Explore careers with our portfolio companies

Legal Counsel - Product & Regulatory

Betterment

Betterment

Product, Legal
New York, NY, USA
Posted 6+ months ago

About Betterment

Betterment is a leading, technology-driven financial services company that offers investing and retirement solutions for retail investors and investment advisors as well as financial wellness solutions, including a 401(k) for small and medium-sized businesses. Our team is passionate about our mission: making people’s lives better. We’re headquartered in NYC, and offer hybrid NY-based (three days/ week in-office) and select, non-NY-based remote positions.

About the role

You are an outstanding attorney looking to join a category-creating company that is making investing smarter, easier, and more accessible for everyone. You are a problem solver with excellent legal judgment and outstanding attention to detail. You are mission-driven, business-oriented, independent, and quick to learn. You can communicate clearly and persuasively to a wide variety of audiences. You can thrive in a dynamic, technology-driven environment and are comfortable taking action in the face of ambiguity. You are eager to make an impact and are always seeking new and improved ways of doing things. You are adept at managing competing priorities and thrive building processes to standardize recurring tasks.

This role is based out of our NYC office. Below we've reflected the base salary range we would offer for this position. Actual salaries may vary depending on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Betterment’s total compensation package for employees.

  • New York City: $150,000 - $165,000

We offer a competitive equity package, health, dental and vision benefits, life and AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, EAP, commuter and parking benefits FSA/HSA, and 401(k) with employer match as well as a flexible PTO policy. This job may also be eligible for variable compensation in the form of a company incentive bonus. For jobs based out of our NYC HQ, we require in office attendance Tuesday through Thursday, weekly.

A day in the life

  • Navigate legal and regulatory requirements, operational issues, and related matters
  • Support Betterment at Work, our 401(k) business line, as it scales
  • Support Betterment for Advisors, our third-party advisor custodian business line, as it scales
  • Evaluate and advise on legal issues pertaining to our retirement plan programs, including ERISA
  • Negotiate complex commercial agreements and advise our client success and sales teams
  • Build and improve our standard form agreements and legal processes
  • Assist our product organization in developing and implementing new features and products, including drafting customer agreements, disclosures, and related documentation
  • Help to resolve and avoid potential disputes
  • Collaborate with outside counsel when necessary

What we’re Looking for

  • A JD, admission to a state bar, and at least 4 years of relevant in-house or firm experience
  • An adaptable mindset and innate curiosity
  • A bias toward action and solving problems, not just issue spotting
  • The ability to take ownership over your work and manage projects independently
  • Excellent writing ability
  • Comfort navigating complexity and creating simplicity where possible
  • Passion for Betterment’s product and mission

Bonus points if you have

  • Knowledge of the Advisers Act and related regulations
  • Knowledge of ERISA and related regulations
  • Knowledge of crypto and related regulatory environment
  • A background in negotiating commercial agreements
  • Familiarity with privacy and/or information security issues
  • Experience in retail financial services
  • In-house experience at a startup or high growth company

What being at Betterment means for you

We change lives

Join a community of innovators working to transform financial outcomes for real people. Your work will make an impact, always laddering up to our mission: making people's lives better.

We set audacious goals

We set them for the company, our customers, and ourselves—and we won’t stop until we reach them. We don’t just show up; we give our all, then celebrate our wins.

We value all perspectives

When we collaborate, we're at our best. We believe diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes and strive to uphold our supportive and inclusive community.

We invest in you with:

  • A competitive suite of benefits, including: medical, dental, and vision insurance; life and AD&D insurance; STD and LTD benefits, including infertility support and World Professional Association for Transgender Health approved benefits; and generous parental leave.
  • Flexible paid time off (and encouragement to use it!)
  • Meaningful opportunity for community building through our 7 Employee Resource Groups
  • Empowerment to own and lead change and affect the business
  • Dedicated professional development opportunities
  • Complimentary financial advice from our team of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™️
  • Lunch from our in-house chef three days a week at our NYC headquarters

What happens next

We’ll take a few weeks to review all applications. If we’d like to spend more time with you, we’ll reach out to arrange next steps, which will include 3-4 sets of meetings with your future colleagues.

In the interview process, we’ll look to learn more about your skills, experiences, capabilities, and motivators. Many of our questions will be aimed at understanding how you might operate here at Betterment. Depending on the role, we may ask you to complete a case study exercise or technical assessments, as we want to collect a robust set of data points to better inform our decisions.

On average, it takes us around 3-5 weeks to make a hiring decision, depending on your availability and sense of urgency. As a best practice, we aim to interview at least 2-3 final round candidates before making a hiring decision. Please note that, as we usually receive an overwhelming number of applications for open positions, we’re unable to offer individual feedback during the interview process.

We recognize that interviewing for a new role is a big deal. We appreciate you considering Betterment as the next step in your career, and our Recruiting Team is here to support and advocate for you through the interview process!

Please note that Betterment is dedicated to providing accommodations to candidates upon request. If you need accommodations at any point throughout the interview process, please reach out to your recruiter.

Come join us!

We’re an equal opportunity employer and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. We strictly prohibit and do not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, predisposing genetic characteristic, domestic violence victim status, arrest records, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

E-Verify Statement

Betterment participates in E-Verify. We will provide the Social Security Administration, and if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. Please note that we do not use this information to pre-screen job applicants.
E-Verify Notice
E-Verify Notice (Spanish)
Right to Work Notice
Right to Work Notice (Spanish)

CPRA Language - CA Applicants ONLY

We collect and store personal information for the purposes of candidate tracking (for this role and future opportunities). The information you provide in the course of completing your application will be kept for up to 24 months. We use tools provided by third-party service providers but do not share candidate information for any purpose other than for recruiting. To access the data that is collected, request deletion or to make updates to your candidate profile, please email team.hire@betterment.com.