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What you can expect as the AVP, Associate General Counsel - Enterprise Operations: _This role is responsible for providing legal and strategic advice along with leadership and operational support in enterprise operations.   We are looking for a passionate and energetic candidate who has one or more of the following experiences:  (1)  strong familiarity with state and federal employment laws; (2)  oversight and direction of a procurement/vendor management team; (3) knowledge of privacy regulations; (4)  legal support of cyber security issues; and/or (5) experience handling legal operations for an in-house legal department. _

• Provide strategic legal advice to the companies; Human Resources, Procurement, privacy and cybersecurity teams, including identification of relevant legal trends and issues, assistance in resolving legal issues related to employment laws and regulations, vendor and other contract review issues, privacy matters, cybersecurity issues, general corporate and contract matters and other general insurance regulatory matters.
• Establish, oversee and implement the strategic direction of the companies' Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management function. Manage the Strategic Sourcing team and serve as a coordination point for Strategic Sourcing activities. Provide direction and oversight to Strategic Sourcing team in their ownership of internal business partner relationships and external third-party vendor relationships. Serve as the escalation point for issue management and dispute resolution.
• Provide strategic legal and operational advice to the companies' senior leadership team regarding real estate matters, including company-owned properties and leased properties.
• Provide objective, thorough, timely and well-researched legal advice and counsel to management and business operations' inquiries on legal matters to allow management of the companies to assess the risk of various courses of action to support policies and procedures of the companies. Such areas include without limitation employment, contract law, privacy, cybersecurity, real estate, ethics and conflicts of interest and other general corporate law issues. Support the companies' Enterprise Risk Management committees, as needed.
• Provide objective and thorough legal guidance regarding Sammons Enterprises, Inc.'s Code of Ethics, serving as the companies' subject matter expert on application of the Code to individual situations. Advise and partner with the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary on complaints and issues arising out of the Code. Identify, assess and manage conflicts of interest that may arise within the companies; advise employees and leadership on conflict of interest matters and appropriate resolutions. Promote a culture of ethics throughout the enterprise.
• Provide leadership and collaboration with other team members in the Legal and Compliance Departments to manage the companies' exposure to regulatory fines and penalties or other regulatory sanctions, along with litigation exposure.
• Understand business objectives and goals when providing legal advice and counsel.
• Review, analyze, interpret and disseminate new laws and regulations, and provide strategic leadership in identifying and implementing any required changes within the companies.
• Identify important industry trends in regulation, legislation and litigation, and work with leaders within the companies and the industry to address issues with potential strategic impact on the companies.
• Advise and partner with the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the companies in connection with various legal matters and as required.
• Advise and partner with the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary regarding Legal Department operations, including developing and implementing strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Legal Department, aligning Legal Department resources with strategic priorities, identifying and implementing legal technology and tools to enhance departmental operations and assisting in management of the Legal Department budget.
• Provide supervision and management of outside counsel including controlling spend on outside counsel fees through budget management and through management of timely and thorough responses by outside counsel when necessary.
• Lead and manage attorneys, Legal Department and Strategic Sourcing employees.
• Drive and reinforce commitment to internal controls processes such as those under Model Audit Rule and Record Information Management.
• Commitment to embrace Sammons Financial Group Companies shared values (Respect, Accountability, Integrity, and Openness)
• As stated within the Company Attendance and Punctuality policy, regular attendance is required and expected in order to meet the business service levels and workflow demands.

What we are looking for:  

• Juris Doctorate Degree from an ABA accredited law school required
• Minimum 8 years' relevant experience in a law firm setting, in-house or a combination thereof required
• Minimum 5 years' leadership experience preferred
• Experience in working in litigation, employment or insurance matter preferred
• Prior experience with legal department operations, budgeting and financial management preferred
• Proven ability to deal with a wide variety of individuals, both inside and outside company organizations, in a professional, patient and responsive manner
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Effective leadership, coaching, decision-making and motivational skills
• Demonstrated ability to identify and analyze legal issues and to apply known or researched rules of law
• Demonstrated ability to conduct accurate and timely legal research
• Robust working knowledge of employment laws, regulations and related matters, privacy regulations, cybersecurity requirements and best practices, insurance regulation, real estate, general contract law and related issues, along with general corporate law and insurance
• Due to the financial nature and level of accountability of this position, a credit and criminal background check is required - The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires Sammons Financial Group Companies to notify you that, as a routine part of processing this application for employment, Sammons Financial Group may request a consumer report on you to verify all information contained in this application. Such report may include information about work-related behaviors, performance, character, general reputation, and personal characteristics, in addition to information about your previous employment, education, credit history and criminal records

Licenses and Certifications:

• Admission to and in good standing with the Iowa, Illinois or South Dakota Bar (or admission to and in good standing with another Bar enabling reciprocity and admission into the Bar of one of the previously mentioned states) required

Travel:

• Some travel may be required

Sammons® Financial Group (SFG) Member Companies offer some of today’s most sought after life insurance, annuity, and retirement planning products. Unlike most financial organizations, our companies are not publicly traded, which means we’re focused on long-term value rather than short-term earnings pressures. As a privately held company, our leaders and employees remain consistently focused on long-term growth, making decisions that allow us to deliver on our commitments to customers, distribution partners, our employees, and our communities. Individually, our companies provide value in the products and services they offer. Together we represent a history of strength and longevity.  What you can expect when you join SFG:  

• A casual dress code including jeans
• A rich company culture driven by private ownership and intentional leadership inspiring employees to engage in our healthy, high-performing and values based culture.
• Healthy balance between work and personal lives. Friday afternoons off all year long, competitive PTO and generous number of paid holidays
• Great benefits including medical, dental, vision, wellness plan, charitable giving programs, education assistance… to name a few ESOP-A generous 100% company funded retirement plan