General Counsel
Jellyvision is hiring a General Counsel
Jellyvision’s headquarters is in Chicago, and, post-COVID, many of us will be returning to the Chicago offices (by choice, not requirement -- our philosophy is “Flexible First”). But this position is also eligible for work by a remote employee out of CA, FL, GA, IL, KY, MA, MI, MN, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TX, UT, WA, or WI.
What we do
We’re the proud parents of ALEX®, an interactive employee communications platform that makes choosing (and using) employee benefits easier and more enjoyable. Our credo is a simple one: be helpful. And we think the best way to achieve that is with a staff that reflects the vast range of ideas, perspectives, and experiences of the millions of people who use our products.
Who we are
Jellyvision is committed to continuous evolution and to fostering a more diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is welcomed, valued, and respected. It doesn’t matter your race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity, sex, or country of origin...we just want amazing people who are willing to grow along with us.
How you’ll help
For this role, coming at this particular phase in our life cycle, we think a little more context would be helpful: we’re a B2B SaaS company with annually cyclical selling season (a huge volume of direct and reseller papered deals largely concentrated in Q3 for the year) and an increasingly distributed and diverse workforce of 250+ employees and growing. We’re progressive in trying new ways to make the employer/employee relationship work better for today’s talented tech workers, but are sticklers for rules and for doing “what’s right,” not just what’s legal. We’re coming off a 20+ year run with our incumbent General Counsel and have been well trained that good GCs are strategic, growth-oriented executives, but can also have big, squishy, trusting hearts in addition to shrewd, strategic, agile minds.
What you’ll do
You will protect us. At Jellyvision, the legal team is not a hurdle, base to be touched, or a source of “no”, but rather a facilitator for each segment of the company -- to ensure we are compliant, strategic, and smart while also driving the business forward. Our General Counsel reports to the Chief Financial Officer and is a key member of our leadership team who has a significant impact on business strategy not just T’s and C’s. You’ll ensure the company operates within the law at all times, offer counsel on legal, privacy, security and compliance issues, serve as the guardrails of the organization, but also facilitate business development and strategic initiatives. We want a legal expert and teacher who communicates and counsels in plain English, but always does so with an eye towards innovation and growth.
- Lead and develop company legal strategy to promote and protect the organization’s business interests while driving revenue.
- Develop relationships of trust and respect with key internal and external stakeholders.
- Support (and sometimes handle) the negotiation, drafting, and review of contracts that maximize growth and minimize risk. As a growth tech company, we are buying services, software, and support galore -- and, happily, we are selling even more, often to the Fortune 500 companies that we’re proud to call our customers. At Jellyvision, we read our contracts carefully, draft our contracts clearly, and agree only to terms that are mutually fair and that we know we can satisfy. That requires careful review, creative drafting, respectful negotiation, and internal vetting with collaboration across the organization.
- Lead efforts to maintain compliance with privacy, security, and regulatory obligations.
- Proactively anticipate legal risk and implement appropriate means to mitigate such risk while partnering with business to get to a “yes” answer whenever possible. We don’t believe there is “never a way.” We believe there is “always a way,” and we will rely on your counsel to find the legal and ethical path forward.
- Partner with the People team to maintain employment practices compliance for an increasingly distributed workforce.
- Manage relations with talent union, SAG / AFTRA.
- Protect intellectual property.
- Partner with Product and Creative to ensure content satisfies legal requirements.
- Handle dispute resolution.
- Assist with management of business continuity and emergency response processes.
- Develop and implement scalable business processes related to revenue management and growth.
- Provide legal support for potential M&A activity.
- Manage liability insurance portfolio.
- Manage external legal advisors to maintain high levels of quality and low cost.
- Serve as a true business advisor and strategist in all business initiatives. We know you’re a lawyer. We need a lawyer. We want a lot more than a lawyer and will give you opportunities to be more than a lawyer.
Experience & skills you’ll need
- 10+ years of experience as a licensed attorney, preferably already with law firm experience and an in-house gig under your belt. If you do not have this minimum requirement, your application will not be considered so please do not apply. Sorry to be harsh on this, but experience and pattern recognition is paramount to hitting the ground running.
- Significant experience negotiating complex contract terms to close deals – including sufficient interpersonal gravitas to lead negotiations.
- Exemplary work quality and ability to resolve time sensitive issues with a high degree of precision.
- Ability to stay cool under pressure and manage a high-volume workload without sacrificing quality.
- Background with information security, compliance, and/or privacy are all pluses.
- B2B SaaS experience is a must. HR tech/benefits tech experience not required but would come in handy.
- Admission to the State Bar of Illinois is preferred – ability to practice law in Illinois is required.
- Impeccable integrity and strong analytical skills.
Skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills. You need to be able to think like a lawyer – but, when appropriate, communicate like a poet. Or at least like someone who can skip the jargon.
- Superb judgment and decision quality, able to balance and communicate trade-offs between optimization for growth and minimization of risk.
- Accountability – we’re a company of people who do what we say we’re going to do.
- Ability to spot issues and recommend effective solutions.
- Resilience – grit matters.
- Strong business acumen and an eagerness to partner with internal business colleagues to solve business issues.
- Bias towards action – we’re looking for someone who not only sees ways to improve but who will also lead the charge on making said changes.
- Hands on team player who is happy to roll up their sleeves.
- Optimism, a collegial approach to colleague/customer interaction, and an instinct to go "above and beyond" in order to achieve the optimal outcome for Jellyvision.
Thanks for your interest in Jellyvision!