General Counsel

The Role

Location:
Hybrid – New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Monica

NRDC operates under a hybrid work model. Employees are required to come to the office 8 days per month.

Reports to:
President & CEO

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, provides advice and counsel to both senior staff leadership and the Board of Trustees of NRDC/the Board of Directors of the NRDC Action Fund.

Team:
Oversees US-based team of 12-15, organized in six areas: institutional support; international operations; political law, lobbying and ethics; legal operations and ethics; contracts; and employment, labor and benefits.

Overview:
The General Counsel serves as the chief legal advisor to NRDC and NRDC Action Fund, providing strategic guidance, legal expertise and risk management support in order to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, align legal strategies with broader institutional goals, and foster effective governance, operational excellence and ethical and transparent practices throughout. A critical additional aspect of this role will be overseeing the implementation of NRDC's first Collective Bargaining Agreement, as well as serving on the Management Bargaining Team.

Key Responsibilities:

Risk Management & Legal Strategy

• Provide strategic legal counsel to the President & CEO, the Executive Director and other members of the Executive Leadership Team, as well as to the boards of NRDC and NRDC Action Fund, ensuring alignment of legal strategies with the organization's mission and strategic goals and objectives.
• Oversee the development and implementation of an institutional risk management process, including the identification of key risks, the implementation of risk management strategies and projects, the reporting to stakeholders, and the development of learning and feedback systems.
• Develop legal strategies for crisis management and serve as the key advisor for navigating legal challenges during crises.
• Strengthen internal compliance policies, processes and practices to ensure adherence to applicable laws and best practices.
• Manage institutional (non-advocacy) litigation, investigations, and similar processes.

International

• Oversee legal support and compliance for international operations and advocacy, including in China, India and Africa.
• Oversee support for advocacy and fundraising teams with strategic and tactical legal advice on international projects.
• Develop and maintain relationships with funders and partners in order to ensure compliance with applicable laws and funding documents.

General Compliance

• Oversee organizational compliance with federal, state and local laws governing exempt organizations, including those relating to tax, lobbying, political law, FARA and charitable solicitation
• Oversee the provision of legal support to all NRDC programs/departments, including advocacy,accounting and finance, facilities, IT, communications and development, to support operational excellence.

Employment, Labor & Benefits

• Oversee the provision of support to the People and DEI team on all compliance matters relating to employment, labor and benefits matters.
• Oversee the legal support for employee relations matters, and oversee and manage any litigation, investigations, disputes, or claims.
• Together with the Chief People and DEI Officer, oversee the implementation of NRDC's first collective bargaining agreement with the NRDC Union and serve on the Management Bargaining Team.

Governance

• Support the Executive Office on corporate and board governance matters in compliance with New York State not-for-profit corporation law and best practices.
• Serve as staff liaison to various board committees.

Team Management

• Manage the Office of General Counsel, ensuring appropriate staffing, supporting team members' professional development and ensuring overall team cohesion.
• Implement and manage systems that support legal operations, document management, and legal analytics to improve departmental efficiency.
• Serve as the liaison with carefully selected US and international outside legal firms, and monitor and evaluate their activities.

Legal Operations

• Oversee the development and implementation of organization-wide legal operations policies, processes and practices, including (without limitation) those relating to conflicts, ethics, and matter management.

Contracts

• Oversee the process for drafting, review, negotiation, approval, tracking, and issue resolution regarding all institutional contracts.

Engagement with Stakeholders

• Develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders across the organization, building trust in and positioning the Office of General Counsel as a key support for decision-makers.
• Develop and maintain relationships with partner groups and other stakeholders in the environmental and broader not-for-profit sector.

Other

• Oversee the development and provision of training to staff on a variety of legal issues.
• Engage with professional networks and legal industry groups to stay current on legal developments and emerging regulatory issues.

The above list of duties is not comprehensive but generally demonstrates the types of matters under this position's responsibility. Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications & Skills:

NRDC seeks a seasoned legal executive who brings a breadth of experience and understands the critical role of in-house counsel within a leading global enterprise.

Strong candidates for this role will have a deep appreciation for, and commitment to, NRDC's mission, values and DEI principles and will possess a majority of the following qualifications and attributes:

Education & Experience:

• Law degree from an accredited law school
• Minimum 15 years of related experience, including at least 10 years successfully managing a team
• Non-profit legal management and in-house legal institutional risk management is beneficial, but global private sector/law firm experience is welcomed, if combined with other relevant legal experience
• Experience with at least some of the broad range of federal and state legal issues in the exempt organization field, including tax, political law and lobbying, contracts, international operations, employment, labor and benefits matters, governance, charitable contributions and fundraising, oversight of litigation, libel and defamation, and legal operations
• Proven ability to effectively design and implement legal compliance strategies and processes

Skills, Abilities, Competencies:

• Proven ability to lead and manage large teams of people, large-scale projects, and relationships in a complex and matrixed organizational structure.
• Strong aptitude for innovative thinking, problem solving and executing results, even in the face of complexity and ambiguity.
• High-level of emotional intelligence and ability to collaborate across diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated achievement in complex, transformative environments.
• Proven success in change and transformation management, strategic mindset balanced by an action-oriented and reasoned approach to problem-solving.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including effective engagement with senior management and the Board.
• Ability to communicate complex legal concepts clearly and succinctly, including to lay audiences, in both formal training and informal advising.
• Excellent drafting, research, and written and oral communication skills.
• Competence with and commitment to diversity and inclusion; ability to be an effective partner with diverse colleagues, leaders and partners.
• Strong negotiation, diplomacy and influencing skills.
• Ability to travel to NRDC U.S. based offices as needed, approximately 15-20%

Compensation:

• NRDC offers competitive salaries,
  excellent benefits
  , and a supportive working environment.
• Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. Internal equity will be reviewed and considered to determine a final offer.
• For this position, the salary range is $375,000 to $425,000.