Senior Associate General Counsel - Labor and Employment

At Vitalant, the impact you make doing work that is purposeful, meaningful, and worthwhile is vital. As a member of our non-profit organization, you can be impact-inspired to provide vital clinical services to communities nationwide, vital products to those in need of a donor's generosity, or vital scientific research that advances blood safety worldwide.

Work Shift (if applicable):

Job Description:

At Vitalant, our mission is to save and improve lives through blood donation, research, and innovation. The Sr. Associate General Counsel – Labor & Employment plays a key role in supporting this mission by providing strategic legal guidance on employment, employee benefits, and workforce-related matters. Partnering with Human Resources, senior leadership, and business stakeholders, this role helps navigate complex multistate employment laws, employee relations, workplace investigations, and litigation while supporting sound decision-making and organizational compliance. The position also oversees employment disputes, manages outside counsel, and monitors significant legal and regulatory developments to help protect Vitalant and its mission.

Compensation: $230,000 - $260,000 + 28% target incentive plan eligibility

Location: This hybrid position is based in Scottsdale, AZ, and requires working onsite three days per week and remotely two days per week.

As the Sr. Associate General Counsel - Labor & Employment, you'll get to:

• Provide legal advice and guidance to Vitalant and its related entities on a wide range of multi-state employment matters, including labor and employment laws, regulatory compliance, employee relations, investigations, employee benefits, and significant employment-related risks.
• Negotiate and draft various agreements, including employment, separation, settlement, staffing, consulting, and other workforce-related agreements.
• Advise on pay equity, compensation arrangements, employee classification, wage-and-hour compliance, payroll practices, incentive compensation, and related audits and remediation efforts.
• Advise on traditional labor matters, as applicable, including union organizing activity, collective bargaining and labor-management relations.
• Conduct or advise on sensitive internal investigations, in coordination with other subject-matter advisors as appropriate.
• Lead and serve as the primary legal advisor for employment and benefits-related support for mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, restructurings, and other strategic transactions, including due diligence, risk assessment, agreement review, employee-transition planning, and post-transaction integration.
• Prepare responses to employment-related demand letters and inquiries from regulatory and governmental authorities.
• Analyze and assess risk related to potential and actual administrative charges, claims and/or litigation, including but not limited to, labor, employment, workers’ compensation and benefits, and assist Management in identifying potential mitigating activities.
• Manage and supervise outside counsel with regard to claims, administrative charges, litigation and arbitration, and establish defense and indemnity reserves for insured matters.
• Monitor labor and employment legal and regulatory developments, assess organizational impact, and communicate recommendations and emerging risks to Management as appropriate.
• Review and advise on company policies, practices, and workforce initiatives to ensure compliance with changing federal, state and local laws, regulations, executive orders, and enforcement priorities.
• Assist with education and implementation of policies and procedures for compliance, employee guidance, and other topics relevant to company operations as applicable.
• Ensure appropriate preservation, organization, and management of employment-related legal records, litigation holds, investigation materials, and privileged communications.
• Prepare document templates for recurrent use; standardize contracts and forms and draft legal documents unique to specific needs of Vitalant and its related entities.
• Advise Management on significant employment, labor, employee benefits, and workforce strategy matters that present elevated legal, regulatory, financial, or reputational risk.
• Provide timely and succinct legal analysis, advice, and counsel to senior management and, as appropriate, to other employees.

REQUIREMENTS:

KNOWLEDGE/EDUCATION

• Juris Doctor from an ABA accredited College of Law required.
• Working knowledge of federal, multi-state, and local regulations pertaining to transfusion related or general health care services preferred.

LICENSES/CERTIFICATIONS

• A license to practice law or eligible to be registered as in-house counsel in the State of Arizona required.

EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of twelve (12) years of experience providing employment-related legal advice/guidance and managing/litigating employment-related disputes in a law firm and/or in-house legal department required.
• Six (6) years of experience working successfully with hospitals, health systems, laboratories, blood centers, biotherapies organizations, pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturers or distributors with a multi-state footprint preferred.
• In-depth experience in U.S. employment laws and regulations, such as Title VII, ADA, ADEA, OWBPA, FMLA, FLSA, NLRA and EEO required. 
• Experience with ERISA preferred.
• Experience with California employment laws and regulations, including wage and hour preferred.
• Clinical research or health care regulatory experience preferred.
• Experience working in an in-house corporate environment preferred.

SKILLS/ABILITIES

• Must possess the skills and abilities to successfully perform all assigned duties and responsibilities.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality.
• Must be highly organized and able to identify and analyze complex issues and develop creative solutions.
• Must be able to work independently and frequently without direct supervision and establish priorities while managing multiple projects.
• Must have a strong customer service orientation and a high level of personal integrity.
• Excellent oral and written business communication skills.
• Able to organize, prioritize, and efficiently execute a variable workload and multiple priorities.
• Ability to evaluate multiple business objectives across the system and analyze large risks in light of business goals.
• Functions at a level of legal expertise, judgment, and business acumen that permits independent action and strategic decision-making.
• Ability to travel, as needed.

Location:

Job Category:

Contact Information:

careers@vitalant.org

If you are impact-inspired to help others, and making a difference is vital for you, you'll experience a career built on purpose, a company created to care, and a team committed to lead - together.