Legal Counsel - Corporate & Commercial

About Betterment

Betterment is a leading, technology-driven financial services company that offers investing, savings and retirement solutions for retail investors and investment advisors as well as financial wellness solutions, including a 401(k) for small and medium-sized businesses. Our team is passionate about our mission, to empower people to build wealth with confidence and ease.  We’re headquartered in NYC and offer hybrid NY-based positions (four days/ week in-office, with no required office days during the summer and winter holidays).

About the Role

We're looking for a versatile, business-minded lawyer to join Betterment's legal team as Legal Counsel - Corporate & Commercial. This role offers a wide variety of dealmaking and governance work — negotiating the vendor, technology, and commercial agreements that keep Betterment running, while supporting corporate and governance matters across the organization. The ideal candidate is a strong transactional attorney who enjoys moving fast, owning problems end-to-end, and building repeatable processes for a lean, high-throughput legal function.

This role is based out of our NYC office. Below we've reflected the base salary range for this position. Actual salaries may vary depending on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Betterment’s total compensation package for employees. 

• New York City: $170,000 - $185,000

This job may also be eligible for variable compensation in the form of a company incentive bonus. 

A Day in the Life:

• Draft, review, negotiate, and interpret a wide variety of commercial agreements
• Provide legal support for a variety of corporate transactions through all stages of the transaction lifecycle, including M&A, securities and technology transactions 
• Advise on a broad range of commercial legal issues and strategic decisions
• Partner with business teams on the development and execution of new and existing products, initiatives, and lines of business
• Assist in managing corporate matters, including board/shareholder matters and equity plan administration
• Work cross-functionally to identify, investigate and manage risks across the business
• Build and improve our standard form agreements and legal processes
• Help to resolve and avoid potential disputes
• Work closely with product, engineering, and our lines of business to navigate regulatory and compliance requirements, operational issues, and related matters
• Collaborate with outside counsel when necessary

What we’re looking for

• A JD, admission to a state bar, and at least 4 years of relevant in-house or firm transactional experience 
• A pragmatic negotiator who knows when to hold a position and when to find the deal
• The ability to to manage competing priorities and thrive in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment
• A willingness to build scalable processes that drive efficiencies for a lean team charged with covering a considerable amount of ground
• A bias toward action and solving problems, not just issue spotting
• The ability to take ownership over your work and manage projects independently
• Excellent writing and communication skills, with the ability to translate legal risk into terms a non-lawyer will understand
• Comfort navigating complexity and creating simplicity where possible
• An collaborative mindset and innate curiosity
• Passion for Betterment’s product and mission

Bonus Points If You Have: 

• Experience with Ironclad or similar contract management tool  
• Experience in retail financial services or representing financial services clients
• In-house experience at a startup or high growth company

Join a team built on these core values

We change lives

Be a part of a community of innovators working to transform financial outcomes for real people. Your work will make an impact, always laddering up to our mission; to empower people to build wealth with confidence and ease.

We set audacious goals

We set them for the company, our customers, and ourselves, and we won’t stop until we reach them. We don’t just show up; we give our all, then celebrate our wins.

We value all perspectives

When we collaborate, we're at our best. We believe diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes and strive to uphold our supportive and inclusive community.

We simplify financial services

We’re financial services pioneers, always finding new ways to improve, optimize, and enhance. Constant improvement is in our DNA.

 Our Commitment to Your Total Well-being:

• We offer a competitive suite of benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage; life and AD&D insurance; short- and long-term disability; infertility support and WPATH-aligned transgender health benefits; an Employee Assistance Program (EAP); transit benefits and FSA and HSA options
• Ownership: Equity for all employees, including new hire and refresher grants.
• Time: Flexible paid time off, paid parental leave, and a fully paid four-week sabbatical in your sixth year.
• Growth: Company-paid professional coaching for all employees.
• Wealth: Day-one 401(k) match plus matching on qualified student loan payments.

What happens next

We’ll take a few weeks to review all applications. If we’d like to spend more time with you, we’ll reach out to arrange next steps, which will include 3-4 sets of meetings with your future colleagues.

In the interview process, we’ll look to learn more about your skills, experiences, capabilities, and motivators. Many of our questions will be aimed at understanding how you might operate here at Betterment. Depending on the role, we may ask you to complete a case study exercise or technical assessments, as we want to collect a robust set of data points to better inform our decisions.

On average, it takes us around 3-5 weeks to make a hiring decision, depending on your availability and sense of urgency. As a best practice, we aim to interview at least 2-3 final round candidates before making a hiring decision. Please note that, as we usually receive an overwhelming number of  applications for open positions, we’re unable to offer individual feedback during the interview process. 

We recognize that interviewing for a new role is a big deal. We appreciate you considering Betterment as the next step in your career, and our Recruiting Team is here to support and advocate for you through the interview process!

Betterment is dedicated to providing accommodations to candidates upon request. If you need accommodations at any point throughout the interview process, please reach out to your recruiter. 

Please note that in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Come join us! 

We’re an equal opportunity employer and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. We strictly prohibit and do not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, predisposing genetic characteristic, domestic violence victim status, arrest records, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.