Role overview
Our client is a fast-growing payments technology company building out its Dubai hub. Due to expansion, the legal team is looking to hire a Senior Commercial Counsel to lead the day-to-day commercial work from its Dubai office. The successful candidate will advise across the full payments lifecycle, from merchant onboarding and acquiring through to card scheme, banking and payment service provider relationships, and will become the team’s go-to on how payments work. This is a great opportunity for a senior payments lawyer to join a fintech business at an exciting stage of growth.
Key responsibilities
- Draft, review and negotiate merchant, acquiring, PSP and partner agreements
- Own the standard merchant agreement and wider contract templates as products evolve
- Negotiate agreements with acquiring banks, card schemes and alternative payment method providers
- Advise product and commercial teams on new products, markets and cross-border partnerships
- Work with Compliance on licensing, AML and card scheme rules as they arise on commercial deals
- Advise on technology, SaaS and data protection terms within commercial agreements
- Build playbooks and contract processes as the team grows, with potential line management
Candidate profile
- Qualified lawyer with 8+ years' PQE
- Strong payments experience essential, ideally across acquiring, PSPs, e-money or payment institutions
- In-house experience in fintech, payments or iGaming
- Exposure to high-risk merchant verticals such as iGaming highly beneficial
- Strong commercial contract drafting and negotiation skills
- UK or European experience preferred, regional experience also considered
- Based in Dubai or willing to relocate
About Meyssa Legal
Meyssa Legal places lawyers across private practice and in-house roles in the UAE, with deep experience in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We work consultatively with leading firms, in-house teams, and senior counsel across banking and finance, disputes, corporate, regulatory, and TMT.
Our approach prioritises judgment over targets and discretion over volume. We brief every role in confidence, submit only candidates we genuinely believe fit, and treat every conversation as the start of a long-term relationship.
