Associate General Counsel,
New York
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
Closing Date: ongoing
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Background/IRC Summary:
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and in 26 U.S. cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.
IRC’s Office of General Counsel, reporting to the President and CEO, provides legal advice and guidance to IRC management and the Board of Directors on a wide range of matters affecting the IRC and its affiliated entities, including contracts, employment issues, governance, requests for information, policy making and compliance, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The OGC is also responsible for overseeing domestic and international litigation and outside counsel.
OGC serves as a resource for informed decision-making providing independent, timely and thoughtful advice on the broad range of legal issues that our programs, departments, boards and legal entities face. It looks to prevent legal problems and solve those that occur, to facilitate transactions, and to build structures that consider the longer-term impacts of a transaction, litigation, governance issue or other corporate matter.
Job Profile
Job Profile
The Associate General Counsel is a full-time position based in New York that works on matters that include advising staff and senior management on contracts, grants, business operations, organizational policies, governance, and regulatory compliance, as well as providing staff training with respect to these areas. Preferred candidates will have strong academic credentials, with international experience and demonstrated expertise in the non-profit/public sector. This in-house counsel must be capable of working independently in a fast-paced environment, while managing effectively multiple projects and competing priorities.
Priorities for the role include:
- advising on exempt organizations law, including compliance with US tax laws and regulations applicable to private foundations
- advising on basic corporate transactions including service agreements, consultancies, commercial contracts such as software agreements, leases and vendor agreements, and financial transactions
- advising with respect to domestic and international grant making
- advising on the development and implementation of organizational policies
- providing general nonprofit corporate advice, including creation, governance, and administration of legal entities in the US and abroad
- providing training on legal issues and compliance to staff at all levels
- other duties as assigned
- Occasional international and domestic travel
Candidate Profile
The Associate General Counsel will have at least five to seven years of US law firm and/or in-house experience (or equivalent) with general corporate or exempt organization experience, who is interested in becoming an all-purpose generalist in our in-house legal department.
Additional qualifications include:
- advanced degree (J.D.) from an accredited law school
- must be admitted to practice in New York State or must be willing to be admitted
- must be a team player with a practical, business-oriented approach to problem-solving, tempered by an appreciation for legal complexity and risk.
- experience working in the exempt organizations field strongly preferred
- familiarity with anti-terrorism, boycott, lobbying and/or OFAC/BIS issues a plus.
- experience with government grants and contracts
- excellent contract drafting and negotiating skills detail oriented with excellent follow-through
- excellent communication (verbal and written), including in a virtual environment
- superior organizational and strong interpersonal skills with the ability to listen effectively
- expert in identifying and resolving complex issues
- integrity, professional discretion and ability to handle sensitive/confidential matters
- extraordinary initiative, creative thinker and strong judgment and analytical skills
- strong relationship builder and communicator with experience building partnerships
- experience managing inter and intra organizational relationships in complex organizational environments
- international experience a plus
- the ability to work under pressure, manage workload, prioritize, manage simultaneous tasks, and meet deadlines within and adapt to a changing fast-paced environment
- fluency in French a plus