Senior Legal Counsel

Overview

Senior Financial Services Legal Counsel – Pennylane – balancing regulatory compliance with rapid product growth. From the day you join until the company is fully licensed, you will structure and execute the legal path to authorization, define operating models, and ensure on‑going compliance.

About Pennylane

Pennylane is a fast-growing French fintech that supports small businesses and accounting firms with accounting and financial software. The company has raised €400 million and serves over 900 000 SMEs and 6 000 accounting firms in France. It is expanding into Europe and is building a regulated entity to deliver financial services to its 800 000 customers.

Responsibilities

• Interpret regulatory requirements, translate them into an internal plan and ensure deliverables are complete, consistent, and aligned across teams.
• Define the target operating model (intra‑group and outsourced) and ensure it is legally defensible for the licence application.
• Own the legal oversight of day‑to‑day corporate matters (policies, governance, reporting, inspections).
• Lead legal work for launching new regulated products and entering new partnerships.
• Manage onboarding and migration of customers to the licensed subsidiary, covering terms, communications, complaints and conduct risk.
• Own legal matters related to outsourcing and BaaS arrangements – contract negotiation, regulatory outsourcing clauses, audit and access rights, SLAs, data protection and operational resilience.
• Coordinate the legal plan for migrating clients from the current BaaS provider, including sequencing, consent, novation, communication and incident safeguards.
• Ensure data processing, cross‑border flows, retention, incident response and contractual protections meet regulatory expectations.
• Prepare ACPR interaction materials (Q&A packs, position papers, meetings) until full licence is achieved; maintain relationship with ACPR thereafter.
• Train stakeholders on legal and regulatory constraints and build a legal‑by‑design culture.

Mission & Objectives

Build and maintain a robust legal framework that supports the growth of Pennylane’s financial services while ensuring regulatory compliance and operational readiness.

Corporate and Governance

Design, document and maintain corporate governance aspects: delegation of powers, board and committee charters, conflict management, outsourced arrangements, ACPR reporting narratives and ongoing compliance cadence.

Products, Contracts and Customer Legal Architecture

• Design the legal framework for the financial services product perimeter (payment services, account services, credit and finance).
• Collaborate with the contract team on customer terms, disclosures, pricing documents, complaint handling, KYC/AML handoffs and incident communications.

Outsourcing / BaaS Transition & Vendor Contracting

Own legal matters for critical outsourcing and third‑party reliance, including contract negotiation, regulatory clauses, audit rights, sub‑outsourcing controls, exit plans, SLAs, data protection, operational resilience, and documentation for ACPR scrutiny.

Migration Readiness

Lead the legal plan for migrating customers from the current provider, coordinate sequencing, consent, novation, communications, incident handling and conduct risk safeguards.

Privacy and Security

Coordinate with the DPO and security stakeholders to address data processing roles, cross‑border flows, retention, incident response, recordkeeping, and provider protections.

Regulatory Engagement Support & Internal Enablement

Prepare ACPR interactions before and after licence; support the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer with legal opinions and advisory.

Culture, Training & Advisory

Operate as a legal owner, delivering pragmatic and regulator‑ready outcomes; train teams to embed regulatory constraints into product and operations.

About You

• 8+ years of experience, including in‑house legal work at a regulated entity (payments, EMI/PI, bank, lending, factoring) or fintech/BaaS.
• Senior legal expertise in a French ACPR‑regulated entity.
• Hands‑on contract experience and deep knowledge of the regulatory environment (PSD2, DORA, EBA Guidelines, etc.).
• Comfortable owning cross‑functional programmes.

Skills & Mindset

• ACPR and European regulatory frameworks for payments and lending.
• Outsourcing and third‑party risk legal frameworks.
• Governance and regulated‑entity corporate law basics.

• Working fast with rigorous quality.
• Strong pedagogy – explain complex regulatory topics simply.
• Impact‑driven, regulating constr