Legal, Asset Management Derivatives Lawyer – Executive Director

Company: Goldman Sachs
Apply for the Legal, Asset Management Derivatives Lawyer – Executive Director
Location: London
Job Description:

This opportunity was posted more than 30 days ago and no application deadline was provided. You can explore active listings below.

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Minimum 7-8 years of relevant work experience as a compliance officer, regulator, or in a risk management role. Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree in law, risk, or information security preferred. Must possess experience interpreting regulations, laws, and statutes, with a strong understanding of the global regulatory environment concerning technology and information security. Experience interacting with regulators or supporting regulatory audits is a plus.

Full-time Job (Vice President Level)

Full Opportunity Brief

Decoding the VP Compliance Mandate at Goldman Sachs Bengaluru

Landing a Vice President role in Global Compliance at Goldman Sachs is widely regarded as a definitive milestone for legal and risk professionals in India. The current opening for a Business Unit Compliance Vice President in Bengaluru is not merely a hiring event; it is a strategic gateway into the firm’s “Core Compliance” team, a unit tasked with safeguarding the integrity of the bank’s most critical infrastructure divisions: Engineering, Risk, and Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM). For the seasoned compliance officer, this role represents the intersection of high-stakes regulatory strategy and cutting-edge financial technology.

Insider Perspective: Unlike front-office revenue roles, a VP in Core Compliance acts as the “second line of defense.” You are not just checking boxes; you are actively challenging the Engineering and Risk divisions on financial regulation implementation, reputational risk, and firm-wide policy adherence. This requires a rare blend of technical acuity and regulatory gravitas.

Why This Specific Mandate Changes the Career Trajectory

Most compliance roles in India focus on KYC/AML, client onboarding, or advisory compliance. This mandate is fundamentally different. The job description explicitly assigns coverage to the Engineering Division and Third-Party Risk Management. This signals a shift: Goldman Sachs is embedding compliance deep within its technology stack and vendor ecosystem. For a legal professional, this means your daily counterparties are CTOs, CISOs, and Heads of Engineering, not just relationship managers.

The requirement for “understanding of the global regulatory environment as it relates to technology and information security” is the keyword cluster here. Regulators globally (RBI, SEC, FCA, EBA) are converging on operational resilience, cyber risk, and outsourcing governance. By stepping into this role, you position yourself at the epicenter of the most dynamic regulatory frontier in finance: Tech Compliance.

Deconstructing the 7-8 Year Experience Threshold

The seniority bar is set deliberately high. Goldman Sachs is not looking for a policy drafter; they are hiring a strategic risk partner. The responsibilities listed—”brief senior leadership on risks identified,” “analyze enforcement actions to assess impact,” “coordinate with counterparts in other jurisdictions”—demand a professional who has already survived regulatory examinations and managed cross-border escalations.

  • Regulatory Interpretation: You must demonstrate fluency in reading primary legislation (not just summaries) and translating it into engineering controls.
  • Stakeholder Challenge: The JD emphasizes being “able and willing to challenge; comfortable with inter-personal conflict.” This is the hallmark of the VP grade—you must say “no” to the business when risk appetite is breached, while maintaining the rapport to say “yes” to the viable alternative.
  • Forensic & Testing Acumen: “Recommend and undertake compliance testing and forensic investigatory work” implies hands-on familiarity with data analytics tools (SQL, Python, Tableau) to audit code repositories or vendor access logs.

The Bengaluru Advantage: Global Scope, Local Base

Bengaluru has evolved from a back-office hub to a strategic nerve center for Goldman Sachs. The “Core Compliance” team in India does not just execute directives from New York or London; they own the compliance lifecycle for global divisions headquartered here. The JD mentions coordinating “with counterparts in other jurisdictions to ensure the firm is meeting related regulatory requirements globally.” This confirms the role carries global accountability, offering exposure to US SEC/FINRA rules, UK FCA/PRA expectations, and EU DORA/MiCA implementations simultaneously.

For an Indian lawyer or CA, this is the fastest route to a genuinely global compliance career without relocating. The firm’s investment in the “India – The Core Compliance team” branding indicates long-term structural commitment, translating to job security and internal mobility pathways into Global Compliance Leadership, Chief Compliance Officer tracks, or lateral moves to Big Tech (FAANG) regulatory affairs teams.

The Hidden Curriculum: What the JD Doesn’t Say

Reading between the lines reveals the unwritten expectations of this role:

  • AI Governance Readiness: With the Engineering division building GenAI tools, you will likely be the first line of defense for the firm’s AI Model Risk Management framework (SR 11-7 / EU AI Act alignment). Start studying the NIST AI Risk Management Framework now.
  • Vendor Concentration Risk: TPRM coverage means you own the compliance view on critical third parties (cloud providers like AWS/Azure/GCP). Expect deep dives into exit strategies, sub-contractor risk, and data sovereignty clauses.
  • Culture Carrier: “Strengthen the firm’s culture of compliance” is a mandate to design training. You will be building the compliance curriculum for engineers. The ability to translate “Regulatory Capital” into “Code Commit Hooks” is a superpower here.

Strategic Note: This role is a feeder for the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) succession pipeline in the APAC region. The exposure to Engineering (the bank’s growth engine) and Risk (the bank’s shield) provides the holistic enterprise view that modern CCOs require. Treat this not as a job, but as a 3-5 year leadership residency.

Compensation & Total Rewards Context

While the posting is silent on compensation, market data for a Goldman Sachs VP in Bengaluru (Strategic/Control Function) typically commands a base salary in the range of ₹60-85 Lakhs with a target bonus of 30-50% of base, plus significant Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) vesting over 4 years. The total package often exceeds ₹1.2 – 1.5 Crore annually at target performance. Benefits include top-tier health insurance (global coverage), wellness stipends, and access to the firm’s proprietary learning campus (GS University).

Final Verdict: The Pivot Point for Senior Compliance Talent

This opening is a rare convergence of brand prestige, intellectual complexity, and strategic scope. It is tailor-made for the compliance professional who has outgrown checklist-based roles and seeks to architect the control framework for a global bank’s digital backbone. If your resume reads like a history of “managing regulators” and “translating law into code,” this is your moment. The 200+ applicants are your competition; your differentiated narrative on Tech-Regulatory bilingualism is your edge.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Is a law degree (LLB/LLM) mandatory for this Vice President Compliance role at Goldman Sachs?

A: No, a law degree is not mandatory. The job description specifies a “Bachelor’s degree or higher” as the baseline. However, it explicitly states a “graduate degree in a related area (law, risk, information security) is a plus.” Many successful VPs in this division come from Chartered Accountancy (CA), MBA (Finance/Risk), or Engineering backgrounds with certifications like CISA, FRM, or CAMS. The critical differentiator is the 7-8 years of demonstrable experience interpreting financial regulations, not the specific undergraduate major.

Q2: What does “Business Unit Compliance” coverage for the Engineering Division actually entail on a daily basis?

A: It moves far beyond policy writing. Daily activities include: attending sprint planning/reviews to embed compliance gates in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC); reviewing code change management controls for SOX/RBI adherence; advising on cloud architecture decisions (data residency, encryption standards); managing regulatory inquiries related to system outages or cyber incidents; and conducting independent testing of access controls (privileged access management, secrets management). You act as the dedicated compliance partner for the CTO organization.

Q3: How critical is the “Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)” component mentioned in the job description?

A: It is a core pillar, not a peripheral duty. Given Goldman Sachs’ reliance on strategic vendors (cloud hyperscalers, fintechs, data providers), the TPRM compliance coverage involves: leading due diligence for critical vendors (Tier 1/2); negotiating contractual clauses (audit rights, data protection, concentration risk, exit management); monitoring vendor compliance with regulations like RBI Outsourcing Guidelines, DORA (EU), or FCA SYSC; and coordinating incident response when a third-party breach occurs. This requires deep contract law knowledge combined with technical vendor assessment skills.

Q4: Does this role require relocation to Bengaluru, or is hybrid/remote work an option?

A: The job posting lists the location as “Bengaluru, Karnataka, India” without a “Remote” or “Hybrid” tag in the structured data. Goldman Sachs India typically operates on a hybrid model (3 days on-site / 2 days remote) for VP-level roles in Bengaluru, especially for control functions requiring secure infrastructure access and frequent in-person stakeholder engagement with Engineering and Risk leadership. Candidates should assume a Bengaluru base is required unless explicitly discussed otherwise during the offer stage.

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Posted: October 22nd, 2026