Legal Counsel

Get to know Us:

We are on a mission to revolutionise access to global financial opportunities through digital assets.

Hata, as a licensed digital asset platform that is regulated and supervised by both Securities Commission of Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority, provides innovative online spot trading to both retail and institutional clients globally to access opportunities in the digital asset space.

Our team is composed of experienced professionals from PwC, Luno, JP Morgan, Nokia, Huawei and Grab. Powered by our mission to provide the safest & most reliable gateway to access digital assets, we adopt a customer-first approach by operating a compliant platform that is safe and easy to use for our customers.

We have big dreams to achieve and providing a safe and easy to use platform for people in our region is merely the first step. If you have big ambitions, help build our new digital asset platform with us.

This role reports directly to the CEO.

Get to know the role:

We are seeking a strategically-minded and commercially-focused Legal Counsel to strengthen our in-house legal function. This role is ideal for a corporate lawyer with solid transactional experience who is willing to work fully onsite and eager to transition into a dynamic in-house environment within the digital asset industry. You will be a key advisor to the business, ensuring legal soundness and regulatory compliance across all operations.

The day-to-day activities:

• Contract Mastery & Commercial Support: Draft, review, and support negotiation in a broad range of commercial agreements, including partnership agreements, vendor contracts, technology licenses, NDAs, and complex commercial arrangements, with a focus on mitigating risk and supporting business objectives.
• Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management: Provide practical, business-oriented advice on compliance with regulations particularly in areas of digital assets, AML/CFT, and data protection (PDPA).
• Corporate Governance & Entity Management: Manage, support and advise Hata's CEO on corporate governance matters, including board meeting preparations (resolutions, minutes), and support corporate structure planning and subsidiary management.
• Stakeholder Liaison: Act as a key point of contact for internal stakeholders (Product, Compliance, HR, Marketing), providing timely and clear legal guidance on day-to-day operational issues, new initiatives, and strategic projects.
• Policy & Process Development: Develop, implement, and maintain internal policies, procedures, and templates (e.g., contract playbooks, compliance checklists) to improve efficiency and standardize legal risk management across the company.

The Must-Have:

• A qualified Advocate & Solicitor in Malaysia with a minimum of 4 years of relevant post-qualification experience (PQE) gained in the corporate department of a reputable law firm.
• Significant experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and/or general corporate transactions is essential.
• A strong desire to build a career in-house, with the ability to transition from providing external legal advice to being an integrated, business-focused internal partner.
• Excellent communication (both written and verbal) and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to present complex legal concepts clearly to non-legal colleagues.
• A proactive, independent, and hands-on approach, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Why Hata:

Hata is led by a very experienced co-founding team who are pioneers in the digital asset industry in Malaysia. The Co-Founders are now hiring a first batch of passionate talents, who will likely become managers and lead respective teams and functions as the business scales up.

If you're looking for an opportunity to fast track your career progression, rather than slogging under another old dude waiting for your "opportunity" in a corporate firm that may likely not come, why not consider working for an ambitious start up in a hyper growth industry that only looks at work performance and not experience/seniority as a consideration for promotion?

At Hata - we value hard work and judge talents solely based on performance. Work experience and seniority matters less as we believe in cultivating good talents to become senior leaders of the company.

Our Culture:

At Hata, we strongly advocate for on-site work as our preferred mode of operation, prioritising the benefits of in-person collaboration and communication to promote a productive and fun work environment.

We are a forward-thinking and ambitious team that promotes equal opportunities, values diversity, hard work, and thrives on the continuous quest for excellence. If you're looking for a work environment that is performance driven, appreciates hard work, discounts experience/seniority, does not tolerate office politics, and rewards deserving employees equally, Hata is the place for you.