Assistant General Counsel Latin America

**Reports to**: Senior Associate Legal Counsel - Latin America

**Location**: Buenos Aires, Argentina, or Bogotá, Colombia, or another location in Latin America

**Scope**: Latin America

**Job Type**: Full Time

**Department**: Legal Department

**About the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)**:
**The opportunity**:
The WCS Legal Department (OGC) is looking for a full-time Assistant Legal Counsel-Latin America to provide a wide range of legal advice (corporate, labor, contractual, immigration, among others, in the field of local and international law) for the Latin American region of the WCS Global Conservation Program. OGC currently has six full-time attorneys, three part-time attorneys, one paralegal, and support staff. The position will be held at the WCS office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or in Bogotá, Colombia, or another location in Latin America that WCS deems acceptable. It will be necessary to travel to other places in Latin America. The attorney will primarily provide in-house legal support to WCS Latin America programs, which conduct conservation activities on the ground in 14 countries in the region through branches and various affiliated entities. The attorney will also support other US and international activities as needed and will work closely with WCS management and staff in Latin America. The position reports to the Senior Associate Legal Counsel for Latin America and the Caribbean.

**Principal functions**:

- Review, draft, and negotiate various agreements with a wide range of counterparties, such as: grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts with US government agencies, non-US governments, multilateral organizations (eg, World Bank, United Nations), private foundations, and other sources of financing; service provision contracts, memoranda of understanding, consulting agreements, confidentiality agreements, and intellectual property agreements with individuals, private foundations, for-profit corporations, and other US and international NGOs ; and commercial agreements (for example, sales agreements, leases, licences) with various counterparties.
- Provide legal advice and support on government-sponsored payments for environmental services agreements and schemes, including transaction negotiations and preparation of legal agreements.
- Manage relationships with external lawyers in Latin America.
- Assist and advise program managers in compliance with local laws (corporate, tax, labor and employment), as necessary and in consultation with outside counsel.
- Collaborate with OGC colleagues, WCS Directors and other internal departments in developing, guiding and training on institutional policies, initiatives and other matters.
- Advise on compliance with the WCS Code of Conduct, policies and procedures.
- Assist the WCS Human Resources Department in Latin America with advice on labor and immigration matters.
- Participate in cross-functional teams when necessary.
- Advise on various issues of business, operational and institutional risk management.
- Perform other tasks assigned by the Legal Counsel or the Senior Associate Legal Counsel for Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Qualification Requirements

**Requirements**:

- Lawyer, authorized to practice in Argentina, Colombia or another Latin American jurisdiction acceptable to WCS.
- Relevant legal experience of 4 to 6 years working or advising internationally, including cross-cultural work experience.
- You must be comfortable working in different languages with time differences and handling legal matters in several Latin American jurisdictions simultaneously.
- Excellent capacity for analysis and legal judgment.
- Experience in complex business matters.
- Strong legal drafting skills and extensive experience reviewing and negotiating contracts, preferably for a wide range of clients and deal types.
- Experience managing external attorneys in multiple jurisdictions.
- Ability to manage a heavy workload and conflicting priorities, and to competently complete tasks within tight deadlines.
- Ability to interact confidently and courteously with a wide range of people in a multicultural environment, including executives and other senior officials, outside lawyers, government representatives, scientists, and field staff.
- Ability to work independently with limited supervision.
- Ability to work effectively as part of a customer and service oriented team, and to be a personable, collegial and supportive colleague.
- Written and oral command of Spanish and English in a business environment, and excellent communication skills.
- Mastery of digital and administrative skills relevant to the legal profession.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.

**Desirable requirements**:

- Master's degree and/or Specialization in any branch of law (or its equivalent).
- Familiarity with the rules, regulations, and funding instruments of US government agencies, non-US governments, multilateral organizations, and other funding