Director of Legal Affairs

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Legal Affairs serves as Modern Executive Solutions' senior legal, contracts, and compliance professional, reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer. The successful candidate may be a legal affairs professional, contracts leader, legal operations specialist, licensed attorney, or senior paralegal with substantial experience supporting commercial contracting, compliance, risk management, and business operations.

This role serves as the company's primary internal resource for legal, contractual, compliance, and risk-related matters while partnering with outside counsel as needed. The position provides support across commercial contracts, client and vendor agreements, corporate governance, compliance, risk management, employment matters, data privacy, and legal operations.

This is a hands-on role for a professional who can operate independently, exercise sound judgment, and provide practical, business-focused guidance that supports company objectives while helping manage legal and regulatory risk. The Director, Legal Affairs partners closely with leaders across Finance, Human Resources, Operations, Technology, and Client Delivery to support the firm's continued growth and evolving business needs.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Affairs & Business Partnership

• Serve as the company's primary internal resource for legal, contractual, compliance, and risk-related matters.
• Partner with executive leadership on business, operational, and strategic initiatives.
• Engage early in client engagements, strategic partnerships, and new business initiatives to identify risks and support sound decision-making.
• Assess legal and regulatory risks and develop practical, business-aligned solutions.
• Support leadership in evaluating and mitigating legal exposure across the organization.
• Coordinate with outside counsel on specialized legal matters as appropriate.
• Provide guidance regarding legal and contractual implications of new business models, services, technologies, and strategic initiatives.

Contract Management & Legal Operations

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of commercial agreements, including retained search agreements, consulting engagement letters, vendor contracts, partnership agreements, and NDAs.
• Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, standards, and approval workflows.
• Advise business leaders regarding contractual obligations, risk allocation, and commercial terms.
• Support compliance with off-limits, non-solicitation, exclusivity, confidentiality, and related contractual commitments.
• Lead contract lifecycle management processes, including intake, approvals, repository administration, reporting, and governance.
• Develop training, reporting, and scalable contracting processes that improve organizational efficiency, risk management, and business performance.

Data Privacy & Information Governance

• Support Modern's data privacy and information governance program, including compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations.
• Develop and maintain policies related to data handling, retention, confidentiality, and information security.
• Advise on AI usage, data governance, intellectual property considerations, and technology-related risks.
• Partner with Technology and Operations on vendor agreements, data processing requirements, security assessments, and emerging technology governance.

Compliance & Corporate Governance

• Support the firm's compliance program and monitor adherence to applicable laws, regulations, and industry requirements.
• Maintain corporate governance records and support entity management activities.
• Develop and maintain legal, compliance, and operational policies and procedures.
• Coordinate compliance training and support regulatory inquiries, audits, and compliance reviews.

Risk Management

• Partner with leadership to identify, assess, and mitigate legal, contractual, operational, and regulatory risks.
• Coordinate disputes, claims, litigation, and other legal matters with outside counsel as appropriate.
• Advise leadership regarding conflicts of interest, off-limits obligations, restrictive covenant issues, candidate ownership concerns, and other risks unique to executive search and leadership advisory services.
• Protect and support enforcement of Modern's intellectual property and proprietary assets.
• Support insurance, claims management, and organizational risk reporting.

Employment & Workforce Support

• Partner with Human Resources regarding employment-related matters, including employee and independent contractor arrangements.
• Review employment agreements, policies, separation agreements, and related documentation.
• Support compliance with applicable employment laws and regulations in coordination with outside counsel when appropriate.
• Assist with employment-related risk assessments, policy development, and workplace compliance initiatives.

External Counsel Management

• Manage relationships with outside counsel and specialized legal service providers.
• Oversee legal budgets and external legal spend.
• Coordinate specialized support for litigation, employment matters, regulatory inquiries, intellectual property matters, and international legal issues.
• Evaluate external resources to ensure effective and cost-efficient support.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5+ years of experience in legal affairs, commercial contracts, compliance, risk management, legal operations, paralegal leadership, or related legal support functions.
• Demonstrated experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and administering commercial agreements.
• Experience supporting compliance, governance, risk management, or related business functions.
• Familiarity with data privacy principles, data governance practices, and information management requirements.
• Strong business judgment and ability to balance legal, operational, and commercial considerations.
• Excellent written, verbal, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.

Preferred

• Experience in-house or supporting professional services, executive search, consulting, leadership advisory, staffing, technology, financial services, or other knowledge-based organizations.
• Experience managing outside counsel and legal budgets.
• Experience supporting organizations that manage sensitive client, candidate, employee, or customer information.
• Experience with fee-for-service, retainer-based, or project-based commercial models and related contract structures.
• Familiarity with AI governance, emerging technology issues, and data management practices.
• Experience building or scaling legal operations and contracting processes within a growing organization.
• Experience working closely with CFOs and executive leadership teams.
• Exposure to multi-jurisdictional employment law and international business operations.
• Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) platforms and legal operations technology.

COMPETENCIES

• Strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Strong commercial judgment and practical problem-solving.
• Proactive risk identification and mitigation.
• Sound judgment and ability to influence without direct authority.
• Strong contract drafting, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
• Collaborative and service-oriented approach.
• Ability to make decisions and provide guidance in situations where complete information may not be available.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across a fast-moving organization.
• High discretion with confidential client, candidate, employee, and business information.

SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE

The successful candidate will be a pragmatic business partner who can effectively manage contracts, compliance activities, risk management initiatives, and relationships with outside counsel while supporting Modern's commercial objectives. This individual will establish scalable legal and contracting processes, strengthen governance and compliance practices, and help the company navigate business challenges while supporting continued growth.

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