Deputy General Counsel - Litigation & Investigations, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

As Deputy General Counsel for Litigation & Investigations covering Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa at OKX, you lead the region's contentious legal portfolio. You own criminal referrals, civil litigation, arbitration, and regulatory enforcement matters while building and developing the in-region legal team. You work across a leading crypto exchange serving millions of users and hundreds of large institutions, operating within a fast-evolving regulatory landscape.

What you'll do

• Own OKX's framework for identifying conduct that warrants criminal referral and work directly with relevant authorities to follow through on charging and prosecution.
• Work closely with Risk and Compliance teams to build and package referral files to prosecutorial standard and drive referred matters through to charge and prosecution.
• Serve as the senior legal relationship owner for police and prosecutors across the region.
• Own and lead the regional civil docket end-to-end, including intake, early case assessment, strategy and resolution on both defence and plaintiff sides.
• Lead affirmative civil disputes such as recovery actions, injunctions, disclosure applications, and applications against counterparties, service providers and bad actors.
• Assess and develop strategy for defensive civil claims including consumer claims at volume, market conduct issues, and coordinate relevant contentious employment matters.
• Manage and lead commercial disputes.
• Lead OKX's arbitrations in the region as counsel-in-charge, including pleadings, document production, witness and expert evidence, hearings and enforcement proceedings.
• Assess mass arbitration exposure in conjunction with business priorities and develop strategic plans for risk mitigation.
• Advise business and business Legal teams on dispute resolution clauses.
• Develop strategy and lead OKX's response to regulatory enforcement inquiries in close collaboration with the Global Regulatory Legal team.
• Scope, lead and where appropriate personally conduct sensitive internal investigations, deliver root cause analysis and collaborate cross-functionally on remediation.
• Lead and develop the in-region team and embed AI to drive efficiency.
• Partner across Legal, Compliance, Risk, Finance, HR and Communications.
• Select and manage external counsel and experts, own the regional contentious budget and in-house/outside counsel decisions, ensure proper matter tracking and disclosure, and deliver decision-ready reporting to the Global Head and governance forums.

What you bring

• Admission as solicitor or barrister in Hong Kong, based in Hong Kong or Singapore.
• 12+ years post-qualification experience in contentious work with Asia experience. More experienced candidates will be considered.
• Prosecutorial or criminal enforcement background such as prosecutor, government trial lawyer, or criminal/regulatory enforcement counsel, plus arbitration and trial experience and a track record leading a team. Prior in-house experience preferred.
• Sound judgment under ambiguity and the ability to operate in a fast-paced environment with a growing regulatory landscape.
• Fluent written and spoken English. Mandarin and/or Cantonese at professional working level strongly preferred.
• Willingness to travel across the region.

Nice to have

• Additional qualification in England & Wales, Singapore, New York, California, Texas, Australia or another common law jurisdiction.
• Experience in crypto, digital assets, fintech, traditional finance or payments.
• Experience or familiarity with Middle East disputes and enforcement.

What we offer

• Competitive total compensation package
• L&D programs and education subsidy for your growth and development
• Various team building programs and company events
• Wellness and meal allowances
• Comprehensive healthcare schemes for you and dependants

OKX will prioritise applicants who have a current right to work in Singapore and do not require visa sponsorship.

About OKX

OKX is a leading crypto exchange and developer of OKX Wallet, giving millions access to crypto trading and decentralized applications. The company is trusted by hundreds of large institutions seeking access to crypto markets and is backed by its Proof of Reserves. OKX is part of OKG, a group bringing blockchain value to users worldwide through leading products including OKX, OKX Wallet and OKLink.