Associate Manager, Compliance
Coinbase
Web3
Job Level
Senior
Tech Stack
Web3
About the role
- Act as Senior Legal Counsel and amplify General Counsel capabilities across Thesis and portfolio companies
- Draft, review, and negotiate DeFi commercial agreements including market making, liquidity provision, protocol-to-protocol integrations, institutional custody agreements, OTC trading arrangements, strategic token swaps, and grant programs
- Draft and negotiate venture investment documents, SAFTs, token warrants, and other Web3-native investment instruments
- Develop standardized legal frameworks for DeFi primitives including automated market makers, lending protocols, liquid staking, and cross-chain bridges
- Review and advise on smart contract architecture from a legal risk perspective
- Monitor evolving global cryptocurrency regulations and advise on implications for product roadmaps
- Oversee KYC/AML/sanctions compliance programs and on-chain monitoring protocols
- Assist with development of policies for SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, and OFAC compliance in decentralized systems
- Collaborate with product, engineering, and business teams from ideation through launch to identify and mitigate legal risks
- Advise on intellectual property strategy including open-source licensing, patent strategy, and trademark protection
- Support developer relations initiatives including hackathons, grants programs, validator program and ecosystem funds
- Review technical documentation, whitepapers, and marketing materials for regulatory compliance
- Structure entity formations for DAOs, foundations, and operating companies across jurisdictions and design token governance frameworks
- Manage corporate housekeeping for portfolio companies and support M&A transactions, strategic partnerships, and joint ventures
- Develop legal playbooks for security incidents, regulatory investigations, and litigation and build risk matrices and training resources
Requirements
- 6-10 years of combined experience at top-tier law firms and/or in-house legal departments
- At least 3 years focused on blockchain, cryptocurrency, or fintech
- J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school with strong academic credentials
- Active membership in at least one U.S. state bar
- Demonstrated understanding of blockchain technology, smart contracts, consensus mechanisms, and cryptographic primitives
- Deep familiarity with securities laws, commodities regulations, money transmission laws, and Bank Secrecy Act requirements as applied to digital assets
- Experience overseeing KYC/AML/sanctions compliance programs and on-chain monitoring protocols
- Experience drafting and negotiating DeFi commercial agreements, venture investment documents, SAFTs, token warrants, and Web3-native investment instruments
- Hands-on experience with DeFi protocols, particularly Bitcoin L2s, sidechains, and wrapped asset bridges (preferred)
- Exposure to offshore entity structuring, particularly Cayman, BVI, and LATAM (preferred)
- Track record of closing complex commercial transactions in crypto (preferred)
- Builder mentality, commercial pragmatism, technical curiosity, cross-cultural competence, high velocity execution, strategic communication, and continuous learning
- Must have existing work authorization in the U.S.
