Licensing and Legal Operations Associate

About the role

Kikoff is seeking a State Licensing and Legal Ops Associate to own our state licensing portfolio and support legal operations across the business. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of regulatory compliance and commercial operations. The right candidate brings direct experience managing multi-state licensing activity, strong organizational instincts, and the ability to support contract lifecycle management across a growing set of bank, technology, and vendor partnerships. You will work closely with legal, compliance, finance, and the business line team to keep Kikoff properly licensed, well-documented, and operationally tight across regulatory and contractual obligations - and will take the lead in deploying state-of-the-art AI tools to ensure the legal and compliance teams are efficient and effective.

Responsibilities

• State Licensing
• Own and manage Kikoff's state licensing portfolio, including all active licenses, pending applications, and renewal calendars across money transmission, consumer lending, and related license types.
• Prepare, submit, and track license applications and renewals through NMLS and directly with state regulators, ensuring timely and accurate filings.
• Respond to regulator requests and information requests related to licensing matters.
• Maintain current and accurate license records, surety bonds, registered agent information, and statutory documents across all jurisdictions.
• Monitor state-level legislative and regulatory changes that affect Kikoff's licensing obligations, and proactively flag material developments to legal and compliance leadership.
• Coordinate with finance and legal on financial statement submissions and other license maintenance requirements.
• Support expansion into new states by conducting licensing requirement analyses and building out filing timelines for new product launches or program changes.
• Legal and Contract Operations
• Manage the contract lifecycle across Kikoff's bank partnerships, commercial agreements, vendor contracts, and third-party service agreements, including intake, routing, execution, and storage.
• Maintain and continuously improve the contract management system and related business processes to ensure all agreements are accurately tracked, version-controlled, and accessible.
• Use AI tools to track key contract dates, renewal windows, notice periods, and material obligations, and surface upcoming deadlines to relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate with internal teams on contract redlines, signature workflows, and execution logistics using standard e-signature tooling.
• Support due diligence and contracting processes for new partnership opportunities, including organizing document requests and managing data rooms.
• Assist legal in drafting and reviewing routine contract amendments, NDAs, and ancillary agreements under attorney supervision.
• Build and maintain internal reports and dashboards on licensing status, contract coverage, and pending legal ops items to provide leadership visibility.
• Take the lead in using Claude and other AI tools in innovative ways to improve the functioning of the legal and compliance teams.

Requirements

• 3-5 years of experience in state licensing, legal operations, or regulatory compliance within financial services, FinTech, or a related industry.
• Hands-on NMLS experience, including direct responsibility for license applications, renewals, amendments, and MU filings.
• Familiarity with consumer lending, money transmission, or similar state-level licensing regimes across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience supporting or owning a contract management function, including working with CLM tools or maintaining organized contract repositories.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, competing deadlines, and cross-functional stakeholders simultaneously.
• High attention to detail and comfort working in a document-intensive environment with significant regulatory and legal consequences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interface directly with state regulators and internal busin

Benefits

Additional Information

Kikoff: The Fintech Powering Financial Security at Scale Kikoff is a profitable, pre-IPO fintech company on a mission to empower everyone to achieve financial security. With record revenue growth in 2025 and a unicorn valuation, we've built a suite of products that help millions of people build credit, access liquidity, and save money. We're scaling fast. Join us if you want to build something meaningful and help millions of people move forward financially. Why Kikoff: This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.

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