In-house Legal Counsel
Location: London / Hybrid – 3 days per week in the office
Engagement: Full-time
Duration: 12-month
Start Date: Mid-July 2026
Client: Global financial services and payments organisation
Accuflex is working with a leading global financial services and payments organisation to recruit a Legal Counsel for a 12-month contract.
This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially minded lawyer to join a highly regarded in-house legal team supporting the organisation’s global merchant services business across the EMEA region.
The role will focus on drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements with strategic merchant partners, banks, intermediaries and other key commercial counterparties. Many of these relationships are high-value and strategically important to the business, so the successful candidate will need to be confident, commercially pragmatic and comfortable advising senior stakeholders.
Payments or fintech experience would be a real advantage, but it is not essential. The client is primarily looking for a lawyer with strong commercial contracts experience, good drafting and negotiation skills, and the ability to work independently once they are up to speed.
You will support the business on a range of commercial contracts and strategic partnership arrangements, with a particular focus on merchant-facing agreements across domestic and international markets.
The role will involve working closely with commercial, sales, partnerships, compliance and legal colleagues, providing practical legal advice in a fast-paced and collaborative environment.
Initial support and training will be provided, but the expectation is that after an initial ramp-up period, the successful candidate will be able to manage negotiations independently and take ownership of agreements with merchants and commercial partners.
Drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements with merchant partners, banks, intermediaries and other strategic commercial counterparties.
Supporting the global merchant services business on commercial contracts across the EMEA region.
Leading negotiations on merchant and partnership agreements, with support from senior lawyers where needed.
Advising internal stakeholders on commercial risk, contract structure and practical solutions.
Working closely with compliance and regulatory teams on issues arising from commercial arrangements.
Supporting larger commercial projects within the merchant services space.
Helping the business navigate complex or unusual contracting issues and finding pragmatic solutions.
Building strong relationships with senior business stakeholders, particularly across sales, partnerships and commercial teams.
Contributing to internal process improvements and helping the legal team deliver efficient, business-focused support.
We are interested in speaking with qualified lawyers who have strong commercial contracts experience and are looking to build or deepen their experience within a major global financial services and payments business.
Qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales.
Ideally 1–5 years’ PQE.
Strong commercial contracts experience, including drafting, reviewing and negotiating agreements.
Experience working independently on negotiations or clear readiness to do so after a period of support.
Good stakeholder management skills and confidence advising senior commercial colleagues.
A pragmatic, solutions-focused approach.
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain legal issues clearly to non-lawyers.
A willingness to get stuck in and work collaboratively with the wider legal and business teams.
Good judgement and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives.
Experience in any of the following areas would be advantageous but is not essential:
Payments
Fintech
Financial services
Merchant acquiring
Banking
Regulated industries
Strategic partnerships
Large customer / supplier contracts
International commercial contracts
Technology or platform agreements
This is a great opportunity for a commercial lawyer who wants to move into, or build further experience within, a major global payments and financial services environment.
The role offers:
High-quality commercial contracts work with strategic merchants and partners.
Exposure to a global financial services and payments platform.
A strong in-house legal team and supportive onboarding.
A good balance of autonomy and senior legal support.
International / EMEA-facing work.
Close interaction with senior commercial stakeholders.
Valuable experience in payments, merchant services and regulated financial services.
A 12-month contract offering continuity and high-quality in-house experience.
Accuflex gives lawyers access to premium in-house opportunities with leading organisations across financial services, technology, fintech, payments and regulated sectors.
You will receive support from a specialist legal recruitment team throughout the process, with clear guidance on the role, client expectations and interview preparation.
If you are a commercially minded lawyer with strong contracts experience and an interest in financial services, payments or strategic merchant partnerships, we would be keen to hear from you.
Please apply with your CV or contact Accuflex for a confidential discussion.
Accutrainee provides a unique, flexible and efficient way for law firms and in-house legal teams to take on trainee solicitors and for graduates to benefit from bespoke training contracts designed around them.
Trainees can gain experience in more than one organisation during their training contract or stay at one firm for the whole two years. There is no typical training contract at Accutrainee. To date, all of our trainees have secured positions on qualification.
We employ trainees under training contracts and second them to law firms and in-house legal teams in accordance with our clients' requirements and business needs. The result is improved efficiency and flexibility for our clients and greater opportunities for our trainees.
We work with organisations who have their own trainee cohort as well as those who have wanted to take on trainees in the past but not yet done so. Our role is to ensure clients get access to quality assured trainees but without having to worry about anything else as it’s all taken care of by us!
We are continually talking to firms and in-house teams about their trainee requirements and therefore we have training contracts opportunities starting all year round.
During training contracts, we heavily monitor trainees ensuring that all training requirements are met and exceeded and to ensure each trainee is day one competent. We also deliver additional mentoring to each trainee so that they get the support and guidance they need during this crucial time in their career development.
Our extremely robust selection process takes place all year round enabling us to meet far greater numbers of candidates to understand their strengths and competencies. This method is crucial to supporting our passion and focus on improving diversity within the legal profession.
If you would like more information about Accutrainee, please call us: 020 7871 2822, email us: info@accutrainee.com or visit our website: www.accutrainee.com.
