Staff Counsel, Exempt Organizations

Hybrid Preferred in Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Durham, NC; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA, or Remote

Arabella Advisors seeks an organized, detail-oriented and highly motivated attorney to work in the General Counsel’s office. The General Counsel’s Office is responsible for providing timely, coordinated, and thoughtful legal advice to internal clients on a wide variety of regulatory, compliance, and risk-management matters, tailored to Arabella’s business needs. The General Counsel’s office also provides legal support to a variety of client nonprofit organizations.

This position provides substantive advice to Arabella staff on legal and compliance matters related to exempt organizations, including state and federal tax exemption, nonprofit governance, registration, disclosure and compliance requirements, and contracting considerations. The successful candidate will be able to navigate a broad array of stakeholders in a corporate environment that serves nonprofit and philanthropic clients and will provide practical legal information and guidance in a fast-paced setting.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide advice on a broad range of matters related to nonprofit and exempt organizations, working in coordination with the legal and compliance teams. This work will involve issues related to fiscal sponsorship and other advisory work, including federal tax law and other federal, state and local laws that regulate the activities of nonprofit corporations.
• Serve as a technical resource on nonprofit legal and compliance issues for Arabella staff and client non-profit organizations.
• Work with the legal and compliance teams to identify legal risks and ensure corporate compliance with state and federal laws, including charitable solicitation registration, state tax exemption, and registration of commercial co-venture agreements.
• Work with the legal and compliance teams to streamline, develop, and manage tax and compliance-related policies, systems, operations, and processes.
• Liaise with outside counsel as necessary on specific projects and to develop additional in-house expertise.
• Develop and conduct trainings for staff on legal rules and compliance procedures.
• Support on an as-needed basis on corporate and transactional matters, especially as they may relate to exempt organization law.
• Provide general support to the legal and compliance teams to resolve routine legal or regulatory-related issues or questions.
• Conduct research and perform other duties as assigned.

To Be Successful in This Role, You’ll Need

• License to practice law in a jurisdiction with an Arabella office.
• J.D. and at least five years of experience in a legal or related role.
• Broad knowledge of exempt organization tax law including 501(c)(3) public charities and foundations, as well as state laws regulating nonprofits.
• Experience working in-house at a nonprofit organization or directly advising nonprofit organizations.
• Experience in general corporate law, non-501(c)(3) organizations (e.g. 501(c)(4)s, 501(c)(6)s) or lobbying/advocacy rules is a plus.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work on broad topics and balance multiple projects at once.
• Ability to establish and manage effective relationships with legal and compliance colleagues as well as diverse stakeholders across the firm.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and a strong client service orientation.
• Ability to work independently and proactively identify and prioritize needs.

Our Core Competencies

• The ability to provide excellent service, including being able to address complex service matters, implement and communicate service changes to everyone involved, and to coach teammates on how to apply the firm’s service standards
• The ability to manage large-scale and cross-firm projects, including delegating and managing all resources, identifying and implementing improved processes, monitoring consistency across project teams, and providing direction and support to teammates
• The ability to facilitate and negotiate among stakeholders with conflicting needs and to generate consensus among decision makers
• The ability to help effectively communicate difficult messages; to adapt style, tone, and content to meet various needs; and to coach teammates on crafting content.
• The ability to work cooperatively and inclusively with others to achieve shared goals, including encouraging and facilitating effective compromise, drawing on the capabilities of all team members, and leading team-level knowledge sharing
• The ability to use available resources and feedback to continually develop mastery in your role and facilitate team and project-level learning, including coaching others
• The ability to solve complex challenges by identifying innovative solutions and facilitating coordination with others
• The ability to elevate the voices of marginalized colleagues and mitigate power dynamics with staff with less formal authority

Working With Us

While this position can be hybrid in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Durham, NC, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, or Remote from the following states/district: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington State, or Wisconsin; the preferred locations for this position are Hybrid in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Durham, NC, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA.

Please note that all Arabella Advisors’ offices are open, and we work with a hybrid workplace strategy to ensure continued flexibility for our staff, while deepening our strong culture rooted in collaboration and in-person interactions between colleagues. We expect that after their initial onboarding, all Arabellans will have the choice of two hybrid schedules. Our hybrid schedule options include: Flex, with 1-2 days per week in the office, or Office-based, with 3+ days per week in the office (or more if preferred). The remaining days are worked at home/remotely. We will make reasonable accommodations under the guidelines of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

We are committed to having a passion-driven, inclusive, transparent, collaborative, healthy, and fun culture. We invite you to visit our careers page to learn more.

About Arabella Advisors

Arabella Advisors helps foundations, philanthropists and investors who are serious about impact achieve the greatest good with their resources. We work together across geographies on issues ranging from the social and economic advancement of women and girls, and conservation of our climate and planet, to reducing poverty and inequity in the United States and around the world. Our staff members are mission-driven and action-oriented, and have a unique combination of experience in philanthropy, business, nonprofits, government, finance, law, and other fields. We combine creative, strategic thinking with knowledge and networks developed through decades of hands-on experience. The fastest-growing philanthropic advisory firm in the nation, Arabella is also a certified B Corporation.

Our Commitment to Equity and Belonging

Advancing equity and belonging within our firm and in our work with partners is critical to our mission. To be effective partners to philanthropists, nonprofits, and communities impacted by philanthropic dollars, we need to have a highly diverse staff, a workplace where individuals are encouraged to retain their uniqueness and can feel a sense of belonging, and a nuanced understanding of the characteristics that undergird the issues we engage in and the interactions we have with one another. For us, equity means that our staff members, our clients, and the people they serve can experience the same level of success, no matter their starting place. We expect all our employees to share this commitment and always seek ways to improve how well we live these values.

This is a full-time position. We offer a competitive and holistic total rewards package that includes salary, bonus, and benefits. Our compensation ranges are based on national compensation benchmarks for similar organizations.

The annual salary range for this position is $115,000 - $140,000, and this position has an annual bonus potential of 10%.

We consider national benchmark indicators along with job related skills, experience and relevant education and training, to determine compensation that is fair and competitive.

All full-time staff are eligible for our generous benefits package on their first day of employment:

• Health insurance- On average Arabella pays 86% of the medical premium, 80% of the dental premium, and 100% of the vision premium
• Paid time off- 16 days’ vacation, 10 personal days, 11 company holidays (7 federal and 4 more from a list of inclusive cultural and religious holidays and your birthday), 20 hours volunteer leave, 8 weeks parental leave
• 401(k) retirement plan- We offer a 4% employer match on a dollar-per-dollar basis, and there is no waiting or vesting period; all funds contributed by you and Arabella are yours to keep on day 1
• Reimbursements for your personal cell phone plan and fitness
• Pre-tax withholding for transportation and parking
• Bonus incentive opportunities
• Access to professional development opportunities