Hybrid Senior Product Counsel – Payments

at Column

• Job title: Senior Product Counsel – Payments
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: $210,000 - $300,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Professional Certificate
• Tech skills: Ruby on Rails
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Senior Product Counsel driving legal strategy for payments at a fintech company. Collaborating with teams to launch innovative banking solutions while ensuring compliance.

Responsibilities

• Drive Product Strategy & Innovation: Be the strategic legal voice enabling product innovation across our payments portfolio. Partner closely with business teams and fintech partners from ideation through launch, anticipating challenges and architecting creative solutions that balance business needs with regulatory requirements. Advise on the legal and operational implications of new payment rails, transaction types, and money-movement features.
• Own Regulatory Architecture: Build and evolve regulatory frameworks for existing and new products. Leverage your deep expertise in Reg E, NACHA rules, card network rules, money transmission, TISA, Reg CC, UCC Article 4A, and the evolving frameworks for real-time payments. Partner with compliance and risk teams to develop scalable approaches that protect the business while enabling growth.
• Lead Subject Matter Expertise: Be the go-to authority on legal and regulatory requirements impacting payments products, including ACH origination and receipt, wire transfers, card issuing and acquiring, card network rules, scheme compliance, payment processor relationships, push-to-card, and instant payment capabilities. Share insights on regulatory developments and their practical implications. Help establish Column as a thought leader in banking infrastructure.
• Manage Fraud & BSA/AML Risk Frameworks: Partner with compliance and operations teams on payments-specific BSA/AML, OFAC, and fraud risk considerations. Advise on transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, and sanctions screening as they apply to payment flows.
• Leverage Technology & AI: Embrace and drive the adoption of technology — including AI and automation tools — to increase the efficiency, speed, and scalability of legal workflows. Identify opportunities to use AI and partner with engineering teams to build legal tooling that gives Column a structural advantage.
• Scale Operations: Design and implement legal processes that can scale with hypergrowth. Improve partner onboarding efficiency while maintaining robust compliance. Build repeatable frameworks that enable the business to move faster.

Requirements

• Currently licensed in a U.S. state, J.D. or equivalent, with 7–15+ years as a practicing lawyer; priority given to candidates with both law firm experience and in-house experience at a fintech and/or a financial institution.
• Deep expertise counseling product teams on banking infrastructure and embedded finance solutions, with particular depth in payments, money transmission, and money-movement regulatory frameworks.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory framework governing banking partnerships and fintech services.
• Familiarity with NACHA rules, card network operating regulations, Regulation E, UCC Article 4A, BSA/AML requirements, and OFAC sanctions frameworks as they apply to payment products.
• Experience advising on payment processing agreements, funds-flow structures, settlement mechanics, and chargeback/dispute frameworks.
• Comfort working at the intersection of law and technology — you can read an API spec, understand a funds-flow diagram, and translate technical architecture into legal risk assessment.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, including options that are 100% covered by Column for you and 100% covered for your dependents!
• Comprehensive family planning and fertility benefits via partnership with Carrot, including reimbursement of up to $20,000 in qualified expenses
• FSA and HSA account options to enable use of pre-tax money for medical and dependent care expenses
• 401k plan, including self-directed brokerage options
• Flexible time-off policy - take the time off that you want and need to relax and recharge
• 100% paid parental leave, including 16 weeks for birth mothers, 12 weeks for primary caregivers, and 8 weeks for secondary caregivers
• Catered lunches and dinners for SF employees
• Commuter benefits
• Regular team building events, including annual offsite