ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:
Pro Mujer is a leading women's development organization headquartered in New York City. Pro Mujer empowers women to realize their full potential and delivers vital services that help women lift themselves out of the constant crisis of scarcity, run successful businesses, invest in their own wellbeing, and uplift their families and communities. Pro Mujer serves more than 250,000 women annually in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.
Over the past 25 years, Pro Mujer has disbursed more than US$1 billion in small loans and provided business and empowerment training, and preventative, primary, and reproductive health care to nearly two million women, transforming their lives and those of their seven million children and family members.
Pro Mujer employs 2,000 dedicated people across Latin America and the US.
ABOUT THE JOB:
Pro Mujer seeks Legal Counsel (US & International) with flexible location, preference for New York City area, Panamá, Mexico and Peru. The position requires approximately 50% travel.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Provide expert and strategic legal advice to CEO, management and Board of Directors.
- Set internal governance policies and monitor compliance.
- Advise executives within the company and work alongside employees in Strategic Service Lines, Communication and Marketing, Development, Finance, Risk Management, Human Resources, Alliances and other departments in all legal matters.
- Organize and lead meetings as appropriate with various levels of management to further the understanding of regulatory and compliance issues or to communicate department needs.
- Deal with external parties in all countries where Pro Mujer operates (regulators, external counsel, pro-bono counsel, business partners, investors, donors).
- Represent Pro Mujer in discussions with industry associations and regulatory entities.
- Deal with complex, significant matters that cut across legal and related areas.
- Evaluate and weigh multiple inputs and impacts of any decision or course of action.
- Supervise, liaise and manage outside counsel relationships and costs to ensure superior value and risk management from outside counsel retainers.
- Proactively manage legal, reputational, fiduciary, regulatory and other risks into business reality, devise action plans and engage in timely coordinated and decisive risk management and crisis prevention.
- Negotiate, write, and execute agreements and contracts. Prepare, review, revise, comment on, organize and maintain contracts and other legal documents for Pro Mujer or third party contracts, including financing, merger and acquisition of business and operations, divestitures, operational, and corporate documents such as charters, by laws, meeting minutes and governmental filings.
- Prepare legal opinions, as required for financings and other purposes, strictly limited in scope.
- Keep abreast of legislative changes in all domains, anticipate issues and estimate risks strategically. Identify proactive solutions that will eliminate or mitigate risks in each country where Pro Mujer operates.
- Have an understanding of complex legal regulatory research, including corporate organization and filing requirements, product composition and filing requirements, advertising and agency requirements, premium and claim processing requirements and market entry and exit requirements.
- Advise on Intellectual Property; oversee and monitor trademark registration and related matters to assure PMI’s name, logo, slogans and other intellectual property are duly protected in the markets where it operates and may operate in the future.
- Oversee the maintenance of corporate compliance files, including timely corporate filings and renewal of corporate licenses.
- Serve as Corporate Secretary, attending Board and certain committee meetings (Governance, Executive) and others as requested. Responsible for assuring preparation and archiving of Board/ Committee minutes; certifying minutes and other corporate documents; maintaining corporate data sheets on affiliates in the operating jurisdictions.
- Develop and maintain standard policies, templates and forms for corporate documentation.
- Work with Governance Committee to establish and maintain policies and controls to assure “best practices” in the U.S. and countries where Pro Mujer operates.
- Liaise with the boards of subsidiaries and management to encourage uniform adherence to corporate governance standards.
- Oversee the maintenance of financial and health care product files and assist in all phases of product development including drafting, filing, approval, implementation and advertising.
- Develop, maintain and/or revise, as necessary, policies and procedures to enhance compliance across the organization with applicable laws and regulations, including maintaining US tax-exempt (501(c)(3)) status, compliance with FCPA, OFAC, anti-money-laundering, Patriot Act, ERISA, and maintaining good standing in D.C. and N.Y.; charitable registrations with U.S. states and elsewhere as needed; compliance with regulatory regimes in other countries: foreign investment law, currency controls, tax, etc.
- Provide training to company and its affiliates on substantive legal topics.
- Lead and build Legal Department; manage legal staff. Direct work and provide coaching and mentoring for professional development.
- Perform other related duties as required or assigned.
Qualifications:
- Minimum 8 years’ experience practicing law with a minimum of 3 years’ experience at the level of General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel or Assistant General Counsel or equivalent.
- Experience in corporate, tax, commercial, international finance/banking law.
- Bilingual and bicultural. Ability to work with different cultures.
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills in English and Spanish.
- Law Degree (J.D. or L.L.M).
- Bar membership (preferred).
- Working experience and familiarity with legal structures in Latin America.
- Strong interest in empowering women and alleviation of poverty initiatives.
- Proven general counseling experience in business environment.
- Understanding of for-profit, nonprofit/philanthropic sectors and related legal issues.
- High degree of professional ethics, integrity and gravitas.
- Detail oriented, with demonstrated vision and ability to stay current with newest legal trends.
- Ability to anticipate legal issues or risks and to develop legal strategy.
- Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously in diverse legal subject areas.
- Ability to write quickly with high level of competence, and strong editing skills.
- Accurate research with minimal margin of error.
- BSc in Business Administration or MBA, a plus.
HOW TO APPLY:
To apply, please submit to HR@PROMUJER.org your resume and a cover letter that outlines your suitability for the role, salary expectations and the name of the site where you heard about the position.
