Head of Legal / General Counsel

About the Opportunity

Tune Exchange, an early-stage, well-backed UK fintech, is hiring its first dedicated senior lawyer to own and build its legal and compliance function. Depending on the candidate's experience and profile, the role can be structured as either Head of Legal or General Counsel. This is a foundational, highly strategic appointment reporting directly to the Founder and CEO, offering the chance to define the legal and regulatory shape of a genuinely new regulated category.

Key Responsibilities

• FCA Authorisation: Lead the FCA Part 4A authorisation application as the legal project lead, working closely with the Founder and external regulatory counsel.
• Regulatory Framework: Own and manage the regulatory and compliance framework, including the Regulatory Business Plan, ICARA, wind-down plan, and operational policies (AML, CASS, conflicts, market conduct, outsourcing, and risk).
• Commercial Contracts: Draft and negotiate commercial, platform, and supplier agreements, establishing templates to help the business scale.
• Corporate Governance: Provide corporate and fundraising support, alongside managing employment, data protection, and intellectual property matters.
• External Counsel Management: Orchestrate and implement advice from external specialists handling niche legal opinions.

Eligibility Criteria

• Qualification: Qualified solicitor of England and Wales (or equivalent with substantive English-law experience) holding a maintained practising certificate.
• Experience: Ideally 8 to 15 years of post-qualification experience (PQE) as a senior regulatory or financial services lawyer. More senior candidates, including former partners and experienced GCs, are also welcome to apply.
• Regulatory Expertise: Direct experience working in-house at an FCA-regulated firm or advising regulated financial services clients, with strong exposure to the FCA Handbook.
• Perimeter Analysis: Comfort with regulatory perimeter analysis (FSMA, the RAO, transferable securities, collective investment schemes) and preparing FCA authorisations.
• Desirable: Willingness to hold SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) upon authorisation, prior experience in a UK FCA Part 4A authorisation, or scaleup in-house experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: £100,000 to £120,000 (for a 4-day pattern) or £125,000 to £150,000 FTE (for a 5-day pattern), paid pro-rata.
• Equity: A meaningful EMI share option grant.
• Flexibility: Choice of a 4 or 5-day working week, fully remote within the UK (with occasional travel reimbursed).
• Leave & Pension: Employer pension, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for the 4-day pattern).

Application Process

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