Associate General Counsel

The Associate General Counsel, serving as in-house counsel for the Credit Union and each of its subsidiaries, is responsible for analyzing, researching, and preparing legal documents to provide accurate and effective legal advice to the business. The Associate General Counsel works closely with the General Counsel and Senior Leadership to provide enterprise legal support in areas including, but not limited to: credit union operations, banking, payments, and consumer protection regulation; complex commercial agreements and transactions; commercial real estate leases, sales and acquisitions; investment and partnership agreements; litigation; and employment issues. The Associate General Counsel assists in implementing best practices to identify and minimize legal risks and to ensure regulatory compliance with new and existing product offerings. The Associate General Counsel also oversees outside counsel on the management of certain matters and may oversee the work of junior attorneys and paraprofessional staff.

What you will do here:

• Provide legal, compliance, regulatory, and risk management advice and recommendations to the Credit Union and its subsidiaries on all areas of operations, including (a) reviewing, negotiating, and advising on complex commercial contracts, software and licensing agreements, and other transactions; (b) advising on regulatory compliance issues related to credit union and subsidiary operations; (c) drafting or reviewing board resolutions, corporate formation documents, and advising on board governance; (d) establishing best practices and strategic recommendations related to regulatory compliance, operational and risk management; (e) researching, developing, and periodically reviewing applicable policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance and best practices; (f) working closely with each line of business on the development and implementation of new product offerings to ensure compliance; (g) identifying strategic efficiencies in legal services or other applicable lines of business.
• Lead a cross-functional analysis of the legal, regulatory, compliance, and financial risks associated with complex commercial agreements; advise the credit union and its subsidiaries on the risks associated with high risk or critical vendors; provide recommendations on proceeding with high risk or critical vendor relationships and how to minimize risks associated with those relationships.
• Occasionally supervise the work of less-tenured legal staff to ensure appropriate and satisfactory work and to train in legal skills as directed.
• Serve as counsel for the credit union and its subsidiaries in court, administrative, bankruptcy and other proceedings, and oversee outside counsel in the drafting of pleadings and briefs, and representing the credit union and its subsidiaries in litigation, or other alternative dispute forums.
• Develop strategy around internal employment, ethics, and compliance investigations, including anonymous employee complaint reporting; interview witnesses; final review and revision of memoranda and provide recommendations related to legal and strategic risk.
• Work with the line of business leaders in responding to and resolving member complaints, and review and/or draft responses to regulatory agencies in response to such complaints.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What you will need:

• Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from an ABA accredited law school required.
• 7 years of experience as a practicing attorney with a focus in commercial transactions, financial institution, banking, or consumer protection law required.
• 4 years of Banking, fintech, and financial institution experience required.
• 4 years of Payments, lending, money movement experience preferred.
• Law firm experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of regulatory requirements of credit unions, retail banking, or other financial institutions or fin-tech companies required.
• Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills required.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and adapt to changing demands with professionalism required.
• Strong research, writing, and negotiation skills required.
• Seasoned business acumen with the ability to distill complex legal requirements into actionable advice to further business objectives required.
• Ability to identify, advise on, and mitigate legal and operational risk required.
• Working knowledge of the business requirements and risks associated with marketing, lending, retail banking, commercial banking, consumer banking, information technology, information management, privacy, non-profit foundations, corporate formation, corporate acquisition, credit reporting, loss mitigation, facilities operations, finance, insurance, property ownership, real estate transactions, and vendor management required.
• Member of the Arizona Bar (in good standing) required.
• Admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State of Arizona, and all other Arizona State Courts required.
• Admitted to practice in the District of Arizona required.

Eligible to be admitted to practice pro hac vice in the federal and state courts of other jurisdictions required.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.

For additional information about our organization, careers, and benefits visit: http://www.desertfinancial.com/careers.