Head of Legal - #1708831

Job Title: Head of Legal

Location: London/Hybrid (3 days in office per week). Reports to: CEO

About Elwood

Elwood Technologies is an FCA regulated firm that provides end-to-end institutional-grade digital asset Execution, Liquidity Access and Portfolio Monitoring & Risk Management Software. Built with institutions for institutions, Elwood’s EMS offers best available price execution, smart order routing and algorithmic tooling alongside a traditional finance grade Portfolio Management System.

Built by industry experts with decades of combined experience in investment management and digital technology, we are now looking for a Head of Legal to contribute to the overall legal strategy and risk management of the organisation.

Overview:

Elwood is seeking a dynamic Head of Legal to lead our legal function. This role is central to shaping Elwood’s legal and regulatory strategy, supporting business functions, and providing expert legal guidance across a broad range of areas including regulation, commercial contracts and corporate governance.

This is a unique opportunity for a commercially minded legal professional that is comfortable discerning regulatory issues and has an interest in the digital assets and fintech space. You will act as the principal legal advisor to the business, partnering closely with senior leadership and cross-functional team leads while owning and managing legal risks to the business.

Key Responsibilities

Regulatory:

• Lead Elwood’s regulatory strategy and ensure compliance with existing and emerging global regulations and provide strategic advice to senior leadership with respect thereto.
• Manage and co-ordinate regulatory projects as they arise with internal (e.g. Compliance and Business teams) and external (e.g. counsel and regulatory bodies) stakeholders.
• Monitoring regulatory developments in the digital assets space and their impact to the business, both in the UK and overseas jurisdictions.
  
  

Commercial:

• Lead on the drafting, negotiation, and execution of a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS license agreements, vendor contracts and partnership agreements.
• Provide strategic legal advice to senior leadership on new product launches, marketing material, commercial initiatives and business development transactions.
• Ensure commercial contracts are structured to align with Elwood’s risk appetite and business objectives.
  
  

General:

• Work closely with other support teams including Finance, Tax and HR to ensure that corporate structure and governance matters are managed optimally.
• Identify, assess, and proactively mitigate legal and commercial risks across the organisation, relying on external counsel support where necessary.
• Ensure legal operations scale with business growth by developing processes, policies, and template documentation, as appropriate, to promote efficient workflows and handling of legal matters.
• Promote legal awareness and training across business units where appropriate.
  
  

Qualifications:

• Qualified solicitor with 7+ years’ PQE, ideally including experience in-house at a fast-paced fintech, financial services, or technology business.
• Strong background and/or understanding of commercial, corporate and regulatory matters.
• Prior experience advising on or engaging with regulators such as the FCA, or equivalent international authorities highly desirable.
• Prior experience of digital assets regulation and/or fintech legal frameworks highly desirable.
  
  

Soft Skills:

• Hands-on approach.
• Ability to work autonomously and manage a wide-ranging workload with competing priorities.
• Commercially minded and pragmatic in applying legal expertise to real-world business scenarios.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; able to simplify complex legal concepts for non-legal stakeholders.
• High attention to detail, sound judgment, and resilience under pressure.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, high intensity environment.
  
  

What we offer:

Competitive salary and compensation packages

Fully paid medical and discounted dental schemes for employees and their family

Generous time off + bank holidays

Enhanced parental leave for all employees who have been with the company for one (1) year

Fully stocked kitchen and access to Ubereats

Discounted gym scheme with Fitness First

Employee Assistance Programme

Paid study leave and personal leave

Why Elwood?

• Join a FinTech startup with tier 1 institutional backing and a strong market presence.
• Help shape the future of finance - our platform is enabling institutional access to digital assets.
• Work with a modern technology stack and help solve complex problems.
• Strong client focused team with a diverse background.
• We’re a Global company and have modern offices based centrally in London, New York and Singapore.