Overview
A nonprofit science organization is seeking a General Counsel to serve as a strategic partner to senior leadership. This role involves leading the legal function at the enterprise level, setting intellectual property (IP) and risk strategy, managing a growing legal team, and advising on complex legal and regulatory matters. The organization operates multiple subsidiary entities, including those in the UK, and manages a diverse portfolio of research-focused organizations.
Responsibilities
- Develop and own the overall legal and risk framework for the organization and its subsidiaries.
- Advise the President/CEO and leadership team on significant legal decisions, structural questions, and regulatory exposures proactively.
- Lead IP strategy and governance across the portfolio, including decisions on filing, protection, licensing, and spinout transactions.
- Manage relationships with outside patent counsel and develop playbooks to empower teams in IP disclosure and decision-making.
- Provide strategic direction and management to the legal team, including subsidiary General Counsel and contracts counsel.
- Oversee and optimize relationships with outside counsel across various legal areas such as nonprofit law, patents, corporate transactions, employment, and international matters.
- Ensure compliance with 501(c)(3) regulations across the portfolio, monitoring activities for exempt organization compliance and managing related risks.
- Navigate international and regulatory complexities, including GDPR, OFAC, anti-bribery statutes, and other cross-border requirements.
- Participate early in deal strategy for complex transactions such as spinouts, licensing agreements, graduations, and partnerships.
- Build scalable legal systems, templates, and process documentation to increase organizational efficiency without proportional headcount growth.
Requirements
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree and active bar membership in at least one U.S. state.
- Minimum of 10 years of legal practice, with a foundation in corporate or commercial law.
- Experience managing complex deal structures and legal volume.
- Strong familiarity with nonprofit law, including 501(c)(3) compliance, disregarded entities, and exempt organization regulations, either through direct experience or rapid learning ability.
- Proactive approach to risk management with the ability to identify and mitigate compliance and structural vulnerabilities before they escalate.
- Skilled in managing outside counsel, including selecting firms, negotiating rates, and ensuring value.
- Comfortable handling structural complexity involving multiple subsidiaries, international entities, government contracts, philanthropic funding, IP licensing, and spinout transactions.
- Clear and decisive communicator able to translate legal advice into actionable guidance for non-lawyers.
- Proven leadership and relationship-building skills, with experience managing legal teams and collaborating with executive leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in the research or nonprofit sector.
- Familiarity with international legal frameworks and cross-border regulatory compliance.
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive salary benchmarked equitably based on experience and location.
- Up to 6% 401(k) match.
- Comprehensive medical insurance options with employee and family premiums largely covered.
- Dental and vision insurance with premiums mostly covered.
- Company-paid life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), long- and short-term disability insurance, plus voluntary supplemental insurance options.
- 19 holidays, including a week off between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.
- Three weeks of paid time off (PTO) with increases based on tenure, plus separate sick and parental leave.
- Generous fertility benefits and childcare reimbursement.
- Education and professional development support.
- Wellness allowance for fitness and wellness activities.
- Quarterly offsite team retreats and additional opportunities for in-person meetings.
- Support for fully remote work.
Location
Remote work is supported; specific location details are flexible.
Additional Information
The organization is committed to equal employment opportunity and values diversity in its workforce. Hiring decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, military status, or other protected characteristics.
Artificial intelligence tools may be used to assist in parts of the hiring process, such as application review and resume analysis, but final hiring decisions are made by humans.