Associate General Counsel

Associate General Counsel
Location: New York, NY
Work Arrangement: NYC-based onsite/hybrid strongly preferred; remote candidates who can travel to New York regularly may be considered
Reports To: Chief Legal Officer
Compensation: $250,000–$280,000 base salary + 10% target bonus + full benefits

Position Overview
Craft Recruiting has partnered with a high-growth specialty finance platform seeking an Associate General Counsel to serve as a senior legal leader and the primary operational #2 to the Chief Legal Officer.
This is a broad, high-visibility role supporting an established commercial finance platform funding more than $50 million per month in working capital. The Associate General Counsel will work directly with the CLO, executive leadership, underwriting, sales and broker relationships, collections teams, and outside counsel.
Importantly, the company is not looking for one attorney who checks every possible legal box.
The role will be shaped in part around the successful candidate's strengths. An attorney with deep experience in creditor rights, collections, bankruptcy, and litigation may take greater ownership of those areas. A candidate whose strengths are regulatory compliance, commercial transactions, data privacy, technology, or AI-related legal issues may lean more heavily into those responsibilities.
The common denominator is the ability to operate as a trusted senior legal executive who understands how a commercial funding portfolio works, exercises sound business judgment, and can independently solve complex legal and operational issues.
For the right attorney, this is an opportunity to become a critical member of the leadership team and play a meaningful role in the continued development of the company's legal function.

Key Areas of Responsibility
Depending on the successful candidate's background and expertise, responsibilities may include:
•    Commercial Transactions & Contracting: Draft, review, and negotiate broker and ISO agreements, vendor MSAs, confidentiality agreements, technology agreements, and commercial financing or factoring documentation.
•    Regulatory Compliance: Support and manage state regulatory inquiries, licensing matters, merchant complaints, and evolving commercial finance disclosure requirements across jurisdictions including New York, California, Utah, Connecticut, Georgia, and others.
•    Litigation, Collections & Creditor Rights: Oversee outside counsel handling commercial disputes, breach-of-contract matters, collections, workouts, counterclaims, and creditor representation in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy proceedings.
•    Corporate & Financing Matters: Partner with the CLO and executive team on senior credit facilities, capital-markets matters, securitization readiness, corporate governance, and intercompany transactions.
•    Technology, Data Privacy & Emerging Legal Risk: Advise on AI policies, data privacy, GLBA, CCPA, technology vendors, and evolving legal issues affecting financial-services operations.
•    Business Partnership: Provide practical legal guidance to underwriting, sales, operations, collections, and senior management, balancing risk management with the commercial realities of the business.
•    Legal Department Leadership: Help prioritize legal initiatives, manage outside counsel, mentor junior legal professionals, and act as a trusted second-in-command to the Chief Legal Officer.

Qualifications
•    Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
•    Generally 6+ years of meaningful legal experience, although the company is more focused on capability, judgment, and relevant experience than a specific year count.
•    Experience within MCA, revenue-based financing, specialty finance, factoring, fintech, commercial lending, or a closely related financial-services environment is strongly preferred.
•    Candidates coming from outside the industry should have meaningful experience with commercial finance and be able to quickly understand how a funding portfolio operates, including underwriting, documentation, servicing, collections, and portfolio risk.
•    Demonstrated strength in one or more areas such as:
     o    Commercial finance transactions and contracting
     o    Broker or ISO agreements
     o    State regulatory and disclosure compliance
     o    Creditor rights, collections, bankruptcy, and commercial litigation
     o    Data privacy, technology, fintech, or AI-related legal matters
     o    Corporate finance and capital-markets transactions
•    Strong judgment and the ability to independently assess legal risk while working collaboratively with business leaders.
•    Comfortable operating in a fast-moving entrepreneurial environment where legal advice needs to be both technically sound and commercially practical.
•    Executive presence, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to serve as a credible partner to senior leadership.

Location
The company strongly prefers an attorney located in the New York metropolitan area who can regularly work from its Financial District headquarters.
Hybrid arrangements are available.
Exceptional candidates located outside the New York area may also be considered if they are able to travel to New York on a regular basis, generally monthly.

Compensation & Benefits
•    Base Salary: $250,000–$280,000
•    Target Bonus: 10%
•    401(k) with employer match
•    Medical, dental, and vision coverage
•    Significant exposure to and interaction with the senior leadership team
•    Opportunity to become a key legal leader within a growing specialty finance platform
The company has some flexibility for an exceptional candidate whose experience and background warrant consideration above the stated range.o Follow