Deputy General Counsel

In this position, you will provide broad in-house legal counsel across the organization to enable programmatic and operational effectiveness while ensuring compliance with applicable legal and regulatory frameworks. The Deputy General Counsel will serve as a legal advisor to GFI employees on a broad range of legal matters, serving as the primary point of contact and primary lead for many day-to-day legal inquiries.

• Providing legal counsel across a wide range of issues, including but not limited to: contract negotiation and review, nonprofit and tax-exempt law, legal risk management, intellectual property law, charitable registrations and fundraising, antitrust law, lobbying and election law compliance, employment law, and SEC regulations.
• Maintaining a deep understanding of GFI's programs and initiatives in order to assess and communicate legal risk, partnering with relevant teams to implement appropriate risk mitigation strategies and internal controls, and providing clear, practical recommendations that balance mission impact, compliance, and risk tolerance.
• Serving as a strategic partner to the General Counsel, with independent ownership over day-to-day legal guidance and support on low/moderate-risk issues, and executing additional responsibilities as delegated by the General Counsel, including when needed to ensure continuity of legal operations.
• Overseeing the full contract lifecycle for GFI's U.S.-based teams, including intake, prioritization, drafting, review, negotiation, and risk assessment, with attention to mission impact, strategic alignment, efficiency, and risk management.

You will maximize mission impact through expert legal guidance, enabling GFI's programs to make plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible to meet the world's climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school and admission to the bar (in good standing) in at least one U.S. state is required.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant legal experience, with prior in-house or nonprofit counsel experience is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in nonprofit compliance and risk mitigation, especially in the context of international and multistate operations, is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in contract drafting, negotiation, and management best practices.
• Demonstrated expertise with trademark and copyright law is required; some familiarity with patent law basics is preferred.
• A proven ability to provide strategic legal advice on a wide range of topics, from contracts and risk management to intellectual property and regulatory compliance.
• Excellent judgement, strong ethics, and a highly proactive approach to identifying and solving problems.
• A collaborative working style and the ability to communicate complex legal concepts to non-legal audiences clearly and effectively.

Working from home; paid employee base medical coverage; dental, vision, and other medical insurance options; a 401(k) plan with employer match; 17 paid holidays; personal, sick, and vacation time; paid family/parental and medical leave; lifestyle spending account; opportunity for advancement; and, respectful and collaborative culture.

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world's climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.