Associate General Counsel

Job Title: Associate General Counsel

Department: Office of the General Counsel

Center Background:  The Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) is a global human rights organization working to ensure that reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights around the world. With offices in New York City, New York; Nairobi, Kenya; Bogota, Colombia; Geneva, Switzerland; and Washington, D.C., the Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization changing law and policy throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United States. Our 230+ diverse professionals are committed to advancing the Center’s human rights mission through game-changing litigation, legal policy, and advocacy work. This has powered the Center’s exceptional growth to an operating budget of over $50 million and won the respect of law firms in countries around the world, with an additional $29 million annually of donated legal services, representing the work of countless lawyers from more than 46 countries. 

The Center’s Strategic Plan sets a high mark for impact: By 2030, half of the world’s population will be living under stronger protections for reproductive rights than they are today. The Center has a track record of success to back up this ambitious goal. Since our founding in 1992, the Center has transformed how reproductive rights are understood and applied by courts, governments, and human rights bodies worldwide on issues including maternal health, abortion, assisted reproduction, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We have won groundbreaking cases before national courts, U.N. Committees, and regional human rights bodies. Additionally, the Center has led the development of historic, proactive legislation advancing robust protections for reproductive rights and has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in more than 65 countries and counting.

This role will be based in New York City. Covid-19 Vaccination is required for all U.S.-based employees of the Center.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Work with the Center's General Counsel and existing Associate General Counsel in expanding and institutionalizing the general counsel function.
• Serve as thought partner to the General Counsel and other members of the Office of General Counsel.
• Serve as an advisor to Center leadership and staff on a range of legal and policy matters.
• Supervise two or more staff members within the Division of the General Counsel, including the Director of Compliance based in the Center’s Nairobi office. Manage and support the Director of Compliance to ensure the responsible stewardship of the Center’s restricted grants portfolio.
• Further the objectives of the Office of General Counsel, with particular focus on the Center’s work and offices outside the US, including:
  • Developing strategies to evaluate and reduce organizational risk.
  • Managing all non-profit/tax-exempt-related compliance matters, including those involving political activities and lobbying.
  • Handling compliance matters, including: overseeing compliance with international legal regimes where the Center operates; establishing and updating global compliance policies and procedures governing the management of compliance risks; and providing compliance training.
  • Handling labor and employment law matters, including internal investigations, advising on new legal regulatory requirements and assisting with union relations.
  • Managing legal review of donor agreements, grant agreements and sub-grant agreements.
  • Managing all corporate legal needs, including drafting contract templates and drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts, insurance coverage, intellectual property, handling legal questions as they arise around the world and engaging and managing outside counsel.
  • Leading privacy and intellectual policy work for the organization, including updates to privacy policies, advising on GDPR and other privacy regulations, trademark registration and copyright questions.
  • Providing legal support to the Board and its committees, including on Board and corporate governance matters.
  • Managing crisis response preparedness, including maintain and training for a Crisis Response Plan.
  • Providing legal support to the management and Board of the Center's non-U.S. subsidiaries.
  • Supervising other Office of General Counsel staff, including Assistant General Counsel and legal support staff.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate will have a JD from an ABA-accredited law school (or be a foreign-trained lawyer with an LLM from an ABA-accredited law school) and have a license to practice in NY and be in good standing.

This individual will have:

• Legal Experience: 15+ years of legal practice, including time spent in law firm or in-house legal roles. Preference for cross-border corporate/transactional experience and/or some experience in the general counsel function.
• Not-For-Profit Understanding: Strong preference for experience with not-for-profit organizations, particularly INGOs, either in full-time legal role, as outside counsel, or in a board capacity, and familiarity with the various legal requirements facing not-for-profit organizations.
• Global Background: Preference for experience working at a global organization and/or on a global basis; facility with the legal and compliance issues that are inherent in operating in both developed and emerging markets around the world.
• Grants compliance:  Preference for experience with restricted grants and compliance with complex donor requirements,  including grants from government agencies, UN agencies and private foundations.
• Management Skills: Strong preference for experience leading and mentoring direct reports to maximize performance and team cohesion.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At the Center, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about this role but your past experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.  You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Critical Competencies:

• Strategic Thinking: Applies big-picture thinking while also focusing on the details of implementation.
• Decisiveness: Consistently makes sound decisions in a timely manner supportive of the Center's mission, core values, and strategic objectives. Blends vision and judgment.
• Collaboration: Brings a track record of working effectively with various and diverse individuals and groups, and a willingness to actively listen and invite different views and opinions across all levels of the institution to build alignment in support of a common goal.
• Provides and Recieves Direct Feedback: Actively gives and requests feedback to and from peers, supervisors and direct reports about work products, behaviors, values, style and approaches with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals and teams.
• Transparency: Consistently applies openness and honesty in communicating decisions and plans to team members.
• Commitment to Learn: Applies a growth mentality to their own and their team's (if applicable) development. Promotes a culture of learning by modeling inquisitiveness and an openness to viewing mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve.
• Passion for Coaching, and Mentoring Staff: Empowers and motivates employees and creates opportunities for learning, development, and leadership, with a focus on harnessing skills for the future development of team members.
• Accountability: Follows through on each commitment made to individual contributors, teams and partners and proactively informs others of any delays that occur along the way. Holds team members accountable.
• Integrity: Possesses impeccable integrity and personal and professional values that are consistent with the Center's high standards and mission.
• Empathy: Serves as an empathetic, approachable leader who engenders trust and confidence.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Demonstrates comfort with ambiguity and calculated risk.

Compensation: The annual salary for this position is $200,000. This salary is reflective of a position based in New York City, New York. This salary will be subject to a locality adjustment, if an authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting. Note that most of the salaries listed on our job postings reflect New York, NY salaries, where our National offices are headquartered.

Benefits:

• Health: The Center pays up to 95%* of the premium for a comprehensive health insurance plan with no in-network deductible and best-in-class reproductive healthcare coverage, including infertility. The Center also offers Dental and Vision coverage. (* % may differ in various countries)
• Flexibility: The Center currently operates in a hybrid model, allowing staff to work 3 days in the office and work 2 days from home
• Well-being: The Center offers resources to help prevent and recover from burnout through different programs that enable mental, physical and community well-being.  The Center offers generous leave including paid parental leave, personal days, vacation, and sick leave. We are also closed the last week of December to allow staff to spend time with their loved ones.
• Growth: You will be working with and learning from some of the top legal and operational minds, all passionate about the mission of advancing reproductive rights around the world. You will also be eligible for a stipend to use towards professional growth.
• Global: You will get a front-row seat to update on the fight for reproductive rights in the global space. You will also have access to Employee Resource Groups to connect to colleagues that share similar interests/backgrounds/views.
• Investment: After the first year of employment, the Center will contribute 7.5%* of your annual salary to a 401(k) (* only applicable in US and Kenya) 

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Center is committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage people from all communities to apply. If you are excited about this role and unsure about whether your past experience aligns with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Our hiring processes and our work culture offer support and flexibility for staff with a variety of needs. Should you face an accessibility barrier in the application and interview process please let us know by contacting [email protected]. We will work with you to provide the accommodation that works best for you. 

To learn more about the Center’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), please visit Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Center for Reproductive Rights

Learn more about the Center for Reproductive Rights, go to  www.reproductiverights.org

FLSA Exempt Status: This is an exempt position.

Union Status: This position is not part of the Center's Union.

How to Apply: Please complete the application below to apply. A cover letter and resume must be included in your application. Please include these application materials as attachments.

Please note that all genuine Center openings must be applied through the Center website. The Center does not charge a fee at any stage in the recruitment process (application, interviews, or selection). Nor does it request any medical examinations or bank account information as part of this process. If someone contacts, you on behalf of the Center requesting payment for your application please notify [email protected] before taking any further action.

Our hiring processes and our work culture offer support and flexibility for staff with a variety of needs. Should you face an accessibility barrier in the application and interview process please let us know by contacting [email protected]. We will work with you to provide the accommodation that works best for you. 

Deadline for applications: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. 

Center policy on visa sponsorship for US-based positions: Applicants for employment in the US must have valid work authorization that does not now and/or will not in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the US by The Center for Reproductive Rights.

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