General Counsel, Group

About 500 Global

500 Global is a venture capital firm founded in 2010 that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. With $2.1B+ in assets under management, 3,000+ portfolio companies across 80+ countries and team members in 26 countries, the firm combines Silicon Valley venture capital with deep local presence across emerging markets.

About the Role

The General Counsel, Group is the firm’s senior legal officer, owning the legal architecture of its highest-value decisions: governance, the US regulatory perimeter, entity structure and capitalisation transactions. The role advises the Board and its committees, the CEO, the COO and the shareholders, serves as Secretary of the Board and the Audit Committee, and is the named Compliance Officer for the Americas. Day-to-day business-unit legal work sits with the Unit Legal Team; the General Counsel sets the standards, templates and risk thresholds that team works to, and is measured on risk outcomes aligned to business goals, transaction execution, preservation of the US adviser’s exempt status, and development of the legal team.

Key Responsibilities

- Own governance and board machinery: the Operating Agreement, Board and committee charters, written consents, officer appointments and ratifications, reserved-matters analysis, committee composition and terms, and minutes and records maintained to a standard that shortens any future diligence.
- Preserve the US adviser’s exempt reporting status as products evolve, clearing every new vehicle, managed-account concept or structure against the US-adviser trigger list before it is offered to a counterparty.
- Own the standing US regulatory obligations regardless of exemption, including anti-fraud, insider trading, pay-to-play, Form ADV accuracy and Regulation D, and set the sanctions-escalation triggers commercial teams operate to.
- Serve as named Compliance Officer for the Americas, running the compliance program through internal resources and an outsourced provider (filings, ADV updates, policies, training), with a documented Audit Committee escalation line and an approved AML build plan.
- Oversee the US adviser’s fund offering and marketing materials, investor solicitation, securities and fundraising matters through a defined red-flag review process with committed turnaround times.
- Maintain the legal operating system: precleared regulatory positions, fund-marketing templates and an up-to-date trigger list, with same-day classification of unclear cases, so unit counsel can act independently on all but red-flag matters.
- Lead the legal work on firm-level transactions, including acquisitions and consolidations, platform equity raises, and GP-stake and seeding structures, from structure design through diligence to close.
- Co-own, with the COO, the analysis and recommendation on establishing a second adviser entity to spread regulatory risk and support managed-account capability.
- Design and execute the legal entity structure supporting the firm’s business units, including transfer and allocation mechanics and transaction-driven structuring, and maintain the firm’s legal risk register and thresholds.
- Advise on executive compensation, equity issuances, partner agreements and separations, and review of success-linked compensation for fundraising-facing personnel.
- Manage group-level outside counsel as a portfolio: panel selection, engagement discipline and approval thresholds, reducing spend against baseline and eliminating duplicated review.
- Lead and develop the legal team, delegating work previously done centrally and holding unit counsel to defined standards.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

- JD or equivalent law degree; admitted and in good standing in at least one US state bar.
- 15+ years’ post-qualification experience, combining a leading law firm’s investment management, funds or corporate practice with senior in-house experience at an investment adviser, asset manager or venture capital / private equity firm.
- Deep working knowledge of the Investment Advisers Act (including exempt reporting and venture capital adviser exemptions), Investment Company Act exclusions, Regulation D, and Form ADV, pay-to-play and marketing rules.
- Experience as, or directly supporting, a Chief Compliance Officer, including running a compliance program with outsourced providers.
- Track record leading firm-level transactions (M&A, equity raises, GP-stake or seeding arrangements, entity restructurings) through to close.
- Experience serving as corporate or board secretary, with command of governance mechanics and committee processes.
- Proven ability to build legal operating systems (templates, precleared positions, escalation protocols) that let business teams move quickly within defined risk limits.
- Experience managing outside counsel with demonstrable cost and quality discipline, and leading and developing lawyers.
- Commercial judgment, discretion and presence to act as a trusted adviser to the CEO, COO and Board.
- Or equivalent combination of education and experience.