Assistant General Counsel, Executive Director

Overview

Overview

The Executive Director Assistant General Counsel role for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation will work within the Legal Department, as the team lead of the Technology, Operations, and Procurement team. The role will report to the Deputy General Counsel of Americas Division.

Primary responsibilities will involve providing legal advice and support on financial services related technology transactions with a focus on commercial and consumer banking, the negotiation and documentation of third-party vendor contracts, working with the procurement and vendor risk assessment team. As part of the broader legal department, provide support for the core banking and investment banking business as their primary internal client, and work with the rest of the Legal Department attorneys in their support of various business units, including but not limited to, Information Technology, Human Resources, Facilities, Operations, etc. In particular, a general understanding of, and cooperation with, the team responsible for Information Security and Privacy law will be essential in the support of various information technology needs of the organization.

The anticipated salary range for this role is between $237,000 and $280,000. The specific salary offered to an applicant will be based on their individual qualifications, experiences, and an analysis of the current compensation paid in their geography and the market for similar roles at the time of hire. The role may also be eligible for an annual discretionary incentive award. In addition to cash compensation, SMBC offers a competitive portfolio of benefits to its employees.

Responsibilities

• Providing Contracts Review, Negotiation, and Documentation
• Provide general advice and counsel on financial services related technology and intellectual property related transactions with a focus on commercial and consumer banking, software, data and content licensing, outsourcing implementation transactions, counseling on digital strategy concerns including open source licensing, and data use issues; hosting, cloud computing and software services agreements, exchanges and marketplaces.
• Function as a senior level client relationship manager for the business teams of Information Technology, Operations, and Procurement.
• Issue-spotting, researching and appropriately escalating risks and concerns that may exist with any potential technology agreement or vendor contract.
• Assist in developing, documenting and implementing contractual protections, processes and policies to effect compliance with the evolving legal and regulatory environment related to payments, fair credit reporting, customer identity management, anti-fraud detection, consumer budgeting and finance and AI.
• Collaborate with other functional partners to ensure appropriate awareness and escalation of issues as they arise while being sensitive to confidentiality restrictions. Work closely with the team responsible for Information Security and Privacy law, in particular, to collaborate on their support of Information Security and Cybersecurity initiatives.
• Review, update, and maintain the procurement and vendor agreement templates in line with market practice and SMBCs legal and business needs. Liaise with the procurement and vendor risk assessment team with respect to vendor contracts.
• Provide strategic, commercially pragmatic, and transparent advice to the business clients. Work with the transactional attorneys on IT/IP issues, and assist the Banks operations on contractual issues and template documents (online banking, account opening, electronic signatures, etc.)
• Manage the team of 5 attorneys in connection with all of the above, as team lead within the Legal Department. Responsible for client relationship and supervision of attorneys. Participate in Client meetings and ensure proactive support of business needs.

Qualifications

• 10 years minimum experience reviewing and drafting information technology, financial services technology and vendor contracts, and familiarity with information technology and intellectual property laws and regulations. Prior in-house experience and/or experience with technology vendor contracts a significant plus.
• Admission to the NY Bar (or clear qualification of eligibility for waiving in from another jurisdiction with which NY has reciprocity) and a member of good standing of such Bar.
• Comfortable engaging with senior executives across a host of disciplines and businesses. Significant project management skills to manage a host of initiatives.
• Excellent communication skills, technical drafting skills, and issue-spotting skills. Ability to work under pressure, operate comfortably in a fast-paced, demanding environment, and manage a significant workload with minimal supervision. Ability to think creatively and propose solutions.