General Counsel

The General Counsel leads Oceana’s legal operations and serves as the principal legal advisor to the organization. This role provides strategic counsel on a broad range of legal matters to support the mission and ensure compliance across Oceana and its branches and affiliates. The General Counsel reports to the Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer and provides legal guidance to the Board of Directors through this leadership structure.

Founded in 2001, Oceana is the world’s largest nonprofit organization focused solely on ocean advocacy. We achieve measurable change by conducting specific, science-based campaigns with fixed deadlines and clearly articulated goals. Our campaigns focus on reforming policy in countries that are responsible for a quarter of the world’s wild-caught fish, including Belize, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the 27 countries of the European Union.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Legal Counsel and Collaboration:

• Partner with the CEO, Senior Vice President, Executive Committee, and legal staff to support the development and execution of strategic and campaign plans, ensuring legal integrity and leveraging legal opportunities.
• Collaborate with:
  • Chief Financial Officer on conflict-of-interest determinations and tax filings
  • Human Resources to develop and deliver ethics and compliance training, including for new hires
  • Data Protection Officer to address organizational data protection and privacy matters
  • Chief Risk Officer to manage insurance coverage and risk mitigation strategies

Corporate Compliance and Governance:

• Ensure compliance with corporate structure and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions (local, regional, national) related to business operations, charitable fundraising, and other disclosure obligations.
• Provide legal support in establishing operations in new countries.
• Develop and implement policies to ensure ongoing legal compliance.

Contract Management:

• Co-manage the contract generation, review, and approval process with the CFO.
• Provide legal review and counsel on a variety of contracts.
• Update and maintain contract templates, workflows, and policies.
• Supervise paralegal support for contract management.

Legal Advisory Services:
 Provide expert legal guidance across multiple domains, including:

• Nonprofit and charity law: Ensure compliance with lobbying and political activity rules, governance, and ethics.
• Human resources and employment law: Help the Human Resources Department to stay current with policies and law relating to staff, including immigration, hiring, termination, and employment litigation. Co-manage external employment counsel with the HR Director.
• Intellectual property: Advise on trademarks, copyrights, licensing, and branding issues.
• Media and communications law: Provide counsel on defamation, copyright and trademark infringement, and media risk, including by reviewing draft reports and statements.
• Fundraising compliance: Supervise charitable registration and ensure adherence to marketing regulations.
• Business disputes: Provide legal support in managing disputes and litigation risk.

Department Leadership and External Counsel Management:

• Oversee the law department, including legal staff supervision and budget planning.
• Serve as liaison to internal lawyers outside the legal department.
• Manage relationships with paid and pro bono external legal counsel for issues related to the position.

Other duties as assigned

Job Requirements

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school
• Member in good standing of the District of Columbia Bar (or eligible for admission)
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible legal experience, including at least five years in a leadership or senior advisory role
• Experience working with international affiliates or cross-border legal issues in the nonprofit, environmental, or human rights sectors is preferred
• Expertise in one or more of the following legal areas: Nonprofit/charity law, Contract law, Employment, employee benefits, and immigration law, Intellectual property law, Administrative and environmental law, Media law, international trade or international law
• Previous experience managing a legal team or cross-functional staff strongly preferred
• Experience advising executive leadership and/or boards of directors on legal, governance, and strategic matters
• In-house counsel experience within an NGO, foundation, or mission-driven organization highly preferred
• Experience negotiating and managing international agreements and MOU’s
• Familiarity with grant agreements, donor compliance (especially from governments and multilaterals), and restricted funds management preferred
• Certification in data privacy (e.g., CIPP/US, GDPR) or enterprise risk management is a plus
• Litigation experience or ability to manage outside litigation counsel is desirable
• Strong financial literacy and ability to align legal strategy with operational goals and budgets
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across departments, including campaigns, development, communications, and country offices
• Skilled in prioritizing multiple projects under tight deadlines and shifting conditions
• Experience advising on reputational risk, and legal response strategies
• A strong track record of ensuring ethical and transparent decision-making across all levels of the organization
• Ability to create and maintain systems that promote compliance, accountability, and high ethical standards
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organizational and project management abilities
• Proactive, creative problem-solving approach
• Technologically proficient with ability to adapt to modern office tools and platforms

Required Competencies

• Effective Communication: Skilled at adapting communication styles for different audiences and settings.
• Collaboration: Builds strong partnerships and fosters teamwork to achieve shared goals.
• Resourcefulness: Navigates challenges and identifies solutions effectively and efficiently.
• Action-Oriented: Demonstrates energy, urgency, and initiative in pursuing new challenges and opportunities.

The salary range for this position is $180,000-230,000 annually. This is an exempt position.

Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.

Oceana's U.S. offices have operated on a hybrid schedule and staff have been required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work remotely Monday and Friday.