Legal Counsel - Investment Products

About the role

As (Senior) Legal Counsel – Investment Products, you are part of the legal infrastructure that powers Upvest's Investment API. Your mission is to enable Upvest's internationalisation by closing the gap between rigid financial regulation and flexible, API-driven product design.

What you'll do

• Be the legal authority on the lifecycle of financial instruments. Partner directly with Product and Engineering to co-design features from fractional trading to new asset classes, translating MiFID II/III and WpIG into concrete technical requirements so compliance is built in from the first line of code, not bolted on after.
• Own the legal adaptation of Upvest's core German investment offering as we expand into the UK, Switzerland, and the wider EEA. Define jurisdiction-specific requirements while preserving a coherent, scalable product framework across markets.
• Serve as the internal expert on EU and German financial regulation. Monitor and interpret regulatory developments across MiFID, WpIG, WpHG, and MaRisk, and translate their implications into actionable guidance for Product, Operations, and Compliance.
• Lead and support the negotiation of complex B2B agreements with institutional counterparties, including credit institutions and global fintechs, across Upvest's offering.
• Drive the modernisation of Upvest's legal function. Champion the adoption of contract lifecycle management tools, AI-assisted review workflows, and scalable processes that free up capacity for high-value legal work.
• Act as a trusted adviser to Product, Engineering, Operations, and Compliance. Deliver clear, actionable guidance that enables commercial decisions cutting through complexity without creating bottlenecks.

What you'll need

• At least 3–5 years post-qualification experience (PQE) in the financial services industry. At least one German legal qualification (Erste Juristische Prüfung).
• Hands-on understanding of lifecycles across a variety of investment products (stocks, investment funds, bonds, derivatives) at the level of a seasoned practitioner.
• Experience in a regulated investment firm, fintech, infrastructure provider, or bank with a brokerage and custody product offering.
• Strong command of EU and German financial law (MiFID, WpIG, WpHG).
• Professional fluency in English and German — essential for regulatory filings and high-stakes stakeholder management.
• Pragmatic and direct approach. You focus on enabling growth through clear-eyed risk judgement and cut through complexity to give the business answers it can act on.

Nice to have

• Exposure to UK (FCA) regulation or other European NCAs.
• Familiarity with adapting core legal frameworks to new European markets and regulatory regimes.
• Enthusiasm for streamlining the legal function through technology whether tooling, AI-assisted review, or smarter process workflows.

What they offer

• 30 days of annual leave and sports benefits.
• Professional coaching and remote work flexibility (up to 183 days a year abroad).
• UpRest: one-month fully paid sabbatical after every 4 years.
• Personal development budget.
• Competitive, above-market salary and employee equity program.
• Flexible work from hubs in Berlin, London or Tallinn, hybrid or remote across Europe.