General Counsel – Structured Finance at Permian Labs – New York, New York

Company: USD.AILocation: New York City, NY (In-office)Employment Type: Full-time
About USD.AIUSD.AI provides AI infrastructure operators with strategic, non-dilutive financing facilities essential for their scale requirements. The protocol delivers non-recourse loans secured by GPU infrastructure and asset-level cashflows, offering capital providers exposure to liquid, transparent, and tradable credit products secured by income-producing compute assets. For more information, visit https://usd.ai/.
The TeamOur team draws experience from DRW, Deutsche Bank, Rockpoint, Nansen, Balancer, and other leading DeFi and TradFi institutions. We are Series A+ funded by Coinbase Ventures, Framework, Dragonfly, DCG, Nascent, Ethereal, and others. We are growing rapidly and have recently announced strategic partnerships with PayPal, Aravolta, and others.We have no middle managers and move quickly from idea to execution. You will work directly with founders and senior team members on live deals.
The RoleThe General Counsel – Structured Finance is the primary legal owner of USD.AI's lending operations. Your core mandate is keeping deal flow moving: reviewing, negotiating, and closing loan documentation across a growing pipeline of AI infrastructure borrowers, while coordinating with local counsel in the foreign jurisdictions where our borrowers and entities operate.
This is a hands-on, in-the-weeds legal role. Our loan docs are productized and standardized, but every deal has wrinkles. You'll know the framework cold and be fast and decisive when things deviate from it. You'll also handle a lighter load of general corporate and crypto-regulatory matters, largely by coordinating outside counsel as needed.The ideal candidate is a structured finance or credit attorney with enough crypto fluency to not need hand-holding on the asset class. You're comfortable with speed, ambiguity, and a deal pipeline that never stops.
ResponsibilitiesLoan Documentation & Deal Execution (85%)

• Lead legal review, negotiation, and execution of loan agreements, security agreements, and ancillary deal documents across the full deal pipeline.
• Own the legal closing checklist for each transaction — ensuring all documentation is complete, properly executed, and enforceable before funds move.
• Identify and resolve deviations from standard loan templates quickly; know when to escalate and when to just fix it.
• Maintain and iterate on standard form loan documents and legal templates as the product evolves.
• Build and manage a network of, and coordinate with local counsel and tax advisors in foreign to ensure enforceability of security interests, corporate authorizations, and regulatory compliance for each deal.
• General Corporate & Crypto Legal (15%)
• Provide general corporate legal support across the USD.AI entity structure as needed.
• Coordinate with outside counsel on crypto-regulatory matters, token-related legal questions, and any compliance filings — you'll manage the work, not necessarily do it all yourself.
• Support ad hoc legal needs from the business team as the company scales.

Requirements

• JD from an accredited law school; licensed to practice in New York (or eligible for admission).
• 4–8 years of experience in structured finance, secured lending, or credit transactions — either at a law firm or in-house at a lender, fund, or fintech.
• Deep familiarity with loan agreement structures, security interest mechanics, and cross-border enforcement considerations.
• Experience coordinating with foreign or local counsel across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced deal environment where speed and accuracy are equally important.
• Strong judgment about what needs a full legal memo vs. a quick answer on a call.
• Based in New York City; comfortable being in-office.

Nice to Have

• Interest or experience in crypto or related
• Familiarity with BVI or Cayman corporate and finance law.
• Exposure to GPU financing, equipment leasing, or asset-backed lending structures.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary ($200k+)
• Long-term token incentive package.
• Unlimited PTO.
• Health & wellness reimbursements.