Legal Counsel
Silent Research Labs is a public goods organization focused on advancing web technology through cryptographic research, open source infrastructure, and ecosystem education. They support experimental applications built on novel cryptographic primitives such as zero-knowledge cryptography.
About Silent Research Labs
Silent Research Labs describes itself as a public goods organization improving the web. It supports ground-breaking research into experimental applications enabled by novel cryptographic primitives such as zero-knowledge cryptography, builds open source tools and infrastructure through transparent deployment of protocols, and drives education and ecosystem development by bringing developers, technologists, writers, and thinkers to the frontiers of decentralized application development through educational programs and community initiatives. The organization has incubated two projects, Stripchain and Silent Protocol, and is actively hiring for remote roles such as Growth Marketer, Legal Counsel, Digital Designer, Front End Developer, and Backend Engineer, emphasizing a culture of transparency, respect, remote work, and ownership-driven collaboration.
Skills
About the Role
As the legal expert on the team, you'll work on varied and highly dynamic objectives ranging from handling legal operations, managing outside counsel and crafting corporate documentation from scratch, researching regulations, and managing internal compliance procedures. You will have a high level of responsibility and autonomy to help solve hard problems that have asymmetric impact at the core of crypto.
Requirements
- Law degree, educational background in computer science/infosec is a bonus
- 2+ years of work experience in major law firm, ideally servicing technology companies or financial institutions
- In-house counsel specializing in financial services, fintech and/or ideally crypto is a plus
- Ability to think critically through complex concepts and tackle them in an organized and efficient manner while communicating with other members
- Ability to engage constructively with internal and external stakeholders, including regulators
- Strong organizational and communication skills
- Enjoys working independently and proactively in a remote-only work environment
- Excels in delivering results under time constraints and consistently iterates
- Proactive and collaborative attitude and ability to work cross-functionally within the organization
- Familiarity with blockchain, Ethereum and DeFi
Responsibilities
- Manage day-to-day legal operations within the company (contractual agreements, structuring, HR, compliance etc.)
- Manage the full cycle of corporate documentation, from planning and drafting to implementation
- Contribute to building a streamlined legal operation process that can grow with the startup
- Assist in managing external/outside counsel as required, e.g. employment law, counsel in relation to other jurisdictions, etc.
- Select, engage and manage outside counsels across relevant jurisdictions with cost-effectiveness
- Research laws and regulations in the US as well as relevant foreign jurisdictions to aid strategic decisions on business opportunities
- Drive legal support for product development and service operations
- Assist in navigating the global regulatory landscape for the organization
Benefits
- Fully remote
- Significantly above market rate equity package
- Yearly budget for learning and development goals
- 5+ paid trips per year to team on-sites (Amsterdam, Morocco etc)
- Attractive health cover package for US employees
- Option to get paid in crypto