Legal Director - Payments

The Purpose

At PPRO, our mission is to simplify access to local payment methods and our vision is to enable the sale of goods and services to anyone in the world using their preferred way to pay. We empower partners such as Ant Group, PayPal and Stripe to access new markets, connect with more customers, and accelerate their growth.

Our strength lies in our diverse global team with 50+ nationalities and 10+ international locations- all united around one goal - to deliver the best possible products and services to our partners and customers. While our company mission is to keep innovating global commerce, our internal mission is to and .

We are seeking an exceptional Legal Director specialising in global Payments to lead our international legal function and serve as a key business partner to the leadership team. Reporting into the Chief Legal Compliance Risk Officer, you will lead and develop our legal strategy, ensuring PPRO's activities align with and promote PPRO's commercial objectives, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.

You will drive operational efficiency and scalability across the international legal function by championing the implementation of technology to streamline processes, governance, and compliance frameworks worldwide.

You will be directly responsible for the leadership, development, and optimisation of our high-impact international legal team of 10+ professionals spanning Europe, LATAM, and the US. This responsibility involves mentoring, empowering, and fostering a culture of ownership and deep collaboration, ensuring the team provides proactive, integrated support and acts as an embedded strategic partner to our Product, Commercial, and Compliance leadership.

Key responsibilities

• Commercial Contract Negotiations: Drive the negotiation and execution of our commercial agreements, developing safe and efficient approaches to low risk / low value contracts so that the team focuses on high value, complex arrangements.
• Regulatory Oversight: Stay abreast of industry trends, legal developments, and regulatory changes, advising the organisation on potential impacts and ensuring proactive compliance measures.
• Disputes and contentious matters: Develop and lead PPRO's response in relation to contentious matters involving third parties, protecting our reputation and assets and asserting our rights appropriately.
• Cross Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with stakeholders across the business, particularly Commercial, Product and Compliance, to integrate legal considerations into business strategies and decision making.
• External Relationships: Oversee relationships with external legal partners, ensuring efficient and cost effective collaboration and representation of the company's legal interests.

Qualifications

• Qualified Legal Professional
• Proven Leadership Experience: 10+ years in a leadership role, demonstrating success in building and leading legal teams within fast paced, growth oriented environments.
• Experience in Financial Services is a must and substantial Payments experience is preferred.
• Commercial Negotiation Expertise: Extensive experience in negotiating and drafting complex commercial contracts.
• Regulatory Knowledge: In depth understanding of payment regulations and compliance requirements across Europe, APAC and LATAM/US.
• Excellent Communication Skills: Strong communication and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders.

Attributes

• Bias for action: Comfort with ambiguity, and a relentless focus on delivering results that drive business value.
• Technologically Empowered: An advocate for technology and automation for process optimisation, knowledge management, and continuous team improvement.
• Team Builder: Proven ability to attract, develop, and retain top tier legal talent, fostering a flexible and deeply collaborative international team ethos.
• Adaptability: Thrives in a constantly evolving, fast paced fintech environment, demonstrating the agility required to support PPRO's rapid scale and diverse product offering.

What's in it for you?

• Hybrid working: We offer a hybrid structure with a 3 days / week on site expectation, so you can strike the balance between office and home working. In addition to our 28-day holiday allowance, we also provide a work from abroad policy, enabling employees to work remotely for up to another 30 days per year.
• Learning and Development: We offer a GBP 1,000 annual budget to support your professional growth-because investing in your development benefits us all. In addition, we provide leadership cafés, on the job training, and other opportunities to help you grow your skills and thrive in your role.
• Insurance: Because better safe than sorry - we want our employees to benefit from various insurances including a medical insurance (BUPA health care plan) and a 5% matching pension plan through Now Pensions.
• Enhance Family Leave: We understand the importance of family - that's why we offer enhanced family leave to support you during key life moments.
• Workplace Nursery Scheme: Save on childcare through salary exchange.
• Gym membership: PPRO helps contribute toward the costs of your gym membership, supporting your physical fitness journey while easing the burden on your wallet.
• Mental Health Platform: We've teamed up with a top well being platform to provide one on one therapy, chat therapy, therapist led courses, guided meditations, and more.
• Our HQ office: on Procter Street, is a short walk from Holborn, Farringdon and Covent Garden so if you're a foodie there's plenty nearby. The office is befitting a tech business and is set up for cross team collaboration.
• Pet friendly office: Because work is better with your paw tners by your side.

Our Principles

• We get things done: We are courageous; we take ownership, make decisions and get things done.
• We act with trust and integrity: We listen first and challenge respectfully. We seek out and leverage diverse perspectives. We welcome and offer honest and open feedback, always assuming positive intent.
• We put the customer first: We are laser focused on delivering outstanding outcomes for our customers. We put the customer at the heart of what we do.
• We make things better: We boldly explore new ideas and have an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.
• We work as a team: We collaborate closely and value team success over individual achievement.