Lead Paralegal, Corporate Governance & Securities

Heidrick & Struggles•Chicago, IL

1d•$100,000 - $115,000

About The Position

Heidrick & Struggles is a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, serving the senior-level talent and consulting needs of the world's top organizations. In our role as trusted leadership advisors, we partner with our clients to develop future-ready leaders and organizations, bringing together our services and offerings in executive search, diversity and inclusion, leadership assessment and development, organization and team acceleration, culture shaping and on-demand, independent talent solutions. Heidrick & Struggles pioneered the profession of executive search more than 70 years ago. Today, the firm provides integrated talent and human capital solutions to help our clients change the world, one leadership team at a time.® Additional information on the firm can be found at www.heidrick.com. The Senior Corporate Paralegal – Corporate Governance and Legal Operations will be responsible for comprehensive support of a broad range of maters, including international enterprise-wide corporate governance support, all matters relating to board of directors and committee meetings, corporate transactions, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), entity management, and other Legal Department support across Heidrick’s business. This position will collaborate with executive management, board members, external advisors and cross-functional teams spanning internal organizations such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Investor Relations, Communications, Operations, and other key stakeholder groups.

Requirements

A minimum of ten years of hands-on experience working in a corporate legal function.
Demonstrated substantive knowledge of relevant securities and corporate laws and regulations, and legal research skills to effectively resolve problems and conflicts.
Proven substantive knowledge of corporate secretary department practices; with a demonstrated ability to resolve issues and make recommendations as they arise.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a proven ability to deliver information in a clear, concise, and solution-oriented manner.
Significant prior experience managing highly confidential information with absolute discretion; and experience engaging with the Board of Directors with professionalism and diplomacy.
Advanced experience with electronic board portals and financial printers.
A history of success leveraging flexible and proactive approaches to solving complex problems.
Strong interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to collaborate constructively across the company and with external stakeholders to produce tangible results.
Excellent planning and organizational skills with a proven ability to manage and drive projects and tasks with a high attention to detail.
A demonstrated ability to learn and apply general corporate and securities laws applicable to the company.
Ability to independently organize and handle projects requiring a high degree of confidentiality.
Flexible to shifting priorities and ability to perform some work during evenings and weekends as needed to meet filing deadlines.
Ability to travel quarterly for various Board and senior management meetings. Additional travel may be necessary.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree
Supervisory skills with a track record of coaching and mentoring others successfully.
Proficient in PowerPoint.
Experience with Diligent Board Platform.

Responsibilities

Corporate Governance Board of Directors and committee meetings administration – drafting agendas, resolutions, certain presentation materials, and associated recordkeeping, maintaining Board and committee rolling calendars.
Primary responsibility for coordinating collection and distribution of materials for board and committee review via Diligent Board portal for all Board and committee meetings and actions.
Drafting of board and committee meeting minutes and associated recordkeeping
Liaise with Directors and Senior Management on Board meeting logistics, materials, and support Office of CEO on event planning for Board meetings.
Manage deadlines, calendaring/scheduling, etc.
Support D&O questionnaire and board/committee self-evaluation processes and analysis.
Gather materials for recordkeeping diligence involving board minutes/materials.
Legal Operations Coordinate with Legal Department support staff to keep internal website up to date with Legal policies, processes, forms, etc.
Assist Chief Legal Officer and Assistant Corporate Secretary in coordinating the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management program and reporting to the Board governance, Sustainability and ERM matters.
Assist Chief Legal Officer and manager with annual Legal Department budgeting process.
Coordinate with outside law firms and vendors for the Legal Department on engagement, onboarding including utilization of vendor portal, invoicing and spend vs budget tracking and analysis; coordinate with Finance for accruals and forecasting of Legal Department spend.
Assist with special projects as needed; perform other related duties as assigned by management.
Transactional Support Support attorneys with transactional work, including corporate and M&A transactions.
Manage diligence workflows, maintain transaction trackers and closing checklists, and handle post-closing filings and organization.
Assist with drafting and coordinating closing deliverables (e.g., offering documents, resolutions, officer certificates, governance documents) and support workflows throughout deal lifecycles.
Coordinate with third parties for filings and ensure compliance with reporting deadlines.
Prepare closing certificates, board and stockholder resolutions, and other transactional documents, including those related to M&A Entity Maintenance Assist with the formation and dissolution of foreign & domestic legal entities (formation of corporations, LLCs and partnerships) and filing of documents with the relevant government agencies.
Assist with apostille process.
Manage and coordinate execution of legal agreements.
Assist with KYC/Anti-Money- Laundering (AML) requests.
Perform other related tasks and support ad hoc projects as necessary.
Occasional back up coverage to provide support on managing global subsidiaries.