Your RoleThis role is responsible for providing legal advice and legal risk management strategies to the foundation and its affiliated entities (Gates Agricultural Innovations, Gates Medical Research Institute, Gates Philanthropy Partners, and Gates Policy Initiative) with a focus on assessing and triaging allegations of misconduct (including by grantees, partners, vendors or staff), managing work related to foundation disputes, contributing to litigation strategy in partnership with legal leadership and external counsel, and supporting operational risk management.
What You'll Do Work cross-functionally and collaboratively with Legal team members and across the foundation, ensuring appropriate sharing of information and stakeholder engagement, and contributing to team goals. In addition to any other assigned matters and projects, you will manage and continually improve the following focus areas on the Legal team:
Misconduct Assessments: - Following a risk-based and mission-driven approach, serve as the legal advisor on a range of incoming allegations of misconduct-including anonymous and informally sourced reports-to determine credibility, materiality, and whether to escalate for further inquiry.
- Where inquiry into allegations is warranted, support and coordinate with legal colleagues and other stakeholders, including in assessing, routing and potentially managing matters through resolution.
- Where appropriate, communicate and coordinate with outside counsel and/or outside consultants across jurisdictions, cultures and time zones.
- Advise on and manage the foundation's record-keeping and tracking related to these matters, including for purposes of reporting to various foundation stakeholders and leadership, with integration of AI/ML tools as appropriate.
- Provide advice, support, and coverage in other aspects of misconduct inquiries, as requested.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution: - Manage part of a portfolio of litigation, dispute resolution, and agency inquiries, in collaboration with legal colleagues and in consultation with legal leadership.
- Own or support legal projects, such as maintaining an evolving litigation strategy plan, assessing litigation risk and opportunities in grantmaking and contracting, and proposing integrations of AI/ML tools into litigation management.
- Develop and provide training as needed on relevant topics, including, for example attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product protection in U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions.
- Advise on contract clauses related to litigation, alternative dispute resolution, potential liability and protection of affirmative claims.
Business Operations Client Advice: - As needed, serve as point of contact and provide legal advice for members of business operations teams, including related to duty of care.
- Conduct legal research, risk assessments and other projects to support business operations teams.
Your Experience - JD and U.S. bar membership in good standing.
- 7-10 years of legal practice, including law firm experience and at least 2 years serving as in-house counsel, agency counsel, or in an equivalent legal advisory capacity within a government agency, multilateral institution, or international organization.
- Demonstrated experience evaluating, auditing, or overseeing investigations conducted by third parties (rather than exclusively hands-on investigative experience).
- Litigation experience with proven capability to manage disputes at all stages, from pre-dispute counseling and negotiation through management of active litigation, arbitration, or government investigation/regulatory matters.
- Proven ability to independently plan and execute assigned projects.
- Demonstrated experience providing pragmatic, risk-based and business-informed legal advice.
- Experience working with and managing outside counsel and/or other consultants across jurisdictions.
- Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills required to navigate a complex and constantly evolving environment, including diplomacy, maturity, and sound judgment.
- Excellent writing and editing skills, including the ability to clearly communicate difficult legal concepts for a variety of audiences and distill essential information for leadership decisions.
- Self-motivated and detail-oriented, with the confidence to plan, execute, and advise on assigned matters and projects independently; balanced with the ability to manage engagement of multiple stakeholders on complex issues.
- Flexibility to multi-task, pivot, and manage deadlines, and the judgment to prioritize work based on risk-assessment and understanding of foundation context.
- Approach problems with curiosity; show humility and ownership when mistaken; and demonstrate perseverance when facing persistent challenges.
- Highest standards of ethics and integrity.
- Eagerness to leverage emerging technology, including AI and ML tools, to enhance legal work.
*Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located. The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. This includes direct company sponsorship and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1, E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).
The salary range for this role is $238,400 to $369,400 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $262,200 to $406,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate's job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.
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