VP, Legal – Financial Services

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Description Summary:

The customer is at the center of everything we do at PayPal. As a leader in financial technologies, PayPal teams are cross-functional and inspired by the goal of improving the financial wellbeing of people and businesses around the world. Our cross-functional teams partner across the PayPal family of companies as one team to deliver unique and meaningful products for millions of customers around the world.

Reporting to the SVP & General Counsel, the VP, Legal Counsel- Financial Services (FS) and Credit will be responsible for leading the FS and Credit Teams, including Credit, Consumer Financial Services (CFS). The ideal candidate is a proven executive leader who has deep expertise in legal issues covering consumer and business credit and lending, buy now pay later products, financial services, and consumer protection. This role will directly manage the team responsible for providing legal advice and guidance to our product organization on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters related to the development and launch of PayPal’s products. This executive leader must possess strong analytical and communication skills to influence business strategies and decisions and combine a passion and knowledge of the payments business and data to become a trusted business partner throughout the organization, leading critical projects from idea generation through execution.

Job Description:

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a team of experienced product and regulatory lawyers supporting PayPal’s financial service and credit products.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to our product leaders on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters related to the development, enhancement and launch of product initiatives.
• Serve as a member of the financial services and credit leader’s leadership team and contribute strategically to the development of new products and offerings.
• Advise on related legal issues including those arising under federal laws and regulations such as: EFTA/Reg. E, TILA/Reg. Z, FCRA/Reg. V, FACTA, GLBA/Reg. P, UDAAP, FDCPA, ECOA/Reg. B, SCRA, TCPA, CAN-SPAM, and other laws affecting payments, consumer protection, credit and lending products.
• Participate actively with business leaders to plan and execute effective business and product strategies.
• Provide timely and business-focused legal advice on product design and strategy and proactively identify associated risks and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Regular review of product experiences and associated content to ensure compliance with applicable laws.
• Provide advice in support of PayPal products including those related to financial services and credit initiatives.
• Collaborate with other legal and compliance teams, and other cross-functional groups to support product initiatives globally.
• Develop a strong rapport and working relationship with business counterparts across the enterprise to help drive business growth through the delivery of effective legal services.
• Develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of PayPal’s core business, its markets, products, customers, competitors and regulatory environment, in order to identify trends, stay abreast of material developments, and provide high level legal advice to the businesses on emerging opportunities and risks from a financial services perspective.
• Hire, develop and manage talent for the credit and financial services team.
• Manage the legal budget associated with supporting this vertical and select and manage outside counsel, where necessary.

Qualifications and Experience

Qualifications

• Licensed or eligible to practice law in the United States.
• MBA or LLM is a plus.
• 15+ years of relevant experience, preferably in an executive leadership role and a law degree from an ABA accredited school.
• Experience advising on legal and regulatory matters related to product development and launch preferably in FinTech, banking, or financial services.
• Strong understanding of technology and payments industries, including applicable laws and regulations, including knowledge of regulations and industry guidelines applicable to ecommerce, Reg. E, CAN SPAM, TCPA, E-Sign, and UDAP/UDAAP, and other guidance coming out of federal and state agencies such as the CFPB and the FTC.
• Familiarity with, and strong interest in e-commerce, PayPal, Venmo, mobile and alternative payments, emerging payments technology, and the payments industry.
• Exceptional communication skills, including the ability to explain complex legal and regulatory concepts to non-legal stakeholders.
• Excellent drafting, written and verbal communication skills and ability to adapt legal requirements in balanced, creative and pragmatic ways to facilitate clear and open communication at all levels of the organization.
• High comfort level with a wide range of legal issues and subject matters.
• Skilled, effective and empathetic manager who is able to empower team members to achieve at a consistently high level while building trusted relationships.
• A confirmed ability to effectively influence, lead, collaborate with and encourage others at all levels.
• Experience building and leading teams with an inclusive and collaborative team culture.
• High personal standards of excellence and ethics, as well as the ability to act with discretion, strict confidentiality and sensitivity towards issues and individuals.
• Strong knowledge of key legal concepts and levers in negotiations.
• Self-starter who is able to balance multiple competing priorities, operate at pace and with a high degree of ambiguity.
• Skills to build strong working relationships and collaborate closely with key cross-functional stakeholders.