Senior Assistant General Counsel, Impact Investments

Social Finance•Washington, DC

2h•$165,000 - $195,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Social Finance is seeking an experienced Senior Assistant General Counsel to join its five-person legal team, reporting to the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. This role involves highly innovative legal work that often lacks legal precedent, requiring creativity and collaboration. The legal team acts as strategic partners to the organization's various teams. Social Finance operates across diverse fund structures, regulatory frameworks, government partnerships, and transactional work simultaneously. This is a broad, hands-on role for a lawyer who thrives in a dynamic environment, manages complexity, and demonstrates initiative and independent judgment. The role encompasses both legal and compliance functions, with generalist components and a preference for candidates with a foundation in fund formation or management, transactional work, and financial regulation. The ideal candidate will possess rigor, attention to detail, creativity, and flexibility to navigate ambiguity and design practical solutions. Depending on experience, this role may oversee one or more attorneys and/or paralegals.

Requirements

J.D.; license to practice law in a U.S. jurisdiction
Minimum of 8 years relevant experience with more strongly preferred; title and salary will be commensurate with experience
Relevant experience working at a major law firm or equivalent in-house experience ideally with some mix of (i) meaningful exposure to fund structures and governance, (ii) corporate transactional work including capital markets, investment funds, project finance, securities, structured finance, private equity, or public finance law, or (iii) investment adviser or regulatory compliance
Comfort quickly getting up to speed in unfamiliar areas of law.
Excellent communication skills; ability to translate new, complex, or unclear concepts to unfamiliar and non-legal audiences.
Strong interpersonal skills; including an ability to identify, build and maintain relationships within the Legal team and across our organization more broadly.
Commitment to excellence and accuracy, with an ability to manage multiple competing priorities simultaneously, constructively express contrary points of view and seek consensus among strong, independent thinkers.
Comfort operating in gray areas and contributing creative, practical solutions in a fast-moving environment.
Capacity to work in an independent and solutions-oriented way while contributing to team projects, as appropriate.
Sense of humor, integrity and flexibility to regularly incorporate the feedback of others into work processes.
Commitment to enhancing a team culture of inclusion, belonging and equity.
Applicants must be permanently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Nice To Haves

No prior knowledge or experience with nonprofit law, nonprofit governance or managing regulatory compliance program is required (though we would consider this experience a strong plus).
Demonstrated interest and knowledge of key issues in effective nonprofit management, social interventions, and/or impact investing (e.g., academic coursework, consulting projects, volunteer work, etc.)

Responsibilities

Advise deal teams from initial structuring to drafting and negotiation of final financing and outcome-contingent agreements; oversee external counsel in discussion and negotiation with project stakeholders (within private, nonprofit and public sectors); contribute to deal document negotiations.
Serve as thought leader to deal teams throughout entire deal lifecycle, including on key contract terms and best practices for achieving impact via contracting.
Collaborate with internal and external counsel to develop credit facility agreements, asset purchase agreements, and ancillary financial agreements.
Draft and execute entity formation agreements for impact investment special purpose vehicles which may include trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies or other corporate forms.
Advise on investment fund development, structuring and legal implementation; oversee drafting and negotiation of fund documentation with key stakeholders.
Collaborate with internal and external counsel to develop private placement memoranda and support finance structuring.
Support capital raises; lead investor agreement drafting and negotiation.
Conduct legal due diligence on prospective investments, develop and draft investment agreements.
Advise, support or or oversee corporate governance and entity management for nonprofit parent and 20+ subsidiaries and affiliates, including board and committee support, preparation of board materials, maintenance of corporate records, data security and organizational policies, insurance coverage, annual reports, tax and regulatory filings, and preservation of tax-exempt status.
Support management of the organization’s RIA compliance program and build a culture of compliance across the organization, including policies and procedures, annual testing, Form ADV updates, marketing review, training, vendor oversight, and regulatory filings.
Contribute to a positive culture by maintaining relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, understanding stakeholder needs, and remaining accessible and responsive to those needs; maintain and improve compliance and governance processes, designing systems that are efficient, reliable, and audit-ready.
Collaborate with other members of the Legal team on fund and investment work, with opportunities for selective exposure and growth.
Oversee any other legal matters which may arise, with special emphasis on risk management and compliance more generally for governing Social Finance, its affiliates and subsidiaries.
Participate in and lead broad, non-legal organizational priorities and community activities.

Benefits

Comprehensive health care coverage: medical, dental and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; access to Blue Cross Blue Shield Wellness Program “AHealthyMe Rewards” and more
Retirement savings plan with employer contribution
Short-term, long-term and life insurance policies
Commuter benefits and cell phone reimbursements
Hybrid work model (in office a minimum of two days per week and on an ad-hoc basis as needed)
Dedicated budgets for team building and employee recognition
Annual budget for external professional development opportunities
Mentorship and onboarding programs
Collaborative and energizing workspaces in downtown Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Washington, D.C. and New York, NY
Paid vacation and paid holidays (with 12/24-1/1 off every year)
Paid parental leave