Legal & Compliance Expert - São Paulo (Hybrid)

Ready to accelerate your career?

Clara is the fastest-growing company in Latin America. We've built the leading solution for companies to make and manage all their payments. We already help over 20,000 large and growing businesses operate with agility and financial clarity through locally issued corporate cards, bill pay, financing, and a powerful B2B platform built for scale.

Clara is backed by some of the most successful investors in the world, including top regional VCs like monashees, Kaszek, and Canary, and leading global funds like Notable Capital, Coatue, DST Global Partners, ICONIQ Growth, General Catalyst, Citi Ventures, SV Angel, Citius, Endeavor Catalyst, and Goldman Sachs - in addition to dozens of angel investors and local family offices. 

We’re building the financial infrastructure that powers high-performing organizations across the region. We invite you to join us if you want to be part of a fast-paced environment that will accelerate your career and support you to do some of the best work of your life alongside a passionate and committed team distributed across the Americas.

What you'll do

We're looking for a Legal & Compliance Expert to strengthen Clara’s capabilities in Brazil. This is a high-impact, highly operational individual contributor role designed for professionals with solid experience in Corporate Legal, Regulatory Compliance, or both. Whether your expertise leans toward corporate law or compliance, you will own complex matters end-to-end, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and help build scalable processes supported by AI to enable Clara to grow responsibly.

Depending on your primary area of specialization, your responsibilities will include:

• Lead key corporate legal, corporate governance, or regulatory compliance matters related to Clara’s operations in Brazil.

• Manage corporate records, resolutions, powers of attorney, statutory filings, capital changes, and intercompany arrangements.

• Draft, review, and negotiate strategic commercial, technology, vendor, confidentiality, and partnership agreements.

• Monitor regulatory developments and translate applicable requirements into actionable policies, procedures, controls, and implementation plans.

• Lead or execute AML/CFT, KYC/KYB, and enhanced due diligence activities related to complex corporate structures, Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs), PEPs, sanctions, and adverse media.

• Analyze higher-risk cases and present fully documented recommendations for approval, remediation, rejection, or escalation.

• Support external audits, regulatory interactions, internal reviews, and remediation plans.

• Lead or support privacy and data protection initiatives, including the practical application of LGPD across new products and operational processes.

• Contribute to the ESG Compliance agenda, including governance, policies, risk assessments, regulatory obligations, and reporting controls.

• Act as a strategic advisor to Product, Operations, Finance, People, Sales, Risk, Fraud, Engineering, and Data teams (communicating effectively via Slack and other channels), balancing business objectives with legal and regulatory risks.

• Support new products, vendors, and strategic initiatives by proactively identifying requirements, risks, approvals, and implementation steps.

• Coordinate complex initiatives with internal stakeholders and external counsel, ensuring clear ownership, deadlines, and execution.

• Build and improve templates, playbooks, approval flows, and knowledge management systems (utilizing tools like Google Drive) to make the Legal and Compliance functions more consistent and scalable.

• Use AI and workflow automation (such as N8N) to streamline legal research, document review, regulatory monitoring, case analysis, and reporting while preserving strict confidentiality, human review, and auditability.

• Identify relevant legal and operational risks early, provide practical recommendations, and escalate critical matters when necessary.

Who you are

We’re looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Must haves

• 5+ years of relevant experience in Corporate Legal, Regulatory Compliance, AML/CFT, privacy, or related areas, preferably with significant in-house experience.

• Solid experience in at least one of the following areas:

  • Brazilian corporate law, corporate governance, entity management, and commercial agreements; OR

  • Regulatory Compliance, AML/CFT, KYC/KYB, audits, controls, and remediation.

• Law degree and active registration with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) for candidates whose primary specialization is Corporate Legal. For Compliance-focused profiles, degrees in Law, Business Administration, Accounting, Economics, International Relations, or related fields will be considered.

• Experience operating in regulated environments, with a proven ability to manage complex matters from analysis through implementation.

• Practical knowledge of LGPD, privacy, and data protection requirements.

• Ability to exert technical leadership and influence cross-functional stakeholders while remaining highly hands-on in operational execution.

• A collaborative profile with a strong sense of ownership, sound business judgment, and excellent organizational skills.

• Experience or strong interest in using AI tools to automate workflows and improve legal or compliance processes.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to articulate complex legal/compliance risks into clear business requirements.

• Adaptability to fast-changing environments and a strong bias for action.

• Proven role-specific execution in a fast-paced or high-growth setting.

Nice to haves

• In-house experience at a fintech, financial institution, payments company, or technology startup.

• Direct experience with the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), COAF, ANPD, or other relevant regulatory authorities.

• Experience with ESG governance, assessments, policies, or reporting.

• Experience managing external counsel and highly specialized legal matters.

• Experience leading or supporting audits, regulatory inspections, and remediation plans.

• Independent analytical skills using spreadsheets, SQL, or Python to monitor compliance metrics or evaluate workflows.

• Basic proficiency in Spanish, or a strong desire to learn it.

• A good sense of humor.

 

Why join Clara

At Clara, you’ll have the autonomy, speed, and support to make meaningful impact — not just on your team, but on how organizations are run across Latin America.

Who we are

• We’re the leading B2B fintech for spend management in Latin America.

• Certified as one of the world's fastest-growing companies, a Great Place to Work, and a LinkedIn Top Startup.

• Passionate about making Latin America more prosperous and competitive.

• Constantly innovating to build financial infrastructure that enables each of our customers to thrive.

• Product-led, high-talent-density culture — designed for builders who raise the bar.

• Proud of our open, inclusive, and values-driven environment.

What we believe in

• #Clarity. We say things clearly, directly, and proactively.

• #Simplicity. We reduce noise to focus on what really matters.

• #Ownership. We take responsibility and never wait to be told.

• #Pride. We build products and experiences we’re proud of.

• #Always Be Changing (ABC). We grow through feedback, risk-taking, and action.

• #Inclusivity. Every voice counts. Everyone contributes to our mission.

What we offer

• Competitive salary and stock options (ESOP) from day one

• Multicultural team with daily exposure to Portuguese, Spanish, and English (our corporate language)

• Annual learning budget and internal accelerated development paths

• High-ownership environment: we move fast, learn fast, and raise the bar — together

• Smart, ambitious teammates — low ego, high impact

• Flexible vacation and hybrid work model focused on results

If you’re ready for growth, ownership, and impact — apply now and help us redefine B2B finance in Latin America.

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Clara’s Hybrid Policy

Claridians in a hybrid mode split their time between working from the office, talking to or visiting customers, or working from home. This hits a balance between bringing people together for in-person collaboration and learning from each other, while supporting flexibility about how to do this in a way that makes sense for each individual and team.

We don't enforce a minimum number of days for most roles, but you're expected to spend time at the office organically, and be at the office most days during your ramp-up or when required by your leader.