POSITION SUMMARY:

The Associate General Counsel provides expert legal support and strategic guidance to HIAS headquarters (HQ), country offices, and HIAS-affiliated entities across the globe. Reporting to the General Counsel, this role ensures that HIAS’s operations and initiatives comply with applicable international and domestic laws while supporting the organization’s mission and values.

The Associate General Counsel advises leadership and staff on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters, including corporate governance, compliance, ethics, employment, and contracts. This position manages relationships with outside counsel and leads the registration and governance of HIAS-branded entities and country offices worldwide.

A key member of the Office of the General Counsel team, the Associate General Counsel drafts, reviews, and negotiates legal agreements, including HIAS policies. The role also assists with ethics and misconduct investigations, supports strategic litigation efforts, and collaborates closely with departments such as People Operations, Programs, Safeguarding, Risk, and Information Security to strengthen internal controls and mitigate risk.

Note, this position is based at our headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland or our office in New York, New York. The salary range for this position is $140,000-160,000.00.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Provide Legal Support and Guidance to HQ, HIAS Country Offices, and Other HIAS-affiliated Entities

• Conduct legal research and provide legal guidance to HIAS leadership and staff on international and domestic legal issues
• Work with and manage local counsel when legal issues arise outside of the United States
• Assist in ensuring compliance with country office corporate governance, including proper constitution of Boards of Directors and General Assemblies, as well as ensuring compliance with local laws mandating legal representatives
• Oversee the recruitment, selection, and retention of outside counsel, including negotiation and management of rates/retainers
• Assist with conducting, and at times lead, ethics investigations, including investigations into fraud, corruption, and other violations of law, in country offices and in the United States
• Provide “corporate” and “business-law” legal guidance and assistance to HIAS-affiliated entities, such as the HIAS Foundation and the Economic Advancement Fund (microlending)
• Advise all HIAS-affiliated entities on new and existing laws and regulations that impact HIAS
• Interact with partners, donors, affiliates, and vendors, as necessary

Draft and/or Review Legal Documents

• Draft and review grants, sub-agreements, partnership agreements, conflict of interest waivers, memoranda of understanding, vendor agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, and other legal documents
• Draft HIAS-wide policies and SOPs
• Review policies and SOPs drafted by other departments

Other Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead and manage new HIAS-branded country office and/or other HIAS-affiliated entity registrations
• Review all litigation requests and settlement agreements
• Collaborate with other HQ departments, including People Operations, Data Security, and Risk to solidify internal controls, ensure compliance with laws, and minimize risk
• Advise and support People Operations regarding employment/labor legal issues
• Conduct staff training on OGC policies and SOPs
• Contribute to HIAS’ strategic litigation efforts by guiding outside counsel and drafting and reviewing court documents, as necessary
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS:

• JD from accredited law school
• Four to eight years of relevant legal experience
• Results-oriented and “get to yes” mentality
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-cultural, highly complex environment
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills, both oral and written
• Self-starter who is detail oriented
• Team player comfortable working in fast-paced environment
• Excellent analytical and oral advocacy skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Comfortable working in a high-performance, high-expectations work environment
• Strong commitment to HIAS’ mission
• Legal experience in Latin America, Europe or Africa preferred
• Experience working in a legal role with the U.S. government and/or with an NGO, humanitarian, or international organization strongly preferred
• Experience leading investigations preferred
• Familiarity or experience with non-profit law and governance preferred
• Fluency or high degree of proficiency in written and oral Spanish and/or French preferred
• Competence in Excel, Word, and other MS software.