VP, Assistant General Counsel

The VP, Assistant General Counsel’s primary responsibility is to represent WPCU and its subsidiaries by providing legal advice and counsel to various business unit partners and senior management related to credit union and CUSO activities. The VP, Assistant General Counsel provides support to the Chief Legal Officer regarding a variety of highly complex and routine legal matters. The VP, Assistant General Counsel is responsible and accountable for managing legal and other risks by openly exchanging ideas and opinions, elevating concerns, and ensuring compliance with policies,  procedures, laws and regulations.  The VP, Assistant General Counsel is accountable for interacting with partners, members, and external third parties in a professional manner consistent with WPCU core values. While operating within WPCU’s risk appetite, the VP, Assistant General Counsel achieves results by consistently identifying, assessing, managing, monitoring, and reporting risks of all types. This position supervises and manages other partners within the Legal Department. 

• Provides day-to-day legal advice and counsel to internal business units in connection with the development, implementation, and maintenance of products and services and other business operations.
• Represents WPCU’s interests in litigation, transactions, collections, contracts and other business matters and opportunities ensuring that proper laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, risk mitigation activities and controls are followed.  Reports identified gaps in compliance, policies, practices, and operating controls to senior management.
• Maintains an up-to-date awareness of all current, new, and developing state and federal laws and regulations applicable to the financial services industry and WPCU and provides legal advice on a variety of related matters.
• Serves as an in-house legal expert to WPCU partners, collaborating with internal partners and senior management to assess the legal, regulatory, and reputational risks associated with consumer and business banking products and services and develop approaches for managing such risks.   Provides expert legal advice on laws, regulations, and standards that affect credit union and CUSO activities, products, and services.
• Provides guidance to other legal team partners for matters related to specific area of responsibility.
• Oversees WPCU’s management, processing and response to a variety of legal operations functions, including subpoenas, powers of attorney, garnishment orders, IRS levies, guardianships, custodial accounts, and others.
• Allocates and reviews work, provides training, works with staff to set and achieve objectives, and guides and advises legal team partners for individual development.
• Develops and prepares subordinates for advancement through training, coaching, mentoring, and feedback, with a focus on developing technical legal expertise in assigned areas of practice.
• Consults with WPCU business units and assists with policy development related to legally prudent methods of member service.
• Identifies and analyzes legal issues, drafts key documents, presents clear recommendations to management, and assures legal compliance.
• Evaluates and supports external collection vendors to ensure optimal recoveries for WPCU.  Negotiate contingent collection agreements as appropriate.
• Develops and revises practices and procedures as they relate to legal operations and bankruptcy administration, ensuring improvements are made to increase the performance and delivery of WPCU’s legal support operations.
• Ensures WPCU’s litigation and collection litigation is appropriately managed, monitored, and reported to senior management and other required parties.
• Drafts, reviews, and negotiates various vendor agreements, including services, purchase, software and technology, consulting, professional services, and other agreements.
• Develops form documents and disclosures for use by assigned business units and performs periodic review and update of form documents and disclosures.
• Engages in critical analysis and develops sound legal assessments, recommendations and opinions when presented with complex issues.
• Identifies, researches, interprets, and analyzes relevant federal, state, and local legal requirements impacting products, services, and operations.
• Participates as a member of senior leadership to determined strategic plans, tactics, budgets, and priorities.  

The VP, Assistant General Counsel will be an expert in financial services laws and regulations, with a proven track record of successfully partnering with Wright-Patt Credit Union leaders to achieve business objectives. The successful candidate will also have a demonstrated ability to manage and develop a team of high performing legal professionals. The VP, Assistant General Counsel will possess the following:

• Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school;
• Minimum twelve years’ experience practicing law. Experience representing financial institutions strongly preferred.
• Licensed attorney who is eligible to be licensed as corporate counsel in Ohio or otherwise admitted to the Ohio Bar;
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, verbal and written communication and presentation skills;
• Problem resolution and analytical skills and the ability to interact well with all organizational levels;
• Previous leadership experience preferred or equivalent mentorship/management experience; and
• Prior litigation, financial services, contracts, collection, and bankruptcy experience strongly preferred.