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Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF or Federation) is America's largest and most trusted grassroots conservation organization with 52 state/territorial affiliates and more than six million members and supporters, including hunters, anglers, gardeners, birders, hikers, campers, paddlers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes. The Federation's mission is to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in our rapidly changing world through programming focused on conserving wildlife, restoring habitats and waterways, expanding outdoor opportunities, connecting children with nature, and addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.

We believe that in order to save wildlife and ourselves, we need to ensure that everyone in America has clean air and water, safe communities, easy and equitable access to the daily benefits of nature, and protection from the effects of climate change. These basic needs, equally necessary and urgent for all people, are foundational to bringing the conservation movement and ethos into the 21st century.

To advance our mission and meet the needs of our expanding organization, we are seeking a full-time Attorney to join our Office of General Counsel, headquartered out of Reston, VA. You will report to the General Counsel and provide in-house legal advice in a true generalist role but with a primary focus on employment law matters. We are looking for an attorney who will be excited by our mission, who seeks to be a thought leader, who is a strong communicator and who is able to collaborate closely with multiple departments and teams. This person will always be thinking in terms of overall benefit to the Federation as a whole while serving and being contributing to the expertise and skills of the legal team.

In this job you will:

• Provide legal advice on a broad range of matters, including employment, non-profit advocacy, non-profit governance, data privacy, real estate, intellectual property and grant/vendor agreements
• Play an important role assisting our human resources department with employment concerns, compliance and trainings, workplace investigations and equity and justice implementations and best practices
• Develop and maintain internal policies and trainings that align NWF’s core values with current employment laws and regulations
• Interface with and manage outside counsel

Qualifications:

• J.D. degree from an accredited law school and active membership in ­­­­at least one State Bar with the ability to obtain Virginia Corporate Counsel status
• Minimum 4 years of relevant legal experience in-house or at a law firm, preferably advising exempt organizations
• Demonstrated ability to find creative solutions and bring a mindset that the legal department is a partner with program and administrative staff and is an office of “know” and not “no”
• Sound judgment and demonstrated ability to develop trust
• Ability to work independently and able to oversee multiple projects while prioritizing work effectively is also required

Core Competencies:

NWF’s values include: collaboration, mindfulness, empowerment, inclusivity, and mission focus. Your core competencies should include:

Self-awareness and learning

• Aware of positional power and privilege (both personally and professionally) and its attendant impacts.
• Acknowledges when mistakes are made and harm is done; works to repair relationships.

Authentic Relationships and Community Partnerships

• Proactively builds and sustains robust, authentic, productive working relationships with colleagues and community partners across race and other group identities.
• Recognizes the value in setting up a clear and inclusive process, which centers relationship building and co-creation.

Open and Direct Communication

• Strong written and verbal communications skills with experience developing communications plans.
• Welcomes constructive feedback.
• Communicates clearly, honestly, and authentically with colleagues. Uses clear and precise language when referring to equity and justice concepts. Seeks out feedback and avoids jargon.

Human-centered innovation

• Cultivates empathy, welcomes multiple perspectives and ambiguity
• Grounds innovations in ideas of solidarity and mutuality, recognizing the wisdom of collective action and the need to center people who are most impacted.

Equity Analysis and Action

• Clearly and consistently articulates an advanced understanding of equity across social groups.
• Connects this understanding of history, power, privilege, and oppression to communications, editing, and storytelling work.

Travel:

Once safe travel resumes, this role may require occasional travel to support NWF meetings.

Compensation and Benefits:

This position pays $110,000 annually.

The National Wildlife Federation values work-life balance and a family-friendly atmosphere. Our paid time-off includes 3 weeks of vacation leave, open wellbeing leave, 10 paid holidays, 3 floating holidays, a week-long winter break, and additional leave options, per year. In addition, our benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, company paid life insurance, AD&D, short- and long-term disability, 16 weeks of paid FMLA leave, 403b retirement plan with employer matching and annual contribution, adoption benefits, and flexible work options including telecommuting, non-traditional work hours, and compressed work weeks. Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s benefits package at https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Careers.

COVID Consideration:

The National Wildlife Federation closely follows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease and has implemented processes that promote the safety of our employees, candidates, and communities. Because the health of our employees and candidates is a top priority, we conduct our hiring process virtually via phone or video until further notice. We are currently starting our positions as remote, but will transition to onsite work when our offices re-open, expected to be in early 2022. Proof of vaccination will be required as a condition to join the National Wildlife Federation.

Application:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Candidates must submit a cover letter and resume. If selected for an interview, you may be asked to provide a writing sample.

We strive to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in all elements of our work and with our partners to support the interdependent needs of wildlife and people in a rapidly changing world. We recruit, employ, train compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at nwf.org/equity.

If you have a disability and require an accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 703-438-6244.

The requirements listed in our job descriptions are guidelines, not hard and fast rules, and if you have 75% of the qualifications listed we encourage you to apply. Your experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work, which helps build the competencies, knowledge, and skills that translates directly to our openings. Applying gives you the opportunity to be considered.

If selected for this position, a background check will be conducted.