LEGAL OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

JOB SUMMARY:

This position serves in the Legal Department of one of the largest international mission-driven charitable organizations. The position provides leadership and independent management and advice to relevant CARE business units in various legal and compliance tasks including compliance and ethics management, global systems administration, and other areas described below. Working through other members of the Legal Department, the position requires engagement of external legal counsel and subject matter experts, as necessary. Independent judgment, prior expertise in the topical areas of coverage, excellent oral and written communication skills, database and system administration experience, attention to confidentiality, and superb organizational skills are required.

The Legal Operations Specialist will work closely with members of the Legal Department and business stakeholders at all levels of the organization, both domestic and international. As our Legal Operations Specialist, you will be key in creating processes and practices to improve the day-to-day efficiency and effectiveness of the legal team, facilitate change, and control costs.

This is a generalist role that involves managing and supporting projects across a range of subject matters led or supported by the legal team. You must be able to adapt to changing priorities and organizational needs and must be proactive in identifying areas of need and taking action.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Legal Department Processes and Projects

• Lead project management of Legal Department initiatives, including develop project plans; balance overall stakeholder requirements; develop relationships; and review and report financial information in a timely manner to ensure deadlines are consistently met
• Prepare, review and/or revise scope, resourcing, and budget proposals and statements of work for relevant legal matters, workstreams and vendors (outside counsel and legal, compliance and risk vendors) and track performance
• Develop and own a legal technology roadmap for project management, contracts management, e-signature, compliance management and other digital tools. Identify, test and implement tools to streamline new or existing practices, as well as managing design, rollout, and training for new systems
• Prepare and generate initial drafts of routine contracts, Secretary’s certificates, and other documents
• Implement and manage key Legal department processes, including outside counsel invoice processing, pro bono counsel contribution tracking, and various surveys, including board conflict of interest and contingent liability surveys. Facilitate a culture of continuous improvement to provide scalable legal services and enhance efficiencies.

Registrations and Governance Support

• Advise and assist country offices in various registration and legal authorization requirements, including processing and maintaining Powers of Attorney and providing necessary corporate documentation
• Maintain a database containing country office registration details and other legal information, including leading outreach to regional and country teams on a biannual basis to gather information and preparing reports for senior management
• Assisting regional and country teams in drafting board resolutions, secretary’s certificates, powers of attorney, and other documents related to registering CARE offices around the world, including facilitating any required notarization, certification, or apostilles for the documents
• Track progress and project manage registration and deregistration efforts and assist with subsidiary governance and corporate secretarial functions
• Conducting research and analysis on legal requirements in countries of CARE operations, generally related to employment law, registration of nonprofit organizations and ongoing corporate governance obligations

Contracts Management

• Develop and monitor the Legal team’s contract lifecycle management process
• Manage the contract review intake process for the Legal Department, ensuring that contracts are properly routed and essential background information is provided and understood at outset of legal review.

Litigation / Dispute Resolution

• Manage subpoenas and other similar third-party legal notices served on CARE, and coordinate responses to requests for information received in relation to contested matters.
• Review and monitor reports from country offices regarding legal disputes and litigation. Work with country offices to ensure that reports are complete and up-to-date. Escalate material issues to attorneys for further review.
• Maintain a litigation database for the Legal Department, run periodic reports, maintain reminder systems, and be the point of contact for HQ Legal and Finance staff with litigation related questions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Undergraduate degree
• At least 5 – 8 years prior experience working in a legal operations role or as a paralegal in a relevant field or as a project manager in a legal department or law firm
• Established skills in facilitating training programs
• Advanced word processing and database maintenance skills
• Technology savviness, including experience and comfort working in new and innovative software and database applications