Associate Counsel, Commercial Retail

About Clear Street: 

Clear Street is modernizing the brokerage ecosystem. Founded in 2018, Clear Street is a diversified financial services firm replacing the legacy infrastructure used across capital markets.

We started from scratch by building a completely cloud-native clearing and custody system designed for today’s complex, global market. Clear Street’s proprietary prime brokerage platform adds significant efficiency to the market, while focusing on minimizing risk, redundancy, and cost for clients. Our goal is to create a single source-of-truth platform for every asset class, in every country, and in any currency.

By combining highly-skilled product and engineering talent with seasoned finance professionals, we’re building the essentials to compete in today’s fast-paced markets.

About the role

Clear Street is building a modern retail brokerage business, bringing institutional infrastructure and technology to individual investors and active traders.

As we scale, we’re expanding our partnerships, marketing, distribution and technology relationships. We’re looking for a Counsel, Commercial (Retail) to advise on and negotiate the growing volume of agreements supporting that expansion.

You will serve as the lead commercial lawyer for Retail and report to the General Counsel. You will advise Retail leadership, draft and negotiate agreements from term sheet through signature and renewal, and work closely with Compliance, Finance, Privacy and Information Security to manage legal risk.

This role suits a pragmatic lawyer who combines strong drafting and negotiating skills with sound business judgment. You will work independently within established playbooks, escalate novel or high-risk issues to the General Counsel, and help Retail move quickly without taking on unnecessary risk.

What you’ll do

• Draft and negotiate a high-volume pipeline of commercial agreements across partnerships, affiliates, creators, paid media, creative production, agencies, events and technology vendors.
• Draft and negotiate contracts, statements of work, amendments and NDAs, and develop the playbooks and templates that guide Retail’s routine contracting.
• Review incoming agreements and counterparty redlines and set negotiating positions within the playbook. Escalate terms outside the playbook to the General Counsel.
• Advise business owners on deal structure, risk allocation, scope, deliverables, pricing and payment terms.
• Advise on exclusivity, intellectual property, content usage rights, data sharing, indemnification, limitation of liability, and termination and renewal provisions.
• Work with Compliance, Finance, Procurement, Privacy and Information Security to resolve legal issues and confirm that the right approvals are in place.
• Partner with Compliance on the legal aspects of advertising, creator campaigns, testimonials and promotions.
• Counsel Retail leadership on emerging legal issues and business risks as the business grows and enters new channels.

What we’re looking for

• D. from an accredited law school and admission to practice in at least one U.S. jurisdiction (New York preferred).
• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant experience as a commercial or transactional attorney, at a law firm or in-house, ideally in fintech, brokerage, consumer technology, digital media or advertising.
• Direct experience negotiating marketing, partnership, agency and vendor agreements.
• Strong drafting and negotiating skills, with close attention to commercial detail.
• A track record of managing a substantial matter load independently and prioritizing across competing demands.
• Sound judgment on risk: you know when to accept a position, when to push back and when to escalate.
• Confidence advising business leaders and negotiating with counterparties and external counsel.
• A proactive working style: you spot issues early, propose practical solutions and take responsibility for results.

Especially valuable

• Experience at a startup or business undergoing rapid expansion.
• Familiarity with affiliate marketing, influencer agreements, media buying and creative licensing.
• Experience working alongside Legal and Compliance teams in financial services.
• Experience with technology, data and privacy-related commercial terms.

What success looks like

• Retail leadership receives clear, timely and practical legal advice.
• Routine agreements within the playbook close quickly.
• Complex agreements close on favorable, well-documented terms, with material risks identified and escalated appropriately.
• Legal, Compliance and other stakeholders align early on issues, which reduces rework and delay.
• Legal support for Retail scales with deal volume without sacrificing quality.

 

We Offer: 

The Base Salary Range for this role is $200,000-$250,000. This range is representative of the starting base salaries for this role at Clear Street. Where a candidate falls in this range will be based on job related factors such as relevant experience, skills, and location. This range represents Base Salary only, which is just one element of Clear Street's total compensation. The range stated does not include other factors of total compensation such as bonuses or equity.

At Clear Street, we offer competitive compensation packages, company equity, 401k matching, gender neutral parental leave, and full medical, dental and vision insurance. Our belief has always been that we are better as a business when we are all together in person. As such, we are requiring employees to be in the office 4 days per week. In-office benefits include lunch stipends, fully stocked kitchens, happy hours, a great location, and amazing views.

Our top priority is our people. We’re continuously investing in a culture that promotes collaboration. We help each other through challenges and celebrate each other's successes. We believe that modern workplaces succeed by virtue of having high-performance workforces that are diverse — in ideas, in cultures, and in experiences. We put in the effort to make such a workplace a daily reality and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.