Lending Counsel, Specialized Finance - Vice President

About the Company

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group headquartered in Tokyo with a 400-year history, offering a diverse range of financial services including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group operates over 130 offices with 80,000 employees worldwide across nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG), the holding company of SMBC Group, is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan and trades on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group serves corporate, institutional, and municipal clients through entities such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., and others, providing commercial and investment banking services backed by the Group’s capital strength and global network.

About the Role

The Vice President and Counsel will work within the Legal Department and report to the Head of the Specialized Finance Practice Group. This role involves supporting domestic and cross-border corporate and project finance transactions, structured solutions, and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Review, draft, and negotiate documentation for credit transactions, including bilateral and syndicated credit agreements, reimbursement agreements, guarantees, security agreements, engagement letters, mandate letters, commitment letters, fee letters, and term sheets.
• Collaborate with front office and internal stakeholders to structure and coordinate credit transactions, including originations and restructurings.
• Provide support for innovative capital solutions and structured transactions, such as synthetic risk transfers, credit intermediation transactions, and portfolio sales.
• Supervise and manage external counsel.
• Identify and analyze U.S. and cross-border legal, regulatory, and market issues affecting commercial lending, including legal risks associated with new products.
• Maintain and update form documents.
• Advise other SMBC offices on New York law and U.S. market practice.
• Participate in continuing legal education seminars and relevant industry groups (e.g., LSTA) to stay current on developing law and market practice.
• Collaborate with attorneys in SMBC Legal and other internal partners to ensure adherence to institutional standards and policies.
• Escalate material issues and developments to senior attorneys and management.

Requirements

• Admission to the New York or North Carolina bar in good standing.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience at a law firm or in-house legal department advising financial institutions on bilateral and syndicated commercial lending transactions, with a focus on corporate and/or project finance.

Skills

• Excellent legal and analytical skills.
• Broad experience in general credit transactions, including secured and unsecured lending, project finance, structured finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, insolvency and bankruptcy, and cross-border financing (preferred).
• Proven skills in legal risk management and the ability to understand the bigger picture beyond immediate questions.
• Ability to balance competing demands and protect institutional interests.
• Strong communication, technical drafting, and issue-spotting skills.
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment and manage a significant workload with minimal supervision.
• Creative problem-solving and solution-oriented mindset.
• Team player with a collaborative approach.

Schedule

SMBC operates under a hybrid workforce model, requiring employees to live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Specific hybrid work schedules will be discussed during the interview process. Note that hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, such as FINRA-registered positions requiring full-time in-office attendance.