Deputy Chief Legal Counsel

Choice Bank•Fargo, ND

3h•$110,170 - $194,423

About The Position

The Legal Counsel job family provides enterprise legal guidance to support business strategy while managing regulatory, contractual, and reputational risk within a highly regulated financial services environment. Roles within this family advise leadership on complex legal matters, ensure compliance with applicable laws and supervisory expectations, and help the organization navigate risk-informed decision-making. As career levels progress, responsibilities expand from execution and subject-matter expertise to practice leadership, enterprise risk ownership, and board-level advisement. Collectively, this job family serves as a strategic partner to the business while safeguarding the institution’s legal integrity and governance obligations.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school
Active license to practice law in MN or ND; broad licensure or national practice experience preferred
10+ years of legal experience, including senior leadership roles, including both law firm and in-house roles
Extensive experience in financial services, regulatory matters, governance, or enterprise risk
Enterprise-wide legal and regulatory expertise with strong business acumen
Ability to oversee multiple legal practice areas and resolve complex, high-impact issues
Strategic decision-making skills with sound, defensible risk judgment
Experience advising executive leadership and supporting board-level matters
Proven ability to lead large initiatives, crisis response, and regulatory engagements

Nice To Haves

broad licensure or national practice experience preferred

Responsibilities

Translate the GC/CLC’s legal strategy into execution across the department (priorities, operating rhythms, metrics, capacity planning).
Lead enterprise-wide legal initiatives impacting governance, risk, and regulatory posture.
Ensure consistent risk philosophy and decision-making across practice areas.
Prepare or review board/committee materials related to legal, governance, litigation, enforcement matters, and significant risk topics.
Serve as primary legal advisor for designated business areas and strategic advisor to executive leadership.
Present updates to committees as delegated by GC/CLC.
Lead legal strategy for significant regulatory matters (MRAs/MRBAs, consent orders, enforcement actions) in partnership with compliance/risk.
Oversee privileged assessments and remediation governance.
Lead legal response to critical incidents: material complaints, data breaches, investigations, reputational events, enterprise disputes.
Coordinate with Communications, Risk, Compliance, and executive leadership to manage legal exposure and messaging.
Improve legal operations: matter management, outside counsel spend, playbooks, template standardization, contracting SLAs.
Oversee litigation management with outside counsel, including legal process workflows (subpoenas, garnishments) and cost-effective strategy for staffing and spend.
Partner with Risk and Compliance to align legal advice to enterprise risk frameworks and ensure execution of agreed risk mitigations.
Provide continuity and succession support for the Chief Legal Counsel role; serve as acting delegate as assigned.
Support legal review of deposit, payment, and BaaS products.
Establish quality controls (review protocols, training plans, knowledge management).