Senior Counsel

As Senior Counsel at Wormhole Labs, you will build and own the legal function of the company end-to-end across regulatory, corporate, commercial, employment, IP, and litigation matters. You will serve as the senior legal voice for the executive team and operate as a hands-on partner to engineering, product, business development, and finance.

What you'll do

• Own regulatory strategy across the US (SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC, state MTLs) and key non-US jurisdictions (MiCA, FCA, MAS), engaging directly with regulators when needed.
• Lead deal work including M&A, strategic investments, financings, and joint ventures.
• Draft, negotiate, and operationalize the full commercial contract stack: customer, partner, vendor, business development, integration, and protocol partnership agreements.
• Partner on global employment matters such as offer letters, contractor agreements, immigration, separations, and policy.
• Oversee IP strategy, open-source licensing posture, and trademark portfolio.
• Run litigation, regulatory inquiries, subpoenas, and enforcement matters; select and manage outside counsel; control legal spend.
• Advise on privacy, data, and sanctions compliance across product surfaces.
• Structure and maintain the company's corporate architecture across multiple entities.
• Operate as a business-minded partner to engineering, product, business development, and finance, integrated into the process with fast turnarounds and clear guidance.

What you bring

• 8+ years of legal practice with strong law firm training.
• JD and active US bar admission (any state).
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a sole legal lead, comfortable being the only lawyer in the room and the last set of eyes before something ships.
• Substantive command of US financial services and securities regulation as applied to digital assets.
• Track record running M&A, financings, and complex commercial negotiations to close.
• Pragmatic risk judgment. You know the difference between a real risk and a hypothetical one, and you don't hide behind the latter to avoid taking a position.
• High-trust communication skills to deliver difficult news to founders, executives, and counterparties without theatrics.
• Comfort in a remote-first, asynchronous, global environment with travel as needed.
• Prior experience advising a crypto, DeFi, or fintech company, in-house or as outside counsel.
• Experience structuring multi-entity setups, including offshore affiliates and operating subsidiaries.

What we offer

• Competitive salary and restricted token units, dependent on position type and location.
• Discretionary bonus dependent on company performance.

About Wormhole Labs

Wormhole Labs is a blockchain technology company building decentralized systems and reshaping financial infrastructure across the crypto stack, from core protocol development to trading systems and user-facing applications.