Senior Associate Counsel

The Senior Associate Counsel (Client Incentives) role sits within a supportive, hard-working and fun Commercial Legal Team, who manage a range of commercial legal matters for Visa including client incentive agreements, contracts for the supply of value-in-kind (VIK) services, sponsorship and marketing, technology, IP, product, Visa membership and related matters.

This Team is part of a larger Legal, Ethics and Compliance Division in Visa’s Europe region, which also includes legal and compliance specialists covering competition, UK and EU regulatory, corporate and data privacy.  The Division has consistently had some of the highest engagement scores and prides itself on a creative, collaborative, can-do approach. This role supports the Commercial Legal Client Incentives team and is based in London.

The Senior Associate Counsel (Client Incentives) will be responsible for leading the delivery of efficient, effective and high quality legal support to the business on client incentive agreements and related matters.

The core competencies for the Division are:

• Strategic Partner & Client Focus
• Expertise & Business Knowledge
• Leadership
• Communication
• Intellectual Curiosity and
• Judgement

What we expect from you will differ according to your role and where you are in your career, but we look for people who have the ability and aptitude to succeed against these key competencies.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide commercial legal advice and support, including drafting and negotiation support, across a range of commercial legal issues as required, particularly focussing on client incentive agreements and value-in-kind (VIK).
• Deliver legal support on the full range of client incentive agreements, including global and pan-regional agreements, and novel incentive structures and new types of client partners.
• Play an active part in contributing to the development of processes relating to client incentive agreements and VIK.
• Actively look for opportunities to streamline and improve the delivery of legal support in relation to client incentive agreements and VIK, and work with other members of the team to implement improvements.
• Build relationships with key business partners, working closely with them to meet their business needs in terms of legal support in an efficient way.
• Identify competition/anti-trust, data protection and other regulatory issues, and liaise when necessary with internal members of the Legal, Ethics and Compliance Division, and/or external counsel.
• Work closely and collaboratively with other teams engaged in incentive deals, in particular the Client Incentives Finance Team and the Client Services Teams, and identify opportunities for knowledge sharing.
• Manage day-to-day legal queries and business deals, taking the lead on all relevant legal activities.
• Actively identify and deliver training to the business on law, processes and policies.
• Proactively contribute to the Legal, Ethics and Compliance Division’s planning, cohesion, consistency in advice, and the general efficiency and effectiveness of the division as a whole.
• Play a part in the life of Visa’s Legal, Ethics and Compliance Division, building relationships and engaging with divisional initiatives as appropriate.
• Act as a ‘champion’ for designing and embedding new ways of working which represent more efficient delivery of legal support.

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

Qualified lawyer in England & Wales with ideally 2+ years PQE. We will consider candidates who have qualified in other jurisdictions.

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.