Senior Attorney, General Administration

Sierra Club•Washington, DC

5d•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Attorney, General Administration assists the General Counsel in providing legal support across the Sierra Club, including advice to programs, teams, and campaigns; assessing legal and regulatory risks; advising on governance and policy questions; and reviewing, negotiating, and managing contracts. The attorney works closely with staff and volunteer leaders at the national and local levels and advises on corporate legal matters including intellectual property, business partnerships, real estate, and risk management. The role also supports the organization’s compliance program, contracting practices, records-retention policy, legal research, and response to legal claims and threats. It provides legal training and advice to staff across a large, complex tax-exempt organization and may take on special projects as assigned.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school.
Admission in good standing to a state bar within the United States.
At least 5 years of relevant legal experience, preferably as in-house counsel.
Familiarity with nonprofit organizations, including mission-driven organizations, grassroots infrastructures, and distributed workforces.
Strong legal drafting skills and substantial contract review and negotiation experience, preferably across a broad range of clients and agreement types.
Excellent organizational skills and ability to track multiple priorities involving a wide variety of legal issues.
Ability to communicate and work effectively with volunteers, staff, and outside counsel.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Excellent legal research skills.
Ability to work independently and as a constructive team member, exercise initiative, set work priorities, and use independent judgment and decision-making.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with or interest in environmental issues and conservation.
Experience managing challenging group dynamics in ways that build credibility, trust, collaboration, respect for individual differences, and fair outcomes across all organizational levels.
Understanding of and commitment to Sierra Club’s core values of Anti-racism, Balance, Collaboration, Justice, and Transformation.

Responsibilities

Negotiate, draft, and review commercial contracts and other agreements, including real estate and business partnership agreements, in coordination with internal staff and as assigned by the General Counsel or Chief Financial Executive.
Manage implementation and rollout of the compliance program among various constituencies.
Review and improve standard contracting procedures and terms, maintain the contract database, develop and update contract templates and guidelines, and train staff.
Evaluate business practices, decisions, and actions for legal risk in consultation with the General Counsel, including publication-risk review for Club communications.
Assist with administration and periodic updating of the records-retention policy, coordinate staff records reviews, and assist with document-retention notices.
Advise and train staff on legal issues and risks, troubleshoot problems, address litigation and legal threats, and respond to matters across a variety of legal practice areas.
Conduct legal research supporting advice on organizational policies, governance, and legal and business issues.
Assist the General Counsel in responding to and managing legal claims against Sierra Club and managing outside counsel on litigation and legal threats.
Advise on other business and operational issues relevant to a large, complex tax-exempt organization.
Perform miscellaneous duties, special projects, and reports as assigned.