General Counsel
The Sei Development Foundation is an independent U.S. non-profit dedicated to the advancement of Sei, the first parallelized EVM blockchain. Sei is designed for high-frequency applications, offering unmatched scalability and speed, with the ability to settle transactions in 400ms and process 10,000 transactions for as low as $0.05.
About Sei Development Foundation
The Sei Development Foundation is an independent U.S. non-profit that promotes the adoption of open-source, permissionless protocols like Sei. The foundation provides support to builders, creators, and contributors through direct grants and community-driven funding initiatives. Sei is a high-performance Layer 1 EVM blockchain, distinguished as the first parallelized EVM chain. It boasts 400ms block times and a throughput of 100 MGas/s, enabling web2-like experiences and high-frequency trading. Its architecture features Twin Turbo Consensus for sub-second finality, a Parallelization Engine for multi-core transaction execution, and SeiDB for optimized state access, ensuring robust security and scalability. The platform supports seamless integration with EVM tools like Hardhat and Foundry, facilitating the development of high-performance smart contracts, dApps, and fast, low-fee crypto payments.
Skills
About the Role
Own legal, regulatory, and compliance functions across global operations, advising on governance, token-related activities, partnerships, regulatory engagement, compliance programs, intellectual property, employment matters, and digital asset risks.
Requirements
- J.D. from a top-tier law school and active bar membership in at least one US jurisdiction
- 10+ years of legal experience in financial services, fintech, payments, or capital markets regulation
- Deep knowledge of US securities law, commodities regulation, AML, and sanctions frameworks as applied to digital assets
- Experience advising on complex financial products, equity or token structures, and corporate governance
- Track record of building legal and compliance functions
- Hands-on experience drafting agreements, managing regulatory filings, and handling compliance workflows
- Experience managing outside counsel and legal budgets across multiple jurisdictions
- Ability to operate autonomously and make judgment calls under ambiguity
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Preferred experience as General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel
- Familiarity with Cayman Islands, BVI, or Singapore foundation and entity structures
- Existing relationships with regulators such as SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, or MAS
- Experience with policy engagement, lobbying, or industry association work
- Background in capital markets, M&A, or structured finance
Responsibilities
- Provide counsel on corporate governance and entity structuring
- Advise leadership on legal risk across partnerships, grants, incubations, and token operations
- Oversee corporate entity structure compliance across multiple jurisdictions
- Draft, review, and negotiate partnership, token grant, service, and vendor agreements
- Own and maintain AML, KYC, sanctions, and insider trading compliance programs
- Monitor regulatory frameworks across the US, EU, Asia, and emerging markets
- Manage regulatory relationships and represent the foundation with regulators and policymakers
- Ensure compliance with securities laws and token distribution regulations
- Oversee compliance infrastructure for exchange listings, custodians, and on/off-ramp partnerships
- Advise on tokenomics, token distributions, vesting, treasury management, governance, protocol upgrades, and incentive programs
- Evaluate legal risks related to RWA tokenization, DeFi integrations, and new products
- Build and manage the internal legal function
- Select and coordinate outside counsel across jurisdictions
- Establish legal processes, templates, and playbooks
- Oversee intellectual property, open-source licensing, and contributor agreements
- Advise on employment and contractor matters
