Legal Counsel

Our Business

FISPAN Services Inc. (FISPAN) is an Enterprise SaaS FinTech company that allows banks to deploy embedded financial products and services to create a seamless banking connection for their clients. 

Our customers are large financial institutions, and the FISPAN SaaS platform removes friction and adds value by enabling their commercial banking clients to access banking and treasury services through their preferred ERP / accounting platform. 

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in downtown Vancouver, FISPAN is on a mission to create the best product in the FinTech industry and fundamentally change the way that companies bank. Being the market leader in ERP Banking, we work with the world’s Tier 1 banks with assets exceeding $3T, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, TD and Bank of Montreal. 

We are looking for dynamic and passionate individuals to join our high performance team and contribute to our rapid growth and exciting journey.

Job Description Summary

Reporting to the Chief Legal & Risk Officer (CLRO), the Legal Counsel – Technology will play an important role supporting the Legal, Human Resources (HR) and Security & GRC (Governance, Risk & Compliance) functions on legal and compliance matters impacting FISPAN, and collaborating with various teams at FISPAN including Product and Engineering.  

The Legal Counsel – Technology will be the second in-house lawyer to join the FISPAN Legal Department, and will closely collaborate with and help manage the 6-member Security & GRC team, in addition to assisting the CLRO in advising FISPAN’s C-Suite and Board of Directors and managing external legal counsel.

The candidate must have a strong background in technology-related transactions, including direct experience in SaaS contract strategy and negotiation, and experience in in-house settings is mandatory with limited exceptions.  

Candidates with experience in the following areas will also be viewed positively – while not mandatory, such experience is a major plus:

• Data and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) governance, including in relation to privacy (e.g, GDPR; CCPA); at a minimum, the candidate must have familiarity with the foregoing in the contracts or compliance context.
  

• Experience with legal operations / technology, including helping establish and scale legal teams and processes (e.g., legal intake), procure legal ops tools (including AI-powered), and drive metrics and KPIs to assess and improve legal team performance and customer satisfaction.

• Financial industry experience, ideally working with financial institutions as customers or representing them in contracts matters, and/or experience with SaaS platforms for payments and banking.

We seek candidates with strong drafting and negotiation skills, a business-oriented approach, and an ability to assess risk. Our ideal candidate brings exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with ability to distill complex legal concepts into clear, actionable advice for non-legal stakeholders across teams and disciplines.   A collaborative and team-oriented mindset, with the ability to build relationships across departments, is a must. 

The position offers some flexibility to work remotely, a competitive compensation package, and the opportunity to lead impactful projects within a dynamic team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Contract Drafting, Negotiation and Compliance: Draft, review, and negotiate SaaS and technology services agreements and SOWs, with financial institutions as the customers. Support the creation and maintenance of contract forms and playbooks to streamline contract review and negotiation processes. Assist in driving the Company’s contractual compliance framework and initiatives.

• Data Governance; Privacy and Data Protection: Provide guidance and support on FISPAN data governance policies and processes, including in relation to bank partner contract compliance and related data policies (e.g., use of AI products and services).  Assist with the company’s information security and cybersecurity incident response framework and policies, and advise on privacy laws and data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA) applicable to our business, and related regulatory and contractual compliance needs. 

• Risk and Vendor Management: Support the enterprise risk management process, identifying legal and other risks and assisting with the development of mitigation strategies, as well as vendor management program and policies. Familiarity with ISO, SOC2 and/or NIST frameworks is a plus.

• Regulatory and Compliance Matters; Legal Research: Advise on regulatory and compliance issues related to payments, financial services, outsourcing, AI, and open banking, and the FinTech and SaaS industries more broadly. Conduct legal research on various topics, including emerging trends in contracts, IP and payments law. Provide timely and actionable legal advice to senior management and the business teams.

• Corporate Governance and Transactions: Support corporate governance matters, including board governance, shareholder relations, and corporate filings.  Assist with securities-related matters including support for financing rounds, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions, management of FISPAN’s cap table and administration of FISPAN stock option plan.  Support the Company’s plans for expansion to Europe and Asia.

• Intellectual Property: Assist with IP matters, including trademark and patent prosecution, in collaboration in collaboration with external IP counsel and FISPAN’s product, engineering and marketing teams.  Direct experience in IP prosecution is not mandatory, but an understanding of IP licensing concepts applicable to SaaS contracting is a must.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product, engineering, marketing and sales teams to ensure that legal issues are proactively addressed throughout the product lifecycle. Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice to support strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations.

• Employment / HR: Provide support to the CLRO and Head of HR on employment-related legal matters, including assisting in the development and maintenance of employment agreements, policies and procedures, and management of people issues.

• Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Assist with the management of any legal disputes or litigation involving the company, including working with external counsel as necessary.

Qualifications:

• Education: Law degree (LL.B.) from a recognized Canadian university. Candidates with US or UK law degrees, coupled with a license to practice in the US or Canada, will also be considered.

• Licensing: Active membership in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario or the Law Society of British Columbia. A U.S. state bar membership or license to practice in England and Wales is a plus.

• Experience: 4-8 years of experience including in-house roles, with a focus on technology law and demonstrated experience negotiating and managing complex SaaS contracts. Payments or financial services industry experience preferred.

Why Work With Us? 

• Experienced Team: Our CEO is Lisa Shields, a renowned tech entrepreneur whose previous venture, Hyperwallet, was purchased by Paypal and ranks as one of the largest Canadian technology company acquisitions. Lisa is backed by a seasoned leadership team with vast experience scaling technology companies from start-up through growth phases to acquisition. Our CLRO is Santo Manna, who brings 30 years of experience in the Fintech and banking software industry, both as a General Counsel and in private practice representing banks and technology providers.  In joining our team, you will benefit from that experience and associated mentorship opportunities, and further build your network and knowledge base.

• High Growth Environment: FISPAN is an emerging high growth company, and that implies autonomy and leadership over projects. Our employees hold a higher level of responsibility and are presented with various hands-on opportunities from the get-go. We want our team to reach their full potential and career aspirations, and FISPAN helps foster that.

• Rich Culture: The Company’s culture is its greatest asset, and our team members form bonds that last a lifetime.  We plan company-wide events, both virtual and in-person, and other activities to foster togetherness and help drive engagement. We also understand that personal growth happens on multiple levels, and so encourage a work-life balance with ample time to spend with family, explore new ideas and develop hobbies. 

• Perks: Our prime downtown Vancouver office in the Guiness Building, with its magnificent views, is close to a Skytrain, prestige shopping, and other amenities. FISPAN employees have access to our building fitness centre and amenities, fully stocked cupboards, weekly team lunches, and daily coffee runs. We also set our employees up for success by providing the most modern MacBook and Apple equipment.

Compensation Package 

We offer a competitive salary and bonus structure based on comparable market data for similar jobs and job levels from companies of similar employee size, revenue and location. A candidate’s specific base salary will range from CAD $145,000 to $185,000, to be determined based on multiple factors including applicable experience, knowledge, skillsets and qualifications. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As FISPAN continues to grow, we are committed to celebrating diversity, endorsing equity, and encouraging inclusion, and eliminating bias in our recruitment process.