Technology, Operations & Procurement - Paralegal

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

The anticipated salary range for this role is between $65,000.00 and $80,000.00. The specific salary offered to an applicant will be based on their individual qualifications, experiences, and an analysis of the current compensation paid in their geography and the market for similar roles at the time of hire. The role may also be eligible for an annual discretionary incentive award. In addition to cash compensation, SMBC offers a competitive portfolio of benefits to its employees.

Role Description

The Paralegal role for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation will work within the Americas Legal Department on the Technology, Operations and Procurement Legal team, reporting to the Head of the Technology, Operations & Procurement Legal (“TOP Legal”) function as a trusted paralegal, working on a wide variety of technology, intellectual property and other commercial legal issues.

Role Objectives

Primary responsibilities will include supporting TOP Legal with the following:

• Legal research on third party risk and technology related laws, regulations, guidance and best practices including keeping the team up to date on new or updated technology and third-party laws, regulations and regulatory guidance.
• Managing contract remediation projects, including collaborating with internal stakeholders and outside counsel.
• Assisting with the management of SMBC’s intellectual property portfolio, including collaborating with internal stakeholders.
• Document management: maintaining team shared folders, updating templates, playbooks, checklists, best practices, taking team meeting minutes and following up with action holders.
• Coordinating with internal stakeholders to arrange meetings and prepare briefings on TOP Legal topics, including assisting with drafting presentation materials.
• Arranging CLEs, internal client training and external events such as industry bank roundtables and assisting with the preparation of related materials.
• Assisting with the drafting and management of law firm RFPs for TOP Legal projects.
• Reviewing applicable policies, procedures and processes, e.g. on Procurement and Third-Party Risk and collaborating with internal stakeholders.
• Managing and responding to internal client general queries to the TOP Legal team.
• Triaging new contract matters for attorney review and liaising with Sourcing & Procurement, SMEs and the business etc.
• Reviewing and advising on certain supplier contract documents, e.g. orders, SOWs; and
• Onboarding and training new team members and processing team expenses.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years’ minimum experience as a paralegal working with law firms or financial services companies supporting the legal team.
• Experience with and understanding technology, intellectual property and third party related laws, regulations and guidance and ability to further develop knowledge in these areas.
• Excellent communication, analytical, organizational and issue-spotting skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, operate comfortably in a fast-paced, growth-focused environment, and manage a significant workload.
• Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner.
• Ability to collaborate with and successfully contribute to cross-functional and geographically dispersed teams.
• Ability to work from SMBC’s NY office at least two (2) days a week preferred

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at [email protected].