Vice President, Legal

Vice President, Legal

Who We Are

Summer is a Certified B Corp® with a mission to maximize savings for the 46 million Americans burdened by student debt. Summer combines policy expertise with innovative tech to help borrowers simplify college cost planning and student loan repayment, generating $278/month in savings per person and $1.8B in savings for our users to date. Watch our product overview and hear from our members on how Summer has put them on the path to becoming debt free.

Summer has raised $30 million to date from world-class investors, including QED Investors, General Catalyst, Greycroft, Rebalance Capital, SemperVirens, Foundation Capital, Story Ventures, NextView, Flourish Ventures, and the Financial Health Network. We've partnered with dozens of clients who pay for Summer to assist their employees and customers, including the city government of Alexandria, Virginia, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Diabetes Association, Asurion, the City of New York, ADP and more.

Your Role

As VP, Legal you’ll have the opportunity to work side-by-side with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to shape the company’s legal and compliance strategy during a period of rapid organizational growth. The role also offers a rare opportunity to operate as Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer, architecting frameworks that safeguard sensitive data and drive regulatory excellence in an industry leading firm. Summer provides an ideal platform for someone who thrives in high-energy, fast-growth environments and is excited to define legal operations for an impact-driven organization.

Job Requirements

• Provide day-to-day legal support for the company, advising on legal risks, regulatory changes, and corporate governance initiatives.
• Serve as Chief Compliance Officer, developing, overseeing and implementing the compliance program—including policies, procedures, and training related to banking products and all applicable financial regulations (BSA/AML, KYB/KYC, GLBA, etc.).
• Act as Privacy Officer, ensuring robust protocols for handling and protecting financially sensitive PII under relevant privacy frameworks.
• Review, draft, negotiate, and oversee all commercial contracts, including vendor agreements, client contracts, partnership agreements, licensing, and SaaS/cloud arrangements.
• Manage basic corporate compliance, including cap table administration, share issuances, board minutes, business registration/filings, and annual reporting.
• Supervise external counsel on company fundraising, M&A, and strategic initiatives as required, representing the legal function with investors, external counsel, regulators and other external parties.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to ensure compliance, which includes monitoring and communicating regulatory guidance affecting company products, marketing efforts and operations.
• Collaborate cross-functionally, translating legal concepts for non-legal stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school; active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 6+ years of legal experience, including in-house or law firm roles, ideally supporting high-growth technology or fintech businesses.
• Demonstrated expertise in financial regulatory compliance, especially as applied to bank-affiliated fintech products.
• Direct experience advising on data privacy, security, and protocols to safeguard customer PII.
• Proven track record in drafting, negotiating, and managing a variety of commercial contracts.
• Solid understanding of corporate governance, cap table management, and basic company filings.
• Prior exposure to fundraising and M&A events.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal and compliance concepts to diverse teams.
• Experience operating autonomously in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment, demonstrating a practical, solutions-oriented mindset. 

We are excited to work with teammates who are passionate about applying their talents in a fast-paced startup environment to tackle a major social issue of our time.

This posting is for a remote, full-time, non-exempt position based in the United States. The base salary for this position is $200,000-240,000 and will include equity and a full range of benefits.

More About Summer

Summer is on a mission to help borrowers navigate and eliminate student debt. We partner with financial institutions, employers, and government agencies to provide digital tools that simplify the loan experience for millions of borrowers.

We are proud to be a mission-driven team that believes in solving real problems with real empathy. If you're excited about building technology that changes lives, we'd love to meet you.

We offer competitive salaries, significant equity allocations, healthcare coverage, 401(k) plans with an employer match, contribution toward student loan repayment, and flexible vacation/PTO. Summer supports a hybrid, flexible work environment and we welcome applicants from anywhere in the United States.

Sound interesting? We look forward to hearing from you. Join us to help fix the system!

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Summer provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.