General Counsel

Responsibilities

• Own all legal, regulatory, and compliance functions across the foundation and its ecosystem activities, including non-profit compliance, contracts, grants, investments, partnerships, and policy work
• Serve as the legal lead on token-related activities, including grants, investments, and structuring decisions
• Lead the transition of Blockchain Association and Digital Chamber policy work into SDF, including the structural and compliance implications of operating under non-profit status
• Personally draft, negotiate, and execute contracts — vendor agreements, grant agreements, investment docs, partnership terms, and bespoke commercial arrangements — rather than routing everything through outside counsel
• Manage marketing communications review across the organization, building a process that scales with the business and never becomes a bottleneck
• Own regulatory engagement strategy for digital asset and stablecoin developments, including proactive positioning with regulators rather than reactive response
• Apply US securities law, commodities regulation, and AML/sanctions frameworks to live questions about token operations, partnerships, and product launches in regulatory gray areas
• Build the compliance program from scratch — AML/sanctions controls, KYC frameworks where applicable, internal policies, and entity-level governance
• Rationalize outside counsel across jurisdictions — vet, consolidate, and manage spend with a clear framework for what justifies external support
• Stand up a risk register and reporting cadence so leadership has real, current visibility into legal exposure
• Act as a strategic advisor to founders and leadership on corporate governance, token-related activities, partnerships, and high-stakes business decisions
• Translate complex legal concepts into clear, practical guidance for non-technical stakeholders

Requirements

• J.D. from a top-tier law school and active bar membership in at least one US jurisdiction
• 6+ years of legal experience in financial services, fintech, payments, or capital markets regulation, with deep working knowledge of US securities law, commodities regulation, and AML/sanctions frameworks — and their application to digital assets
• Proven track record of building or advising on legal and compliance infrastructure for high-growth companies — whether in-house or as outside counsel — with concrete examples of contracts, programs, and frameworks you personally built or led
• Hands-on executor: you personally draft, negotiate, and manage legal workflows, and you can point to specific contracts, programs, and policies you built yourself
• Experience advising on complex financial products and equity or token structures, with the judgment to make fast calls on novel questions
• Exceptional communicator with a track record of translating complex legal concepts into clear, practical guidance for non-technical stakeholders, including C-suite
• Comfort working in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where regulatory ground shifts and execution speed is a competitive advantage

Qualifications

• Experience at a top-tier law firm with a Web3, fintech, or capital markets practice
• Direct experience with non-profit or foundation compliance, including grant frameworks and policy-association governance
• Existing relationships with regulators, the Blockchain Association, the Digital Chamber, or other policy bodies in the digital asset space