even grow—it among our customers and team members
- You won’t dictate compliance by fiat; instead, you’ll remain connected to the broader team and company objectives and take a pragmatic approach to developing durable solutions
- You’ll effectively advocate for data protection and privacy and build internal clarity that gives us confidence that our actions are aligned with our words
- Data protection and compliance: You’ll interpret data and privacy laws and regulations to determine if and when adjustments are necessary to our practices and policies to remain compliant
- You’ll direct the cross-functional efforts to update processes to ensure the appropriate levels of compliance
- Monitor evolving data privacy landscape: You’ll stay current on GDPR, CCPA, and other data privacy-related laws and regulations, to help us navigate those tensions and ensure proactive compliance
- Data handling awareness: You’ll maintain the mapping of how various data flow through YNAB, and review vendor DPAs with a sharp eye for data and privacy handling to ensure that we know how data is processed by the vendor
- DPO: You’ll serve as our Data Protection Officer, as needed
- Complement our data and security teams: You’ll collaborate closely with these teams, so you’ll need to become familiar with our tech stack and inner workings as it relates to data, privacy, and security
Application process
- Apply here by Sunday, July 28th @ 11:59pm PT
- Here’s an overview of what you’ll need to include in your application:
- A resume. If you don’t have an updated formal resume, that’s OK. An informal overview of your work history and education is all we’re looking for
- A cover letter. But not your typical cover letter. You have our permission to NOT be formal, just help us get to know you. We’d love for you to tell us a bit about yourself, why you’re interested in this role at YNAB, and why you think you’d be a great fit. (Please limit this to one page at most.)
- Answers to four questions: (Please aim for one or two paragraphs each.)
- 1. Imagine you’re our new Legal Counsel (yay!) and you receive a message from a teammate asking the below question. Please draft a reply as though you’re writing directly to them. (Note: This is more about how you communicate and less about setting up a factually accurate scenario.)
- “Hi there! We’re considering implementing a new feature in the YNAB app, and we think that we’ll need to update our Terms of Service or Privacy Policy as a result. How do we know if we’ll be required to notify our customers of the change?”
- 2. Tell us about a time when you had to negotiate competing priorities to make a business decision. How did you approach it and how did you ultimately move it forward?
- 3. Tell us about a time when you were convinced you were right, but have since changed your mind. What convinced you?
- 4. What is the most important thing you would look for when hiring someone for this role?
Our take
The average American worker has been feeling the strain over recent years. Rising household debt, poor financial literacy, and a complex labor market has helped contribute to a taxing period for finances. Now, we’re seeing more Americans than ever start budgeting and engaging with personal finance apps. You Need a Budget (YNAB) is one of them.
The YNAB budgeting platform has been up and running for nearly two decades now, and consistently wins a place in ‘budgeting app’ shortlists. It helps users create a budget and spending plan, as well as offering digital resources like live classes.
Whilst YNAB was early in developing this spread of features, other competitors were quick to follow suit, including the likes of Mint or Honeydue. YNAB has, however, secured a strong reputation in the growing sector. Whilst the company may need to expand to survive, YNAB is for now one of the leading players.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Company benefits
- 4-Day Work Week (every Friday off).
- Minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year. Five weeks feels about right (plus two extra weeks for our company-wide December break).
- Professional development stipend.
- 100% Remote, Worldwide.
- Generous paid parental leave.
- New computer when you start, and replacements every 3 years.
- Team meetups once or twice a year, at a small-team work-focused meetup or at our company retreat.
- Flexible work schedule. Outside of your meetings, we trust you to set your own schedule by balancing your team’s needs with your own needs. We look at what you accomplish—not when or how long you're in front of a computer.
- Purpose. Did we mention that YNAB makes a huge, positive difference in people’s lives?
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family.
- 401k (Traditional and Roth) with 6% match and immediate vesting.
Company HQ
Lehi, UT
Leadership
Jesse Mecham
(Founder)https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jesse-mecham
Taylor Brown
(Technical Fellow)Share this job