General Counsel – Sr Associate General Counsel – Federal Grants & Contracts

Advise, and counsel the Association on legal issues to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local law and Association policy, procedure, and past practice in order to mitigate or prevent legal exposure and enhance the Association’s reputation and good standing.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice and representation to Association relating to federal grants and federal regulations. Advise management and staff on compliance with all aspects of non-profit corporate law, compliance, and legal requirements related to federal funds’ management, federal grants and cooperative agreements, charitable trust law, and tax-exempt law.
• Draft, review and edit grant agreements, subgrants, and contracts for goods and services, memoranda of agreement/understanding, and other agreements to ensure that providers the agreements comply with the law, including the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Association policies and procedures. May negotiate with suppliers regarding terms and conditions.
• Provide legal advice on compliance for grant agreements with numerous funding and partner agencies, including federal government entities, state government entities, non-profits, and private foundations. Provide legal advice on overseas and domestic grant-funded operations.
• Train staff on all aspects of contracting process and advise program and operations staff.
• Develop policies, procedures, best practices, and recommendations for improvements pertaining to procurement, contractual matters, purchasing, and other practices supported by federal, state, and private funds.
• Provide legal advice and counsel to Association staff. Conduct legal research, provide legal analysis, and prepare written opinions and other documents as required in a broad range of legal practice areas.
• Support assigned business units within the Association for all legal advice and counsel needs. Support may be aligned with a specialized practice of law, contract law, and/or general practice.
• Provide legal support to other areas of practice within the General Counsel’s Office on major cases and/or initiatives.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Required Education, Qualifications, Experience

• Possession of a Juris Doctorate degree from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Member in good standing in possession of an active license to practice law in the State of Illinois or District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia.
• A minimum of 8 years’ experience as a practicing attorney with progressive responsibilities (in law firm, government or inhouse setting), including experience with federal grants, state grants, foundation grants, subgrants, federal contracts, compliance with federal and state regulations, and general contracting.
• Hybrid position – some in office work is required, in Washington, DC or Chicago, IL.

Preferred Education, Qualifications, Experience

• Experience with non-profit law, charitable trust law, labor law, tax law, and tax-exempt law.