Overview
An organization is seeking an Assistant General Counsel to join their transaction-focused legal practice. This role involves leading the review, negotiation, and resolution of complex and high-risk professional services and technology-related agreements. The Assistant General Counsel will serve as an escalation point for transactional matters and manage key aspects of the contracting process. Acting as a trusted advisor to partners, business unit leaders, and senior leadership, the role balances commercial objectives with legal, regulatory, and reputational risk.
The position reports to the leader of the Legal Department’s commercial transactions function within the Firm Risk Management enabling function. It requires collaboration with a globally located legal and contract support team, including colleagues based in India, and necessitates reasonable availability during overlapping business hours for effective communication.
Responsibilities
- Develop a deep understanding of the organization's service lines, technology offerings, business strategies, and associated risk profiles.
- Lead and negotiate complex, bespoke, and high-value agreements including master services agreements, engagement letters, confidentiality agreements, business associate agreements, SaaS agreements, data protection agreements, software licenses, subcontractor agreements, government contracts, and related statements of work.
- Serve as an escalation point for non-standard, high-risk, or novel commercial issues, partnering with Legal Department leadership on material risk decisions.
- Negotiate vendor agreements with consideration of operational, regulatory, and information security risks.
- Review requests for proposals (RFPs) to identify risks and advise on risk-based, commercially practical mitigation strategies.
- Apply U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws and collaborate with information security, privacy, and risk teams.
- Own, maintain, and improve contract templates, standard terms, fallback positions, and draft new provisions as business needs evolve.
- Evaluate and enhance contracting processes and workflows using technology, automation, offshore resources, contract lifecycle management (CLM), and AI-enabled tools.
- Assist in maintaining and expanding commercial contracting playbooks, ensuring consistent application of approved negotiation positions with appropriate risk-based flexibility.
- Provide leadership, guidance, supervision, and mentorship to Senior Counsel, Counsel, and other legal professionals, including workload prioritization and career development support.
- Influence and align stakeholders across the firm through credibility, judgment, and strong relationships, even without direct reporting lines.
Requirements
- Minimum of nine (9) years of relevant experience in a law firm or in-house counsel role, with demonstrated expertise in handling complex commercial transactions and advising senior stakeholders.
- Strong ability to learn multiple business lines in detail and develop close working relationships with partners, senior management, and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Solutions-oriented and relationship-focused negotiation approach, maintaining positive professional relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, and opposing counsel.
- Excellent organizational skills, business judgment, strategic thinking, and exceptional written and verbal communication skills tailored to senior audiences.
- Ability to lead and take initiative, including rolling up sleeves to handle tasks as needed.
- Experience leveraging technology to improve legal service delivery is strongly preferred; familiarity with Microsoft Office is required, and knowledge of CLM platforms and AI-assisted contract review tools is a plus.
- Willingness to work on a variety of legal matters beyond the central role as part of a smaller department.
- Admission to a U.S. state bar in good standing is required; preference for candidates admitted to the Illinois bar and located in the Chicago area, though remote candidates admitted elsewhere will be considered.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in public accounting, consulting, or other professional services environments.
- Familiarity with regulated or compliance-driven contracts, including government contracts.
- Experience improving contracting processes, working with contract management or AI tools, or collaborating with global or offshore teams.
- Knowledge of data privacy regulations or certifications such as CIPP-US or CIPP-E.
- Experience with cross-border contracts and practical intellectual property issues related to marketing, trade secrets, licensing, patents, and copyright.
- Experience reviewing state or federal government contract requirements and assessing compliance capability.
- Background in governmental, accounting, or financial regulatory sectors.
Compensation & Benefits
- The estimated salary range for this role is $149,400.00 to $317,100.00 per year. Compensation decisions consider skill sets, experience, training, licensure, certifications, and organizational needs.
- The organization offers a comprehensive total rewards package including benefits designed to support employee well-being and career growth.
Location
- Preference is given to candidates located in the Chicago area; however, qualified candidates admitted to a U.S. state bar in good standing in their state of residence will be considered.
Additional Information
- The application deadline for this role is February 28, 2026.
- Employment eligibility verification is required upon hire; the organization is not sponsoring work authorization at this time.
- Equal employment opportunity is provided to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other protected characteristics.
- The organization complies with applicable state and local laws regarding fair chance hiring and considers qualified applicants with criminal histories accordingly.
- Candidates should be prepared to uphold values of care, trust, courage, and stewardship, acting ethically and with integrity at all times.