Senior Legal Counsel

About the role

This position focuses on the legal aspects of commercial operations within the Lido ecosystem. The Senior Legal Counsel will be responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of commercial contracts, including those for strategic partnerships, integrations, and vendor services. The role requires ensuring that all contractual agreements align with the protocol's objectives and broader initiatives.

A key part of this role involves providing practical legal advice on new opportunities, product integrations, and commercial collaborations. The counsel will proactively identify and mitigate legal risks, balancing commercial opportunities with sound risk management. This includes supporting the development of legal frameworks to enhance the resilience and scalability of the Lido ecosystem.

Success in this role means effectively managing contract workflows, conducting thorough risk assessments, and translating complex legal concepts into clear, actionable advice for decentralized teams. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working autonomously, proposing solutions, and driving legal matters forward within a fast-paced, open-source environment.

The salary for this position ranges from $148,000 to $158,000 annually.

Skills that matter here

• commercial contracts: The role involves extensive drafting, negotiation, and advising on various commercial agreements, including strategic partnerships and vendor arrangements.
• risk assessment: This position requires proactively identifying, analyzing, and mitigating legal risks while balancing commercial opportunities.
• decentralised teams: The counsel will work with decentralized teams, open-source initiatives, and protocol-based ecosystems.
• crypto, DeFi, decentralised governance, or open-source ecosystems: A demonstrated interest in these areas is preferred, as the role operates within a decentralized finance environment.
• Russian: Fluency in Russian is strongly preferred for working with Russian-language documentation and collaborators.

Who this role suits

• Someone with at least five years of experience in commercial transactions, either at a law firm or in-house.
• An individual who possesses strong commercial judgment and can make practical, risk-based decisions.
• A professional who can work autonomously, proactively identify issues, and drive solutions.
• A clear communicator capable of simplifying complex legal topics for various stakeholders.

From the employer

Key Scope

• Review, draft, negotiate, and advise on a broad range of commercial contracts, including strategic partnerships, integrations, client services, and vendor arrangements.
• Collaborate closely with contributors across the ecosystem to ensure contractual alignment with the protocol’s broader goals and initiatives.
• Support contract management, negotiation workflows, and risk assessment processes.
• Provide practical legal advice on new opportunities, ecosystem initiatives, product integrations, and commercial partnerships.
• Proactively identify, analyse, and mitigate legal risks, balancing commercial opportunity with sound risk management.
• Support the development of legal frameworks that strengthen the resilience and scalability of the Lido ecosystem.
• Contribute to thought leadership initiatives around decentralised protocols, open-source ecosystems, and legal innovation.

Requirements

• 5+ years of relevant experience at a law firm and/or in-house, with significant exposure to complex commercial transactions.
• Deep experience drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts.
• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to make practical, risk-based decisions in a fast-moving environment.
• Ability to work autonomously and proactively identify issues, propose solutions, and drive matters forward.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to translate complex legal topics into clear, actionable advice.
• Comfortable working with decentralised teams, open-source initiatives, or protocol-based ecosystems.
• Demonstrated interest in crypto, DeFi, decentralised governance, or open-source ecosystems preferred.
• Fluency in Russian is strongly preferred, as the role will involve Russian-language documentation and collaboration with Russian-speaking counterparties/contributors.