Senior Vice President - Corporate Legal

About World Business Lenders

World Business Lenders (WBL) is a private portfolio lender focused on providing real estate-secured business loans to underserved businesses. WBL operates with a fully remote, multinational workforce led by an experienced executive leadership team. The usual work hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, though additional hours may be necessary depending on business demands.

Role Overview

The company seeks a Senior Vice President for Corporate Legal to act as the operational cornerstone of the Corporate Legal department. This role goes beyond traditional legal practice, focusing on hands-on management of daily corporate legal functions while establishing scalable systems, workflows, and governance structures essential to departmental growth.

As the operational backbone of the Corporate Legal team, the SVP will maintain alignment across all legal operations, proactively detect risks, enhance workflow efficiency, and guarantee thorough implementation of every department objective. This position requires strong partnerships with ARCs, Finance, and the General Counsel.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee all corporate legal billing processes, including management of outside counsel expenses, invoice review, and budget monitoring.
• Implement expense control systems to optimize legal spending organization-wide.
• Maintain compliance structures across lending, servicing, and company operations, ensuring adherence to federal and state regulations such as usury laws and licensing requirements.
• Manage relationships with external law firms and legal vendors, including contract administration and performance oversight.
• Supervise intellectual property management, corporate governance documentation, entity management, board resolutions, and corporate filings.
• Coordinate litigation tracking, settlements, and enforcement efforts, collaborating with Asset Management, Finance, and Operations for asset resolution.
• Develop and document policies, procedures, and operational standards to improve legal department workflows.
• Identify workflow bottlenecks and implement governance, quality assurance, and scalability measures.
• Serve as the primary operational liaison with cross-functional teams ensuring timely resolution and escalation of legal matters.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school; active bar membership in good standing is preferred.
• 8 to 15+ years of legal experience emphasizing legal operations, corporate legal management, or in-house counsel roles.
• Demonstrated ability to build systems, governance, and processes in a legal department setting.
• Experience in compliance, commercial litigation, vendor management, and corporate law.
• Strongly preferred background in private lending, financial services, fintech, or alternative finance.
• Proven capability to manage outside counsel and control legal expenditures.
• Robust project management skills coupled with strategic operational thinking and attention to detail.
• Experience supporting senior leadership in an operational, chief of staff, or business management role.
• Must be based in the United States with solid understanding of U.S. federal and state legal and regulatory frameworks.
• Must have a reliable internet connection and a professional remote working environment.

Preferred Industry Experience

Experience in financial services, commercial/private lending, banking, fintech, specialty finance, mortgage lending, or other heavily regulated sectors is desirable.

Key Soft Skills

• Operational excellence focused on driving process improvements and efficiencies.
• Effective executive-level communication skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional partnership abilities.
• Negotiation skills aimed at achieving business outcomes.
• Business acumen balancing legal and commercial priorities.
• Sound judgment to make informed, risk-based decisions.
• Problem-solving aptitude for complex legal and operational challenges.

Technical Competencies

• Management of legal operations including workflows and processes.
• Corporate governance and entity management expertise.
• Regulatory compliance enforcement.
• Contract drafting, negotiation, and review.
• Litigation oversight and outside counsel coordination.
• Vendor and law firm relationship management.
• Legal budget and spend control.
• Risk identification and mitigation strategies.

Compensation & Benefits

The compensation package offers a base salary starting at $150,000 annually, with eligibility for incentive compensation including equity and deferred cash bonuses aligned with company policy and seniority.

Benefits comprise medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; 401(k) plan with company matching contributions; paid holidays; and paid time off.

This position is fully remote with occasional required travel.