Description:
The Role:The Senior Counsel – Trust and Administrative Services will be a member of the Great Gray Legal team, whose primary responsibility will be to advise and support our trust and administrative services businesses, at all levels of the organization, in a rapidly evolving, high-growth environment. The Senior Counsel will advise representatives of other functions on legal matters affecting Great Gray and partner with them to support Great Gray's current and new business activities. The Senior Counsel will also help develop and execute plans, policies, and procedures for Great Gray's Legal team and may represent the Legal team on various internal working groups and committees.
The ideal candidate will have a mix of law firm and in-house legal experience, business acumen, a commitment to operational excellence, and strong technical, analytical and communication skills combined with the confidence and emotional intelligence needed to influence organizational outcomes. In summary, we seek an experienced, strong, collaborative attorney, with integrity, who can work effectively across Great Gray. It is likely that the right candidate is currently with a financial services company or leading law firm.
Responsibilities:
- Advise and support the trust and administrative services business, counsel various internal working groups and committees and employees at all levels of Great Gray.
- Support for our trust business will focus primarily on CIT matters such as eligibility and investment questions, applications for IRS determination letters of tax-exempt status, securities and commodities law exemptions and state blue sky compliance matters, as well as negotiating and drafting agreements with sub-advisers, insurance companies, trading platforms, custodians, recordkeepers and other administrative service providers.
- Support for our administrative services business will focus primarily on CITs trusteed by other banks and other collective investment products.
- Serve as a subject matter expert on various legal and regulatory matters affecting the business, including asset management, capital markets, distribution, ERISA and state law matters.
- Provide legal support for special projects, such as (i) new services, products, and partnerships, (ii) M&A, (iii) reviewing, rationalizing, and updating template contracts and administrative forms used by the businesses, and (iv) defining requirements for and implementing technology solutions to enhance efficiency.
- Represent the company in external engagements with various parties, including clients, business partners, regulators, trade associations and outside counsel.
- Stay abreast of new laws, regulations, and industry trends, and recommend responses.
- Review and negotiate a wide range of legal agreements and other documents essential to the operation of the business.
- Partner with compliance, risk, and audit groups as appropriate.
- The Senior Counsel role is a hands-on position. A successful candidate will be eager and able to move seamlessly between advising on strategic issues and doing the legal work required to support the commercial business.
Qualifications & Experience:
- JD from an accredited law school
- Minimum of 8 years of experience as an attorney, with a combination of experience in a large law firm and a corporate legal department preferred.
- Admission to a state bar
- Significant experience in financial services, with asset management and ERISA subject matter expertise strongly preferred. Experience advising on transactions involving plan assets subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code
- In-depth experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide range of contracts.
- Private fund experience preferred.
- New product/service development and M&A experience preferred.
- Ability to identify legal issues, evaluate legal risks, and offer solutions.
- Strong interpersonal, organizational, and negotiation skills.
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of Great Gray and with external stakeholders.
- Excited to work in a high growth, dynamic, and sometimes uncertain environment.
- Exhibits our Great Gray attributes: Results-Driven, Innovative, Resilient and Decisive.
