Director, Associate General Counsel

Delta Dental of California; Oakland (CA); Remote; USD 190,000 - 440,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentive pay

401(k) matching

Medical benefits

Dental & vision

PTO & holidays

Career development

Tuition reimbursement

Family support

Volunteer opportunities

Employee discounts

Job summary

Delta Dental of California seeks an Associate General Counsel to lead and provide strategic legal guidance across the enterprise. You will influence and collaborate with the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, advising on a wide range of matters to support business objectives and industry representation.

You will coach senior lawyers, manage budgets, and ensure governance while aligning with enterprise goals and strategic planning across multiple teams.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience advising senior leaders.
• 5+ years of leading and developing lawyers.
• Bachelor's degree required; supervisory experience of 3+ years.
• Ability to provide global risk assessment and mitigation.
• Collaborative, cross-functional leadership.
• Adaptable to ambiguity and change.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and client empowerment skills.
• Understanding of the business of insurance and advising accordingly.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality legal service through cross-functional teams to resolve complex issues for enterprise outcomes.
• Counsel leadership with a broad range of disciplines to guide and advise on critical legal matters.
• Coach and guide the Assistant General Counsel and collaborate with leaders to deliver integrated services.
• Cultivate relationships across the enterprise and participate in strategic business planning.
• Develop and maintain understanding of the enterprise and industry to tailor legal advice and strategies.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Risk assessment

Strategic counsel

Insurance knowledge

Communication skills

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Bachelor's degree

Job description

The Associate General Counsel leads, provides strategic guidance to, and works through multiple teams of highly skilled professionals and people leaders, covering a wide variety of legal specializations in support of all functions of the Enterprise. As an in-house legal leader, this position exerts influence and collaborates with leaders across the company, including the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, to provide timely advice on a wide range of legal matters, and plays a critical role in informing the strategy of the enterprise and representing the company within the industry with a wide variety of external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality legal service through cross-functional teams to resolve complex legal issues in service of enterprise strategic outcomes.
• Act as a legal and business generalist, understanding critical legal issues for the enterprise from a wide variety of disciplines to comprehensively counsel and guide leadership.
• Coach and guide the Assistant General Counsel in collaborating with leaders across the enterprise and within the Division to provide high-quality, integrated, and proactive legal services that innovatively protect our company and help us achieve our business objectives.
• Cultivate and manage relationships across the enterprise with business stakeholders, including participation in cross-functional strategic business planning.
• Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of the enterprise and industry to identify trends/opportunities, to formulate business-appropriate legal advice/strategies, and to serve as a resource to enterprise leaders.
• Promote proper organizational governance and management accountability by escalating legal and risk management issues to the appropriate level and ensuring that the Deputy General Counsel, General Counsel, and enterprise leaders are well informed of department activities and initiatives.
• With the strategic guidance of the Deputy General Counsel, work to strengthen the legal talent landscape to enable business roadmaps by forecasting future talent gaps, assessing bench strength, developing talent, and succession planning.
• Collaborate across the Division to align on Legal Department goals and execution strategies, with the overall objective of ensuring the Company maintains a solid legal foundation upon which to do business. Coach the Assistant General Counsel in doing the same for their practice group.
• Accountable for building budget requirements (including outside counsel budget), and for ensuring proper management of the department budget.
• Where needed, provide oversight to lawyers and Assistant General Counsels on outside counsel management and serve as a liaison for outside counsel for complex initiatives.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience providing business-appropriate legal advice to leaders and 5+ years of demonstrated success leading, managing, and developing lawyers to deliver high-quality outcomes highly preferred. 12 years of experience with a bachelor's degree, including 3 or more years of supervisory experience required.
• Ability to provide global risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies.
• Ability to collaborate and bring cross-functional teams together.
• Adaptable and flexible; comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Ready, willing, and able to contribute and refine new and innovative solutions.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; skill in using logic and reasoning to identify solutions, conclusions, or approaches to processes.
• Self-motivated and goal-oriented, with the ability to determine strategies and objectives with little guidance.
• Ability to take decisive action and provide direction with little guidance based on desired outcomes and resources.
• Strong communication skills with a mindset of educating and empowering clients.
• Understanding of the business of insurance and demonstrated ability to advise clients toward success outcomes based on both legal and business considerations.

Licenses

• * Licensed attorney required upon hire (varies by state).

Base Pay Information

The national base pay range at the end is a good‑faith estimate of what Delta Dental may pay for new hires. Actual pay may vary based on Delta Dental's assessment of the candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), related experience, education, certifications and ability to meet required minimum job qualifications. Other factors impacting pay include prevailing wages in the work location and internal equity. Pay Grade 27. $190,254 - $439,724

Benefits

Behind the smile! We are dedicated to safeguarding the health and financial stability of our employees and their loved ones. This commitment extends beyond the workplace to foster personal growth and holistic wellbeing. Our life-changing rewards package includes:

• Competitive base and incentive pay
• 401(k) with robust matching and non-matching contributions
• Rich medical & pharmacy benefits
• 100% employer-paid dental and vision benefits
• Holistic wellbeing program with deep financial incentives
• Generous paid time off plus 12 paid holidays and your birthday off
• Culture of growth and learning: career development; tuition reimbursement; recognition program
• Family support: adoption assistance, fertility treatment, child, elder & pet care assistance
• Social responsibility and volunteer opportunities
• Employee discount program

Fair Chance Ordinances and Criminal Background Considerations

This position requires that the applicant undergo a background check. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with any applicable federal, state or local laws, including, but not limited to, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and/or New York Corrections Law Article 23-A.

Important Work Authorization Information

Please note, Delta Dental will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

#LI-Remote