Assistant General Counsel

The Assistant General Counsel is a full-time attorney position that reports directly to the Vice President and General Counsel who supervises Moody’s Legal Department (OGC). The OGC manages all of Moody’s legal affairs, including provision of legal advice and assistance to Moody’s Board of Trustees, President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Deans, and Faculty. The OGC is a fast-paced, high-volume workplace.

The duties and responsibilities of the Assistant General Counsel require the ability to provide advice on a wide range of legal issues, including business and policy matters, commercial agreements, risk management, administrative and regulatory compliance, development, planned and charitable gifts, conflicts of interest, higher education, intellectual property, data protection, privacy, and employment issues.

Essential Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

• Negotiate, draft, review, and revise a wide variety of commercial agreements, including but not limited to contracts related to technology and intellectual property.
• Work with various Moody constituencies in the development and enforcement of policies, procedures, and programs to ensure that Moody meets all applicable legal and regulatory requirements, including assistance with relevant compliance initiatives, investigations and programs associated with, Title IX, SaVE Act, ("Violence Against Women Act"- VAWA), Clery Act, FERPA, disabilities laws, ethics, and other applicable federal and state laws.
• Provide legal support to Moody’s Disability Coordinator, particularly in the areas of providing reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• Provide legal support to Moody’s Trusts and Investment Department, particularly in the areas of trust administration, IRAs, pooled income funds, and trust owned real estate.
• Provide legal support to Moody’s Stewardship Department, particularly in the areas of planned giving, bequest administration, charitable gift annuities, and charitable giving.
• Provide legal support to Moody’s Information Technology Services Department, particularly in the areas of privacy, data security, and cloud computing.
• Remain current on, formulate legal interpretations of, and provide legal advice, guidance and training to students, faculty and staff on relevant laws and regulations affecting Moody’s education, radio, and publishing ministries and operations.
• Assist General Counsel in managing litigation involving Moody.
• Assist Human Resources in assessing, addressing and resolving employment-related matters.
• Assist General Counsel in insurance related matters and developing and implementing risk management policies and procedures.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• A./B.S. plus an earned J.D. degree from an ABA accredited law school.
• A licensed member of the Illinois Bar in good standing
• A minimum of three (3) years of law firm or applicable in-house experience required preferably in the legal areas of contracts, employment, higher education, and/or intellectual property law with broad general knowledge and experience of civil and commercial litigation and non-profit organizations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills, including the ability to persuade and influence a broad spectrum of constituents at all levels.
• Ability to work on multiple projects independently and simultaneously.
• Ability to prioritize a heavy and varied workload, be responsive and timely, and effectively serve clients and work in a collaborative, teamwork oriented, fast-paced environment.
• Ability to respond to, prioritize, manage and complete by prescribed deadlines a large workload of multiple and diverse legal projects and intellectual topics with conflicting priorities, independently and simultaneously, by being proactive and strategic resulting in effective and timely outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal skills that reflect courtesy, diplomacy, and a collaborative approach to developing and maintaining effective work relationships with internal and external constituencies.
• Ability to think critically and make clear, well-reasoned and timely decisions.
• Strong, pragmatic business acumen with the ability to recognize the broader consequences of legal advice.
• Ability to interpret statutes, policies and other legal documents, and communicate the content of those documents to internal constituents.
• Work productively as an individual contributor and collaboratively as a team member in a confidential, time-sensitive, and responsive office.
• Strong organizational skills, detail oriented and accurate.
• Strategic and innovative thinker who can bring value to internal clients and find creative and practical solutions to complex problems.
• Ability to master new areas of legal subject matter.
• Ability to identify opportunities to create and improve systems without direction.
• High professional ethics standards and conduct.
• Capacity to work effectively under pressure and respond appropriately in time sensitive and stressful situations.
• Excellent professional judgment.
• Able to work in the US legally without sponsorship.

Preferred Requirements

• Computer proficiency using Microsoft Office and Adobe software programs, plus law/legal database applications and systems.
• Experience related to real property, employment law, media and publishing, higher education, trusts and estates, civil and commercial litigation and dispute resolution, charitable gifts, privacy and data security, and non-profit organizations.
• Knowledge of applicable federal, state, and city laws, including higher education laws and regulations (including but not limited to HEA, Title IX, FERPA, ADA).

Work Environment/Conditions

Moody Bible Institute is a Christian-based Higher Education and Media Ministry. We exist to equip people with the Truth of God’s Word. If you are mission-minded, and have a servant’s heart, join us as we look to further impact the Kingdom of God.

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to: sit; stand; walk; climb; balance; stoop; kneel; crouch; read; talk; hear; type; sort and file paper documents; use hands to grasp, finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.  The employee is occasionally required to crawl.

This is a regular full-time position: Monday through Friday, typically 8:00am-4:30pm CST.

Additional Information

Moody Bible Institute is a Christ-centered, multicultural community that values and seeks faculty and staff who are committed to diversity, work effectively with diverse populations, and engage others in ways that honor our rich cultural mosaic and biblical foundation. Candidates must align with MBI’s Christian identity.  Employees are expected to sign a Statement of Faith and adhere to the Community Standards.

We comply with all applicable laws pertaining to nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and any other applicable legally protected category.  As a religious institution, we have the right to, and do, require that employees hold beliefs consistent with our Doctrinal Statement and conduct themselves in a manner consistent with our religious beliefs, as explained in our Community Standards.