Legal Counsel - Commercial (m/f/d)

Upvest, founded in 2017, enables any financial institution to offer great investment experiences to its customers. Upvest is an investment firm regulated by the German supervision authority (BaFin). The company currently employs 160+ people across Europe with its headquarters based in Berlin, Germany.

The company is backed by the world’s largest venture capital funds and investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, BlackRock, Earlybird, HV Capital, Notion Capital, and ABN Amro Ventures, as well as by renowned fintech entrepreneurs (including Maximilian Tayenthal , founder of N26, and Felix Haas , founder of IDnow).

We’re looking for fintech enthusiasts to join us in creating the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. We’re building the first European Investment API to enable any financial institution offering a wide range of efficient and transparent investment products, such as stocks and ETFs in nominal, portfolio, and fractional form. Our mission and vision is to make investing as easy as spending money .

We’re based in Berlin but would consider hiring remotely within Germany for this role. If you do want to move to Berlin, we’re happy to support your relocation. As part of Upvest’s Banking Team you will become a key stakeholder in uniting legal and regulatory compliance with venture-driven growth.

Job requirements:

• Provide legal advice for domestic and international projects, with a focus on reviewing, drafting, and negotiating cooperation agreements with clients.
• Offer legal guidance to project management and sales teams throughout all phases of project execution.
• Perform thorough legal risk assessments of vendor agreements to mitigate potential risks.
• Develop and maintain standard contracts and other key legal documents essential to operations.
• Manage and structure contract inventory to ensure legal compliance and ownership.
• Prepare expert legal opinions to support strategic decision-making processes.
• Collaborate closely with the Legal and Compliance department to develop and improve internal processes.

Qualifications:

• Successful completion of German law degree (Zweite Juristische Prüfung ) and admission to the bar or an equivalent qualification, either nationally or internationally recognised.
• A minimum of 1 to 3 years professional legal experience, ideally within an international and fast-paced context.
• First experience in the financial services industry and regulatory law.
• Enthusiasm for an agile and proactive working culture.
• Exceptional communication skills with fluency in business English.
• Strong intercultural awareness and enthusiasm for working in a global environment.
• A team-oriented mindset, with a passion for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Proficiency in IT and a good working knowledge of common Google Workspace and MS Office applications.

Why Upvest?

• Our legal and compliance teams consist of highly motivated and skilled people with extensive relevant professional experience.
• We're working on solving a hard problem: fixing the European securities financial infrastructure that empowers more people to be able to invest. You have the opportunity to contribute to this change.
• We invest in you. From access to a personal coach, development budget and plenty of opportunities to grow in your role.
• We take hiring seriously with a strong focus on keeping a high bar when interviewing (equally important is that we hire decent people, who are passionate about their craft and helping us achieve our shared mission).
• While we're not quite fully-remote, we are committed to being a flexible employer, as we understand you don't have to be in the office to do your best work.
• We live a culture of empowerment, trust (that we hire the best people and get out of their way) and openness (there's a greater advantage in sharing information than keeping it to ourselves).

Our values:

• Learn and grow. We aim high to shape our future. We give and request honest feedback knowing that we develop together. Progression over Perfection.
• Team first. We make it easy for others. We value our differences and are open to others' opinions. We win and celebrate together! Team over Egos.
• Own the outcome. Whether we win or we lose, we stand together. We are proactive and get the job done. Outcome over Process.
• Tell the story. We always start with the why . We share knowledge to empower others. Transparency over Complexity.

Upvest is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.