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Form of workJob Description
We have made it a priority to meet with, and hire from, a diverse pool of candidates - as we believe that a range of lived experiences, voices, and perspectives directly contributes to the success of our team.
We are a remote-first workplace but the candidates for this role must be based in Pennsylvania at the start of employment. Please visit our Careers page to review all opportunities and submit your application for the role(s) that best fit your experiences and location. This is a Full-Time Role (40 hours per week) with the option to apply for reduced hours per week after one year in the role.
About the Opportunity
The Finance & Legal Department exists to ensure that B Lab Global's resources, organizational operations, and legal support enables us to achieve our mission. The department comprises two core teams: Finance and Legal.
The Legal Department exists to ensure that B Lab Global's resources, organizational operations, and legal support enables us to achieve our mission. The Legal Department is responsible for building, managing, and maintaining the legal strategies that enable B Lab Global to deliver on its strategy & objectives. This includes ensuring appropriate terms in B Lab Global's various contracts, developing and updating risk management and 501(c)(3) compliance practices and protections, and registering and protecting our intellectual property.
B Lab seeks a highly qualified attorney to partner with our B Corp Standards Review team, our Program Managers, and our Operations leads to review and draft the agreements, contracts, and policies that secure our business. The Commercial Attorney will provide advice and guidance to employees across business segments and will benefit from a general background in corporate law. The attorney will understand B Lab's services and programs, and will be able to explain our legal position in the context of those services and programs. We hope to find a candidate who can:
- Lead contract development, drafting, review and negotiation
- Advise legal operations and compliance including managing external legal counsel
- Advise on intellectual property protection, in coordination with the Marketing & Communications team and outside counsel
- Conduct their work with integrity, responsibility, and with a sense of mission to serve our stakeholders
- Assess and advise on risk management, insurance, and liability
Primary accountabilities
- Supporting the Standards Analysts and Business Development teams with their review of outside form contracts and advising and negotiating when prospects and customers request changes to standard forms.
- Non-Disclosure Agreements
- B Corp Agreements
- Other Program Contracts for B Lab Products & Services
- Attending calls with customers, prospects, and partners to negotiate and explain above agreements
- Write memos and emails restating and explaining contract decisions and discussions using B Impact Assessment/Impact Standards
- Reviewing philanthropic donor agreements to identify concerns or potential conflicts to Strategic Growth and Partnerships leaders
- Drafting and review of vendor and consultant contracts across the B Lab teams, including Terms of Service documents, licensing agreements, Comprehensive Service Documents, and vendor NDAs
- Draft, edit, comment, and negotiate agreements, contracts, and other legal documents to ensure B Lab's interests are protected and the documents maintain corporate and brand integrity
- Develop a deep understanding of the interconnected nature of B Lab's external stakeholders, including funders, Certified B Corporations, prospects, and our B Lab and Sistema B Global Partner network
- Provide clarification on legal language and contract specifications to internal stakeholders
- Provide accurate and timely counsel to the team on a variety of legal topics
- Provide legal expertise to the Brand Committee on brand guidelines and ad hoc decisions regarding B Corps' use of trademarks and other intellectual property
- Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business programs, services, and operations
Additional accountabilities
- Analyze corporate structures of prospective B Corporations to determine legal requirement application and certifications scope and eligibility.
- Advise on other legal topics not primary to the role based upon the candidate's experience and knowledge (e.g., lease management or intellectual property management).
- Coordinate and partner with outside counsel, when necessary
- 3-6 years of experience in contract law focused on corporations, with having been licensed to practice law for a minimum of 3 years
- Experience with drafting, editing, and negotiate agreements, contracts, and other legal documents
- Experience advising and guiding multiple stakeholders in a variety of departments
- Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to hold conversation with individuals at all levels of an organization
- J.D. or equivalent international degree
- Bar membership
- Experience with Electronic Signing repositories and processes, e.g., DocuSign
- Comfort being a collaborative business partner willing to share legal reasoning with non-attorneys
- Comfort working in Google environment and CRM data management environment (Salesforce a plus)
- High degree of professional ethics and integrity
- Sound judgment and situational awareness
- Ability to apply common sense solutions to complex problems
- Can describe B Lab's interests in a contractual discussion, and negotiate to secure favorable terms for B Lab
- Understanding B Corp certification and required legal framework
While not required, please note in your application if you have:
- Business proficiency in languages other than English is a plus, especially Spanish or French
- Previous experience working in an international non-profit
- Fluency in navigating Google Suite (or a comparable office suite and/or cloud-based file storage)
- Have a passion for using business as a force for good, and support the B Lab team focused on this mission
Compensation Details
B Lab has a compensation plan that includes:
- An annual salary in the range of $150,000 - $175,000 based on experience and skills
- Excellent health benefits package including access to medical, vision and dental coverage
- Paid time off for vacation - in your first year, you'll start with 15 days (prorated in a to your start date)
- Additional paid time off for organizational closures
- 403(b) with a match of up to 3%
- Unlimited sick and personal time - if you need it, use it
- After your first year of employment, 40 hours paid time off for community service; paid parental leave; and time and budget for your professional development (we assess this PD budget annually)
- A remote-first workplace
- A flexible work environment with the ability to plan your work week around your personal commitments
We require the following in order to consider your application:
- Resume
If you progress through additional stages in the hiring process you can expect to:
- Step 1: Submit your resume
- Step 2: Participate in an interview with a panel via Google Meet or Zoom
- Step 3: Participate in a second panel interview via Google Meet or Zoom
We will begin reviewing applications on January 29,2024 and will continue until we identify a diverse and qualified candidate pool.
Please note: All applications will be reviewed by our team, and all candidates will receive a status update via email after their application has been reviewed, which we expect to complete by February 12. Due to capacity constraints on our hiring team, we are unable to provide you with a specific status update beyond these parameters. Our ideal start date for this role is March 25, 2024
If we can offer reasonable accommodations to you in the application or interview processes, or if you have feedback on how we could improve the equity or accessibility of our recruitment, you are welcome to contact us at careers @ bcorporation.net with the subject line "Accommodation request - Commercial Attorney". Please note that we are unable to respond to general status inquiries or other messages that are unrelated to accessing our application or interview processes.
About B Lab
B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and we certify companies--known as B Corps--who are leading the way. To date, our community includes 15,000 Benefit Corporations, over 6,500 Certified B Corporations in more than 80 countries and over 150 industries, and more than 250,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager.
B Lab believes an equitable and inclusive work environment and a diverse, empowered team are key to achieving our mission. We're not looking for candidates who are "culture fits." We're looking for candidates who can expand our perspective and challenge business as usual. We strive to foster an environment where all staff can bring their whole selves to work, by their own definition.
As an organization, we stand against anti-Black racism and all forms of oppression including transphobia, classism, sexism, and xenophobia. We commit to a focused and sustained action to dismantle racist systems, policies, practices, and ideologies within ourselves and our networks. As we continue to learn about injustice, we embrace radical reorientation of our consciousness and will listen to the voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous and marginalized peoples to catalyze equitable outcomes for all.
At B Lab an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace is one where all workers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feel valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our teams, programs. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
