Senior Principal Counsel, Payments Services - Partnerships, Operations and Marketing

Discover. A brighter future.

With us, you’ll do meaningful work from Day 1. Our collaborative culture is built on three core behaviors: We Play to Win, We Get Better Every Day & We Succeed Together. And we mean it — we want you to grow and make a difference at one of the world's leading digital banking and payments companies. We value what makes you unique so that you have an opportunity to shine.

Come build your future, while being the reason millions of people find a brighter financial future with Discover.

Job Description:

This individual works as part of a team handling legal matters and projects, including business transactions, advising in-house business partners on a wide range of issues related to Discover debit and credit card products and initiatives, payments network partnerships, transactions and operations in the US and globally, and development of new payments products and initiatives.

The individual must be able to dig into complex legal issues, provide creative risk-informed guidance that supports effective risk management in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, identify, assess and communicate legal and regulatory requirements and industry best practices, manage assigned resources and budgets (including outside counsel spend). The individual will need to both work well as a part of a close-knit local team and collaborate closely with globally remote teams with a strong emphasis on creative solutions, proactive risk governance, and sound decision making commensurate with firm’s risk and compliance program requirements.

Responsibilities:

• Specializes in supporting strategic partnership negotiations and transactions within the Payment Services Legal Team along with providing legal review, consultation and approvals for customer and network participant marketing, communications and operations across the US and globally.

• Exercises prudent discretion and creative decision-making skills in advising business and risk partners on strategic and complex legal issues involving: enhancement of existing and development of new payments products and initiatives; management of relationship with existing and new external payments partners; compliance with domestic and global laws, regulations, and firm’s policies; interaction with domestic and international regulators; and collaboration with firm’s governance committees.

• Provides proactive, creative, and effective legal advice to internal partners supporting payments business teams.

• Exercises prudent discretion and decision-making in interactions with domestic and international regulatory, judicial, and counter parties on matters relating to Discover Global Network.

• Identifies, assess, and provide creative strategic guidance on new or proposed legal and regulatory changes, emerging legal and regulatory risks and trends.

• Develops strong understanding of Discover Global Network businesses model, payments industry, and domestic and global payments trends.

• Develops strong collaborative relationships with partners across the firm, including Discover Global Network and Legal Organization.

• Demonstrates leadership in taking initiative to improve the quality of team processes.

• Ensures compliance with corporate and legal guidelines regarding advisory and transactions matters. Utilizes contract management tools to manage workflow, track contracts and retain accurate contract records.

• Escalates advisory and transactional issues to management as appropriate.

• Communicates effectively with colleagues, clients, management, and parties external to Discover.

• Consults with outside counsel and subject matter experts as appropriate.

Minimum Qualifications

At a minimum, here’s what we need from you:

• J.D. in Law

• 3+ years legal experience supporting consumer financial services products and services, or job related.

• Active law license in good standing

Preferred Qualifications

If we had our say, we’d also look for:

• 5+ years legal experience supporting payments networks or related businesses, or B2B/consumer financial services products and services.

#LI-TG1

Application Deadline:

The application window for this position is anticipated to close on May-20-2024. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. The posting may be available past this date, but it is not guaranteed.

Compensation:

The base pay for this position generally ranges between $103,000.00 to $174,200.00. Additional incentives may be provided as part of a market competitive total compensation package. Factors, such as but not limited to, geographical location, relevant experienc