Title

Reports to

Associate General Counsel

Senior Vice President for Legal Services and General Counsel

The New York Botanical Garden is an advocate for the plant world.  The Garden pursues its mission through its role as a leading center for plant science and conservation, as a museum of living plant collections arranged in gardens and landscapes across its National Historic Landmark site, and through its comprehensive education programs in horticulture and plant science.

For more information on NYBG, including the most recently published strategic plans for the institution and science programs, please visit www.nybg.org 

Position Summary

The New York Botanical Garden is currently accepting applications for an Associate General Counsel who will report to the Senior Vice President for Legal Services and General Counsel.

This is a role best suited to an enthusiastic corporate generalist willing to learn all aspects of legal services at the organization and who already has a commanding foundation in at least one core substantive area, including corporate and commercial transactions, intellectual property transactions, exempt organizations, and/or labor and employment.

Candidates should have experience with in-house legal operations and using and evaluating advanced software tools, including large language models, for legal work.

This role will include ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures. This position will be located full-time in Bronx, NY.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

Reporting to the Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, the Associate General Counsel will have significant involvement in diverse matters pertaining to, but not limited to, the following:

• Advises on all aspects of day-to-day legal issues.
• Leads legal department technology vetting and adoption.
• Serves as legal advisor ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures.
• Drafts memoranda, correspondence, policies and procedures, reports for various board of trustees and staff committees, and other documents.
• Provides legal support to departments throughout the Garden, including assisting in structuring initiatives and projects, identifying, and mitigating legal risks. Drafts, reviews, and negotiates a wide variety of contracts, including exhibition, licensing, commercial transactions, design and construction, and sponsorship agreements.
• Acts as administrative lead for internal enterprise risk management group.
• Advises and participates in grievances, arbitrations, investigations, discovery, subpoenas, and other litigation-related issues.
• Monitors and provides continuous counsel on local, state, and federal laws.
• Performs legal research.
• Liaises with and supervises outside counsel.
• Performs any other duties reasonably related to the functions described above.

The Associate General Counsel must have the ability to work collaboratively with other department staff, work under pressure, prioritize and manage simultaneous tasks, meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment, and be open to and have facility with adjusting to new technology. This person will possess the initiative to work independently and the ability to handle sensitive and confidential matters.

Qualifications

Candidates should have at least five years of experience and a record of outstanding achievement as a corporate/non-profit or technology transaction attorney in an AmLaw 100 firm (or equivalent experience in-house).

Candidates experience should include demonstrated expertise in at least one of: (i) commercial or corporate transactions; (ii) employment and traditional labor law; (iii) technology transactions; or (iv) exempt organizations, museum and/or art law.

Candidates should have an enthusiastic willingness to master new areas of the law and a demonstrated track record of doing so.

Additional requirements include:

• Top tier academic credentials with demonstrated achievement at each institution.
• JD from an accredited law school and admitted to practice in New York State.
• Legal training received at law firms within corporate or not-for-profit practice groups.
• Excellent writing and public speaking skills.
• Legal research, negotiation, analysis, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively, as part of a small legal team.
• Mastery of standard productivity software, including LLMs.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

Ability to perform desk and computer work and sustain intense concentration for long periods.

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

Baseline Work Schedule

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. This position is eligible for NYBG’s hybrid work policy.

Salary

     Commensurate with experience within the range of $175,000 to $190,000.

Benefits

• 20 Vacation Days
• 13 Paid Holidays
• 12 Sick Days
• Health and Dental Insurance Coverage
• 401K
• Pension Plan

If you require an accommodation for any part of the application process, please notify the Human Resources department at [email protected]. 

If you are interested in applying for a position at the New York Botanical Garden, please go to http://www.nybg.org/employment to submit your application.

EOE