Q&A with Andrea, Head of Legal for the Americas
LegalNew York
I help our teams grow our product in both scope and geography. I’ve worked on everything from product structuring to contracts with partners and banks, to handling litigation and helping teams make sure we comply with marketing laws. I’ve also given advice on cybersecurity and data privacy, helped with debt and equity funding and manage the IP portfolio. So I do lots of different things – no day is the same!
Why did you join Wise?
I was a foreign exchange lawyer before coming to Wise, working for a foreign exchange clearinghouse. I wanted to do something more commercial. I was living in London and had to transfer money and my friend advised me to use Wise and it was brilliant! I had been in my job for a long time and was looking for a new challenge, so when I saw the job ad, I was sold.
What’s the biggest challenge working here?
We move really fast, and we’re in lots of countries which means lots of different kinds of laws to think about. This definitely keeps the work interesting.
What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on?
A tie between running our secondary share transaction and launching our debit card.
Most interesting place you’ve used your Wise debit Mastercard?
San Sebastian in Spain.
What’s your team’s fun tradition?
Celebrating birthdays and cooking together.
What does working with freedom and autonomy mean to you?
It means that teams can make their own choices and do what is best for customers when they have the information they need, or ask for help when they don’t.
What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever done?
I worked as a mime. I was in our mime club at school and were were hired to do mime shows at other schools.
What’s your side hustle?
I’m a landlord of seven households in Ohio.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done at Wise?
The “active track” at our annual Summer Days weekend in Estonia! You think it’s a work event, so it’s probably going to be light activity, but it was actually like a five-hour triathlon.
