Assistant General Counsel, ERISA and Employee Benefits

Vanguard • Malvern, PA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

Vanguard seeks an employee benefits attorney for its HR Legal Services group that advises Vanguard’s human resources function on U.S. and global employment and immigration issues. This attorney will support and partner with Vanguard’s HR Global Total Rewards and Benefits leaders, as well as senior business leaders, to provide proactive and strategic legal advice regarding a wide range of U.S. and global employee benefits programs, including executive compensation and benefits. The attorney will work closely with Vanguard’s tax and procurement law groups, as well as Vanguard’s finance and treasury functions.

Requirements

• Law degree (JD) and active bar membership required
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant law firm, industry or government agency experience; in-house experience desirable
• Deep expertise and experience with ERISA, U.S. tax and employee benefits law advice, including ERISA fiduciary issues, and executive non-qualified deferred compensation is required
• Demonstrated ability to thrive and work independently when dealing with ambiguity.
• Track record of significant accomplishments.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Strong leadership skills, exceptional judgment and relationship management skills
• Candidates must share Vanguard’s core values, including unmatched ethical standards and client service, strong work ethic, and ‘can-do’ attitude.
• Candidates must foster a team environment by building collaborative, trusting relationships and advancing the development and success of others.
• Candidates must be skilled at successfully collaborating with, enabling, working through, and influencing legal colleagues, in-house corporate partners, and business clients at all levels, including senior management.

Nice To Haves

• experience with non-U.S. benefit plans and supporting public policy | government affairs highly desirable

Responsibilities

• Primary attorney providing employee benefits, tax and ERISA fiduciary law counseling on U.S. health and welfare, defined contribution retirement savings and executive compensation programs, as well as global remuneration and bonus programs.
• As needed, coordinate non-US employee benefits law advice for non-US benefits programs.
• Provide counseling and education to internal HR clients, regarding applicable legal, tax, and regulatory considerations, as well as litigation risks, when designing, administering and changing employee benefits programs.
• Maintain an extremely high level of expertise regarding laws, regulatory developments, litigation, industry trends, and practices that may affect Vanguard’s business and benefit programs. Participate in select conferences and industry forums.
• Conduct legal and/or factual research as necessary to support legal advice, and prepare related summaries, presentations, and other advisory materials.
• Lead, assist and/or provide support for legal and other corporate initiatives.
• Actively oversee and manage outside counsel work and billing.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed