Head of Legal / General Counsel

About the Opportunity

Tune Exchange, an early-stage, well-backed UK fintech startup, is seeking its first dedicated senior lawyer to establish and lead its legal and compliance function. Depending on the candidate's experience and profile, the role will be designated as either Head of Legal or General Counsel. This is a foundational, strategic appointment reporting directly to the Founder and CEO, offering the unique opportunity to define the legal and regulatory framework of a completely new regulated financial category.

Key Responsibilities and Ownership

The successful candidate will have complete ownership of the legal and compliance vertical, with primary responsibilities including:

• FCA Authorization: Serving as the legal project lead for the FCA Part 4A authorization application, working closely with the Founder and external regulatory counsel. This program will dominate the first 12 to 18 months.
• Regulatory & Compliance Framework: Designing and implementing the Regulatory Business Plan, ICARA, wind-down plan, and operational policies (including AML, CASS, conflicts, market conduct, outsourcing, and risk).
• Commercial Contracts: Drafting, negotiating, and managing commercial contracts, platform agreements, supplier contracts, and scalable templates.
• Corporate Governance: Providing legal support for corporate affairs, fundraising rounds, governance, employment, data protection, and intellectual property.
• External Counsel Management: Coordinating and managing relationships with external legal specialists.

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates applying for this position must meet the following professional requirements:

• Qualification: Qualified solicitor of England and Wales (or equivalent, with substantive English-law experience) holding a maintained practising certificate.
• Experience: Typically 8 to 15 years of post-qualification experience (PQE), though more senior candidates (including former partners and experienced GCs) are highly welcome.
• Regulatory Expertise: Direct experience working within or advising FCA-regulated financial services firms, with strong exposure to the FCA Handbook and regulatory perimeter analysis (FSMA, RAO, transferable securities, collective investment schemes).
• SME/Startup Mindset: A strong appetite to be the sole legal hire in an early-stage business and build processes from first principles.

Strongly Desirable: Willingness to hold the SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) designation upon authorization, or prior experience with UK FCA Part 4A authorizations for novel business models.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary: £100,000 to £120,000 (for a 4-day pattern) or £125,000 to £150,000 FTE (for a 5-day pattern).
• Equity: A meaningful EMI share option grant.
• Benefits: Employer pension, 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated if working 4 days), and full remote working setup with reimbursed occasional travel.
• Flexibility: Under the 4-day work pattern, outside non-competing professional work is permitted under a structured conflicts framework.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit a short covering letter along with their updated CV directly through the official LinkedIn application portal. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis.