General Counsel

**To be considered for the General Counsel position, you MUST submit a Cover Letter with your application. Paylocity only accepts one attachment. Please include the Cover Letter within your Resume attachment.**

The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (Meadows Institute) seeks a collaborative and strategic professional to serve as General Counsel. 

The General Counsel will support the work of the Meadows Institute by providing strategic, practical legal guidance with regards to nonprofit governance; compliance with the laws applicable to tax-exempt organizations; the negotiation, drafting, and review of contracts and grant agreements; employment law matters; and other legal matters. The General Counsel must be able to work collaboratively with the Board of Directors, staff, contractors, partner agencies, and stakeholders and demonstrate strong judgment while providing legal guidance within a dynamic nonprofit environment. 

The preferred work location for this position is in Texas. This opportunity is primarily remote, but statewide travel (up to 10%) is required and some duties may require access to reliable personal transportation. Residents of the following states are currently ineligible for this position: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, or Washington. Relocation assistance is not available. Successful candidates must show proof of eligibility to work in the United States. 

Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. In addition, the Meadows Institute also provides generous employee health and retirement benefits.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a trusted legal partner across departmental leadership, translating legal concepts into clear, practical operational guidance.
• Support and advise on state laws applicable to nonprofit organizations, including (but not limited to) annual charitable solicitation registrations and renewals, UPMIFA, and the requirements of Chapter 22 of the TBOC. 
• Support and advise on IRC and IRS regulatory requirements applicable to section 501(c)(3) organizations, including (but not limited to) lobbying restrictions, unrelated business income rules, private inurement and private benefit, taxable subsidiaries, documentation and acknowledgment of charitable donations, and conflict of interest processes.
• Review, draft, and negotiate a broad range of agreements to ensure alignment with organizational policies and risk tolerance, including (but not limited to) vendor and service agreements, NDAs and confidentiality agreements, consulting agreements, and philanthropic and governmental grant agreements.
• Provide practical advice to executive leadership on determining contractual risk, liability exposure, indemnification, and compliance obligations.
• Prepare, review, and formalize organizational processes and policies.
• Support Sponsored Programs and Philanthropy teams in monitoring and complying with donor requirements and restrictions with respect to grants and the Meadows Institute ’s endowment funds.
• Support Human Resources and executive leadership on employment law matters, such as employee relations issues, performance management, terminations, workplace investigations, and policy development and review.
• Review annual Forms 990, 990-T, and 1120.
• Effectively and efficiently manage the Meadows Institute’s annual budget for outside counsel and coordinate with outside counsel, as needed, on litigation or other specialized legal matters.
• Serve as counsel to the Board of Directors on nonprofit governance and fiduciary matters.  
• Assist in the preparation of Board and committee meeting agendas, resolutions, written consents, and meeting minutes.
• Assist the Board of Directors in evaluating and determining executive compensation and meeting the requirements to establish the section 4958 rebuttable presumption of reasonableness. Coordinate annual executive compensation reviews with the Institute’s outside compensation consultant.
• Ensure compliance with existing governance policies and craft new governance policies or update existing ones, as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active bar membership in good standing in the State of Texas (or eligible to waive in).
• At least 7 years of legal experience working in the nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations field as in-house counsel or in private practice (or combined).
• Demonstrated experience reviewing and negotiating contracts and grant agreements.
• Strong legal research and drafting skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with colleagues. This includes overcoming geographic and other potential barriers to communicating with and making contributions to the team’s work. 
• Excellent organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines.
• Strong business acumen and comfort working directly with senior leadership members.
• Capacity to think strategically, critically, and respond analytically.
• Flexibility in working with new issues, topics, and approaches.

Eligibility Requirements:

The preferred work location for this position is in Texas. This position may not be filled or performed in California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, or Washington at this time. Relocation assistance not available. Successful candidates must show proof of eligibility to work in the United States.  

About Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute:

The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is a data-driven, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that supports the implementation of policies and programs that help Texans obtain effective, efficient mental health care when and where they need it. The Institute’s vision is for Texas to be the national leader in treating all people with mental health needs. For more information about the Meadows Institute, please visit: www.mmhpi.org.

The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is committed to equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and provides full and equal employment opportunities to all employees and potential employees without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), physical or mental disability, age, citizen status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status.