Legal Counsel

At Matter Labs, we believe freedom drives progress and prosperity. We don’t see ourselves as a company, but as a team aligned around a single mission: to advance personal freedom for all (see ZK Credo).

To achieve this goal, we’re building zkSync — a credibly neutral, fully open source technology stack and network on top of Ethereum, which is owned and governed by its community. We use advanced cryptography called zero-knowledge proofs to scale Ethereum infinitely without compromising on security or decentralization. With a world-class team, a community of over 1M supporters across Twitter + Discord, and hundreds of millions $ in funding, we have abundant resources to accomplish the mission.

We are looking for a Legal Counsel, Transactions to join our legal team. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, you will be Matter Labs principal in-house legal advisor for a broad range of commercial, corporate, and compliance matters. This role involves the legal side of partnerships, financing, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, you will handle cross-border corporate transactions and commercial agreements. You will also work on global IP, privacy, product and employment matters.

As our ideal candidate, you are as comfortable driving projects as you are jumping in to help on other matters, regardless of the work to be done. You are a flexible and creative thinker with a pragmatic business mindset and solution-oriented approach to delivering legal services. You are willing to learn new areas of the law. You have a high emotional intelligence when interacting and collaborating with a variety of internal partners and sophisticated clients. You have strong integrity and ethics. And you want to be part of a low-ego, high-performance company.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Commercial and Corporate Agreements: Negotiate and draft commercial agreements and technology transactions.

• Legal Advice: Provide expert advice on product development, privacy, data protection, and intellectual property matters.

• Compliance: Counsel internal clients on legal and compliance policies and implications related to proposed transactions.

• Global Employment: Advice and policy review/drafting and compliance in partnership with the People Team

• General Counsel Support: Perform various other duties as delegated by the General Counsel

What We Look For in You

• Experience: 3-5 years as a lawyer, with a background in both top-tier law firms and in-house roles, particularly in international corporate transactions and technology; experience in other areas a plus (i.e. employment, IP, privacy, product)

• Jurisdictional Qualification: Legally qualified to practice law in your jurisdiction

• Crypto Knowledge: Experience in the crypto space is advantageous, though a strong interest and understanding of the sector are also important

• Cross-Border Expertise: Proven ability or at least willingness to learn how to handle legal issues across different jurisdictions, with experience engaging local counsel when necessary

• Commercial Acumen: Excellent commercial awareness with a pragmatic, solution-oriented approach to legal challenges.

• High Emotional Intelligence: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate, influence and build relationships across organizational and geographic boundaries

• Collaboration: Effective in working with diverse stakeholders and maintaining productive working relationships

• Self-Motivation: Highly self-motivated, flexible, proactive, and capable of managing complex matters with minimal supervision

• Communication Skills: Impeccable judgment and fluency in English; additional languages are a plus

• Academic Background: Strong academic credentials from a top-tier institution