(Senior) Legal Counsel - Investment Operations (f/m/d)

As (Senior) Legal Counsel – Investment Operations, you are part of the legal infrastructure that keeps Upvest's post-trade engine running. You bring a granular understanding of clearing, settlement, and custody — and you use it to ensure that every transaction Upvest processes is legally sound, operationally resilient, and regulatorily defensible at scale. Your mission is to safeguard Upvest's operating business as it scales across the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. Working within a high-performing legal team, you will be the go-to legal voice for everything that happens after a trade is executed — ensuring our post-trade infrastructure remains compliant, our counterparty relationships are properly governed, and our operational processes can absorb the demands of rapid growth.

Responsibilities

Be the legal authority on Upvest's post-execution infrastructure; Advise on the legal framework governing clearing, settlement, and custody operations; Own the legal framework around client asset protection and safekeeping obligations; Lead the negotiation and ongoing management of agreements with CCPs, CSDs, custodians, and other post-trade infrastructure providers; Serve as the internal expert on post-trade regulation across EU and German law; Monitor and interpret developments across MiFID, WpDVerOV, CSDR, and MaRisk; Partner with Operations and Compliance to assess and respond to post-trade incidents, settlement failures, and operational risk events from a legal perspective; Drive the modernisation of Upvest's legal function and champion scalable contracting processes, AI-assisted review workflows, and documentation standards

Requirements

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 clearing, settlement, and custody mechanics across a range of investment products — at the level of a seasoned practitioner who has worked directly with CCPs, CSDs, or custodians; Experience in a regulated investment firm, custodian bank, CSD, infrastructure provider, or fintech with a meaningful post-trade operating footprint; Strong command of EU and German financial law relevant to post-trade operations (MiFID, CSDR, WpDVerOV, MaRisk); Familiarity with adapting legal frameworks across European markets, particularly where post-trade infrastructure and regulation diverges by jurisdiction; Enthusiasm for streamlining the legal function through technology; Pragmatic and direct legal judgement to keep the business running; Professional fluency in English and German

Nice to have

Exposure to UK (FCA) regulation or other European NCAs

Benefits

Impact-driven work: building infrastructure that will power the future of investing in Europe; Wellbeing: 30 days of annual leave, sports benefits, confidential professional coaching, flexibility to work remotely abroad for up to 183 days a year, UpRest one-month fully paid sabbatical after every 4 years; Development: personal development budget; Flexible work environment: hybrid or remote across Europe from hubs in Berlin, London or Tallinn, with budget for home or office; Compensation and equity: competitive above-market salary and participation in employee equity program; Team celebrations: company-wide events such as UpFest, dinners, offsites and holiday party; Inclusion: Employee Resource Groups like Upfem and UpVergent