"The team is well balanced and well led. Their technical and commercial expertise is complemented by a culture of approachability, openness and business friendly professionalism." – Chambers & Partners

We are looking for a Senior Associate to join our highly regarded Financial Institutions Group, focusing on the area of Payments law. Our dedicated team in this area have consistently been ranked in the top tier by Chambers & Partners in recent times.

You will have access to a broad range of high quality work from the outset and will be encouraged and supported to take responsibility for developing client relationships. The role offers a fantastic opportunity to join an experienced and well respected team that are market-leaders in their areas of expertise.

The practice

Our highly profitable FIG practice, part of the Business Transactions Group (BTG), spans 3 core service lines: Investment Funds; Payments and Consumer Finance; and Financial Regulation.

Within the Payments space, OC is a thought leader and stakeholder in payments regulation, providing clients with commercial insight into developments affecting the sector. However we are not solely regulatory lawyers: we advise on all aspects of new product launches, new technology solutions (FinTech), M&A, VC investment into Payment firms, FCA authorisations, and complex structuring analysis. We also regularly support the launch of innovative Payments products, like Wirecard's wearables for Eurovision 2016, VocaLink's new payment system, Zapp, and Faster Payment's Trust Service.

We have continued to build our international expertise and have an unrivalled international network and with it pan-European (and global) Payments insights. For clients, this means we can deliver 'one stop shop' international advice, helping launch numerous payment products/services and carrying out multi-jurisdictional surveys.

We have a fantastic roster of Payments clients, many of which are themselves international, innovative and sizeable. We continue to work with a range of clients, including established financial services firms such as JPMorgan, Vocalink, WEX and Wirecard, and 'disruptor' clients in the FinTech sector such as iZettle, Intuit, and Token as well as those not traditionally involved with payment services (Airbnb and Travelex).

The team

Our FIG team comprises 7 Partners, 5 Associate Directors, 4 Senior Associates, 5 Associates and 2 Trainee Solicitors. The team operates from two offices, in London and Bristol. The team is led by an excellent, innovative group of partners with comments for the team like: Osborne Clarke’s ‘nimble team delivers a personalised service’.

The work

By way of example, recent work by the FIG team includes:

• OC has continued in its role as trusted adviser to Wirecard, continuing to provide support on a number of large scale and high value projects, including leading and coordinating the firm's PSD2 reauthorisation application with the FCA, as well as Wirecard's Brexit project, managing the licence and authorisation process in an alternative EU jurisdiction.
• OC has continued to advise JPMorgan on its PSD2 implementation project throughout 2018, supporting the understanding and implementation of a second phase of PSD2 requirements (RTS and Open Banking) and co-ordinating implementation across multiple European jurisdictions as they implement PSD2.
• We are advising Vocalink on its recognition and designation by the Bank of England effective as from April and August 2018 respectively as a service provider to a recognised payment system, three in fact: Bacs, Faster Payments and LINK.
• Wells Fargo has continued to use trusted adviser Osborne Clarke during 2018 to provide full service support on their PSD2 implementation project, across their London-led Corporate, Financial Institution and Commercial Cards businesses.
• We have drafted two key pieces of industry guidance on PSD2 for UK Finance (execution of payment transactions and SCA – strong customer authentication) providing thought leadership on these topics, leading Payments Industry-wide needs, discussing them and providing clear, pragmatic opinions.

Technical skills and experience

You will have knowledge and experience across Payments matters which will have been gained at a firm with a well-respected practice. You will be organised and methodical and able to help coordinate larger projects, both domestic and international. You will be a team player who wants to be a part of a dynamic and successful group.

Due to the nature of the work and the structure of the team, we are looking to a Senior Associate lawyer, although we will consider candidates with more or less experience.

Your career development

Like all our lawyers, you will benefit from our multi-award winning career development programme. At each stage of your career this provides you with:

• clear expectations of your role and what it takes to progress;
• high quality clients and work, with early responsibility and client exposure;
• thorough assessment and individual feedback from a range of experienced colleagues;
• robust technical training with early skills based development, increasingly tailored to you; and
• reward for your contribution, progression and potential, rather than PQE or tenure.

Salary and benefits

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits.

For more information or to apply

At Osborne Clarke we welcome direct applications - if you would like any further information about the role, or the firm, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact, in complete confidence, Emily Webb in the Recruitment team on 0117 917 3072 or emily.webb@osborneclarke.com.

At Osborne Clarke, we are known for our open and inclusive culture. We believe that by investing in the diversity and wellbeing of our people, we create an environment where everyone can thrive to be the best that they can be. This means recognising that our people have lives and commitments outside of work. We have invested in connected working for our people and, where possible, we will