Chief Legal Officer

Chief Legal Officer (Founding Executive)Hutchinson, Kansas (hybrid to start, then in person) · Full-time · Reports to the CEOWe are looking for a seasoned securities lawyer who wants to build a legal department from the ground up at a company whose platform is already live, and who is willing to accept early-stage risk in exchange for a founding-level opportunity.WHERE WE ARE TODAY (PLEASE READ FIRST)We want to be direct about our stage:

• Pre-revenue.
• Pre-token sale. Our token offering is built, but the sale is paused and no tokens have been sold.
• Pre-equity financing. We have not yet raised a priced equity round.
• Token trading is not enabled.
• Several foundational legal documents are drafted and waiting for a lawyer's review and approval.You will not inherit a legal department. You will be the legal department, and every one of those milestones runs through your desk.ABOUT USSEUSSE is a Delaware corporation building a compliance-first, privacy-centric blockchain platform. A user's wallet is their account and their identity: there is no email or password to create, and users sign every action with their own wallet.The platform went live on Ethereum mainnet and Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, on July 4, 2026. More than 80 smart contracts are deployed across the two networks, and 7 billion USSE tokens were minted at launch.The platform includes:
• TheWall: an on-chain social feed, chronological by default, with no ads and no hidden ranking algorithm, governed by published Community Standards with on-chain reporting.
• DEEP Mail: end-to-end encrypted, wallet-to-wallet messaging and group chats, secured with zero-knowledge proofs, able to carry a file and a payment in the same transaction.
• Media Marketplace: digital media and limited editions, with creator royalties credited automatically on every resale.
• Ticketing (private beta): on-chain event tickets with seat selection, resale price caps, and door check-in.
• Identity and organizations: .usse names, profiles, contacts, and on-chain organization structures with member roles.
• Gasless actions: users pay in ETH on Ethereum, and a relayer completes the action on Base.
• Compliance infrastructure: KYC and accreditation through third-party verifiers, with status recorded on chain and documents kept off chain. Investors clear five gates before purchase approval: KYC, accreditation, NDA, data room access, and a signed Token Purchase Agreement.
• Built but not yet activated: a built-in token exchange, staking, liquidity programs, and on-chain governance. Token-holder governance is scheduled to activate at the end of token sales.
• An internal company operating system with a Legal office already built: compliance registry, investor onboarding review, contract register, IP portfolio, takedown queue, and a review gate that every public communication about the offering must pass. It is waiting for its officer.THE ROLEAs a founding executive and the company's senior legal authority, you will advise a securities issuer, a social and messaging platform, a digital marketplace, and a payments-adjacent service at the same time. You set legal strategy, make the calls, and bring in outside counsel where specialist depth is needed.WHAT YOU WILL OWN
• Securities and capital formation, including our planned private token offering and the company's equity financings.
• Financial regulation and compliance, including payments, licensing, KYC and AML, and sanctions.
• Platform, content, and privacy law, including community standards, content removal obligations, data protection, and consumer terms.
• Corporate governance and intellectual property, including board matters and protection of our brands.
• Building the legal function: contracts, policies, outside counsel, and representing the company with regulators, partners, and investors.We will go through the specifics of each area with candidates during the interview process.QUALIFICATIONSRequired
• J.D. and active bar admission in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of practice, with substantial hands-on experience in private securities offerings, including Regulation D, Form D, and venture financings.
• Working knowledge of how U.S. securities law applies to digital assets, including the Howey analysis and broker-dealer questions.
• Experience as the senior or sole lawyer at an early-stage company, or as outside counsel advising startups directly.
• A genuine willingness to accept early-stage risk in exchange for ownership.Strongly preferred
• In-house experience at a fintech, digital asset, or online platform company.
• Experience with money transmission, AML, or payments regulation.
• Trust and safety, content moderation, or privacy law experience.
• Comfort working with engineers. You do not need to write code, but you must understand what a system does before signing off on it.How you work
• You give clear answers, not memos that avoid a conclusion.
• You separate what is known from what is assumed, and you write your decisions down.WHERE YOU WILL WORKThis role is based at our corporate office in Hutchinson, Kansas. You can start on a hybrid schedule, and you will then relocate to Hutchinson to work in person. We will agree the timing with the right candidate.COMPENSATION AND RISKThis role is built for someone who wants a real stake in what they help build. Compensation is negotiated with the right candidate and is expected to include:
• Cash compensation
• Founding executive equity, with standard vesting
• Token-based compensation, where offered, subject to definitive agreements, vesting, lockups, and applicable securities lawsUpside comes through ownership. No part of this role's compensation is tied to the amount of money raised.Please weigh the risk honestly. We are pre-revenue, we have not sold tokens, and we have not raised equity. Cash compensation may be limited or deferred until funding is secured, and equity or token-based compensation may ultimately be worth nothing. If you need a fixed, fully funded salary from day one, this is not the right role. If you want to be the lawyer who built the legal foundation of a live on-chain platform, and to share in the result, we want to hear from you.HOW TO APPLYApply on our careers site: https://usse.io/careers/chief-legal-officerWe accept applications through our careers site only.USSE is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to any characteristic protected by law. If you need an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know in your application and we will arrange it.This posting describes an employment opportunity. It is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. Any offering of USSE tokens will be made only to verified accredited investors through definitive offering documents. United States Secured Exchange, Inc. is a private company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the United States government or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.