Sr. Lead, Global Legal Counsel

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. Our team of over 1,200 professionals are at work worldwide in over 30 offices. Together we are on a mission to rescue millions, protect half a billion, and make justice unstoppable.

We are a global community that cares for one another. We believe that the way we work is as important as the results we achieve. We provide professional excellence with joy and celebration to all those we serve.   

For over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. 9 out of 9 times in the last decade, IJM’s Justice System Strengthening Projects have reduced slavery and violence between 50 and 85% for very large populations of people in poverty. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence, we are seeking a Global Legal Counsel (GLC) to join the Legal, Governance, Risk, and Compliance division (LGRC).

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced legal generalist with a broad skill set, capable of navigating complex legal landscapes across multiple jurisdictions to drive our transformative work to success. This GLC role is principally responsible for providing strategic and operational legal support to enable the scaling of IJM’s protection work through its pioneering, fast-growing, and mission-critical South Asia Region program. The GLC will work in close and constant collaboration with leaders and other professionals in the South Asia program teams, in the South Asia regional team, in the Goverance and the Legal Operations and Customer Solutions teams in LGRC, and in each of the other Global Operations teams (Finance, Global People Support, and Technology), among others. The GLC will be called upon to apply strategic thinking and problem-solving skills and provide risk-intelligent, creative, solutions-driven support agilely in a highly dynamic, highly demanding environment.

This is a 2-year, temporary employment role that reports to the Director of Legal Operations and Customer Solutions within the Office of General Counsel, which is part of the LGRC division.

This position is hybrid (onsite Tuesdays and Thursdays) if located in the Washington, DC area or remote for non-local candidates. It is only available to US-based candidates if they have the right to work in the United States. 

South Asia Focus

• Over time, an average of 80% of the below responsibilities will be in direct support of the South Asia program and its projects in India and Bangladesh. One aspect of that is the GLC’s role as the primary legal point of contact for the South Asia region—triaging incoming legal requests, identifying needs, and connecting regional teams with the appropriate resources within the LGRC division.

Legal Advisory & Risk Management

• Provide practical, solution-oriented legal advice and support across a wide range of issues including contracts, compliance, employment, intellectual property, data privacy, international operations, and more.

Governance and Governance-Adjacent Support

• Collaborate with the Officer of Global Governance and the Global Governance team to support the execution of governance and governance-adjacent responsibilities such as:

  • providing governance and good-standing counsel and services to project offices;

  • providing governance support on priority issues, including IJM’s expansion into new countries and securing operational sustainability of programs through creating and maintaining fit-for-purpose operational ecosystems; and

  • supporting the execution of governance and governance-adjacent strategies and decisions.

Contracts, Agreements, and Other Instruments

• Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of agreements and other documents such as MOUs, partnership agreements, funding agreements, vendor contracts, licensing arrangements, policies, standards, and procedures.

Compliance

• Support organizational compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and internal standards and policies with a focus on proactive risk management.

Programmatic Support and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Provide strategic legal guidance and tactical support that enables program teams to design and implement projects that are legally sound, mission aligned, and operationally feasible.

• Apply systems thinking and a strategic lens to identify legal risks and opportunities early in project lifecycles, and influence cross-functional decision-making to ensure legal considerations are integrated into broader programmatic planning.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with matrixed program and operations (HR, Tech, Finance) teams at the global, regional, and local levels, fostering trust-based relationships with internal stakeholders.

• Influence cross-functional collaboration by understanding the strategic objectives of internal customers and aligning legal solutions to support long-term success.

Capacity Building

• Support the ideation, creation, and delivery of various skill-development, learning, “enablement,” and communications resources in the LGRC space.

General Tasks

• Execute other legal and risk-management tasks as assigned, including supporting and participating in a variety of multi-disciplinary teams and projects, such as Customer Solutions projects implemented via the LGRC Problem-Solver Pool process.

• Law degree (J.D. or international equivalent) and active U.S. bar membership.

• At least 4 years’ pertinent experience as a practicing lawyer.

• Experience in non-profit legal matters preferred.

• Experience in corporate governance and/or regulatory frameworks strongly preferred.

• Ability to exercise relational leadership and lead through influence.

• Human-centered, collaborative, solutions-oriented, and creative problem-solver.

• Rigorous analytical and critical thinker with the capacity to quickly absorb new subject areas.

• Ability to interact with high-level, high-profile internal and external stakeholders.

• Orientation to process & systems thinking.

• Demonstrated ability to build and manage cross-cultural and cross-functional relationships.  

• Mature Christian faith and an eager commitment to IJM's Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge-Building.

• High emotional intelligence.

• Disciplined with priorities.

• Strong interpersonal skills and self-awareness.

• Flexible, collaborative, and eager to support others.

• Effective team player who fosters collaborative environment.

• Nimble in dynamic, high-stakes environments.

Upload Resume, Cover Letter & Statement of Faith* in one PDF document.

*What is a statement of faith?
A statement of faith should describe your Christian faith and how you see it as relevant to your involvement with IJM. The statement can either be incorporated into the cover letter or submitted as a separate document and should include, at a minimum, a description of your spiritual disciplines (prayer, study, etc.) and your current fellowship or place of worship.

• Comprehensive Medical/Dental/Vision benefits

• Monthly commuter and parking benefits in the DC metro area

• Retirement benefit options

• Paid leave starting at 23 days

• 12 holidays (plus early release the day prior)

• Daily, quarterly, and annual community spiritual formation

• Robust staff care resources

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria subject to assessing the candidates value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

At IJM, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce through fair and equitable employment practices. IJM encourages people of any race, color, age, sex, marital status or political ideology to apply for employment. While we welcome everyone into this work, we truly believe that the work we are doing is God’s work, not our own, and practice spiritual disciplines together daily. That’s why we legally require under SEC. 2000e-1 [Section702] of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that all employees practice a mature orthodox Christian faith, as defined by the Apostles’ Creed.

IJM requires a background check, police clearance and thorough review of references with an employment offer and/or employment contract.