At Sunrise Banks we are committed to a culture of trust and transparency that welcomes all.
POSITION SUMMARY
The General Counsel serves as the top legal advisor to the Bank and its fintech payments business, providing strategic, pragmatic counsel on all legal, regulatory, and risk matters. This role acts as a trusted partner to executive leadership, safeguarding the organization while enabling responsible growth aligned with its CDFI mission.
The General Counsel is a hands-on role that oversees all legal operations, including banking, fintech payments and partnerships, contracts, regulatory compliance, and litigation, and is responsible for managing a few staff and external counsel.
This role is critical to enabling the Bank’s dual mission: delivering inclusive financial services as a CDFI while scaling innovative fintech and payments capabilities responsibly. The General Counsel ensures the organization can grow confidently within a complex and highly regulated environment.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Strategic Legal Leadership
- Serve as primary legal advisor to the Executive Team and Board on banking, payments, and corporate matters
- Advise on enterprise risk management from a legal perspective. Providing proactive, solution-oriented legal guidance that balances risk with business objectives
- Design legal strategies that align with the Bank’s CDFI mission and regulatory obligations in order to minimize legal exposure and resolve matters efficiently
- Select, engage, and manage outside counsel across specialty areas controlling spend and setting expectations for responsiveness and outcomes
- Establish scalable contract standards and governance practices
- Lead and develop a small, high-performing legal team (one attorney and one paralegal)
- Foster a collaborative, pragmatic, and service-oriented legal function
Regulatory & Compliance Advisory
- In coordination with Chief Risk Officer and risk teams, provide legal interpretation and guidance on regulatory requirements, emerging rule changes, and new or evolving products
- Advise on regulatory “gray areas” and complex compliance, payments, and regulatory issues (BSA/AML, fair lending, UCC, etc.)
- Support response to regulatory inquiries, complaints, and potential enforcement or litigation exposure
- Provide legal guidance in high-risk events, including security incidents, data breaches, and regulatory notification requirements
- Partner closely with risk and compliance teams to mitigate legal and regulatory exposure
Contracts & Oversight
- Lead negotiation, structuring, and review of complex agreements, including:
- Fintech partner agreements
- Commercial agreements
- Payments processing and program management contracts
- Vendor and technology agreements, often partnering with Procurement
- Provide counsel on contract risk, enforceability, and dispute resolution
- Serve as lead legal advisor for fintech and payments business lines, ensuring compliance with evolving industry requirements
- Advise on BaaS (Banking-as-a-Service), sponsorship models, and partner oversight frameworks
- Support product development with clear, practical legal guidance
KEY COLLABORATORS
Integrator and Executive Team, Board, external counsel, procurement manager, relationship banking, fintech payments and partnerships, risk and compliance
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
This position supervises Paralegal.
Responsible for the hiring, performance management and development of these employees.
COMPETENCIES
- Alignment w/Sunrise Core Values
- Contributor Competencies
- Business Acumen
- Coaching
- Compliance Management
- Conflict Management
- Employee Development
- Leadership
- Planning/Delegation
- Problem Solving
- Project Management
- Resource Management
- Relationship Management
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
- Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school; active license to practice law
- 12+ years of legal experience, with significant experience in banking or financial services
- Deep expertise in banking regulation and supervision; Fintech and/or payments (preferred) and commercial contracts and complex negotiations
- Proven ability to advise senior executives on complex, high-impact issues
- Experience in a CDFI or mission-driven financial institution preferred
- Familiarity with BaaS, embedded finance, and fintech partnership models preferred
- Experience working in both regulated banking and entrepreneurial/growth environments preferred
- Sound judgement with pragmatic, business-oriented approach
- Ability to simplify complex legal issues into clear, actionable guidance
- High level of integrity and discretion
- Collaborative leadership style with strong relationship-building skills
- Comfort operating in a fast-paced, evolving regulatory landscape as both a leader and an individual contributor
- Superior skill set in the use of the following software applications: Microsoft Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Annual salary range DOQ: $173,351 $247,645 $321,938
Eligible Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, FSA, Life, AD&D, STD, LTD, Pet Insurance, PPL, PTO, PVT0, 401k and more. Visit www. sunrisebanks.com for more details.