Legal Counsel

Acumen is looking for a mission-driven lawyer to join our team in New York. We’re seeking someone with a minimum of 5 years of experience practicing funds formation and/or corporate law, with a proven commitment to tackling poverty or social causes. The ideal candidate is skilled, creative, kind, pragmatic, respectful and can excel in a fast-paced environment. Acumen has a hybrid work model, with 3 days in the office.

About Acumen
Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity. We were founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty. We invest in transformational companies, build sustainable markets, and prepare leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future. Since 2001, we have scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half-a-billion lives. Through our investment adviser Acumen Capital Partners, we are responsible for $166 million in assets under management via our returnable pooled investment funds which have impacted 238 million lives and offset 48 million metric tons of CO2.  To learn more visit acumen.org. 

About the RoleWorking together with the Director of Legal and the General Counsel, the Legal Counsel will provide general legal support to Acumen’s returnable fund activities. This role will be involved throughout the lifecycle of the funds, functioning as a corporate and commercial generalist to effect our programs efficiently and manage overall risk to the organization. A successful candidate will be expected to manage legal projects across various stakeholders, to provide and coordinate timely and efficient legal involvement in our transactions, to manage the activities of outside counsel, and to support and maintain cohesion across our global investment and support teams.  The role provides an opportunity to work with experienced practitioners and operators, contribute to purpose driven work, and to be a key part of building a fast growing investment adviser focused on solving problems of poverty on track to have over $500 million in AUM within the next year.

Principal areas of accountability are:

• Fund Marketing, Formation and Oversight. Together with the Director of Legal and the General Counsel, the role will engage in legal support throughout the life cycle of our pooled investment vehicles, from development, marketing, investor diligence, funding proposals, formation, negotiation, implementation, operationalization, reporting and through to liquidation.  The role requires understanding of our returnable fund documentation across our fund products, liaising with various teams (such as investment, fundraising, finance, ESG and compliance) and outside counsel for our existing and new pooled investment vehicles, negotiation of new fund offerings, review of marketing and reporting materials, and compliance with applicable regulatory frameworks; the role also requires the ability to communicate complex issues and implications with various team members to support decision-making.  The role will be accountable for the investment adviser across the portfolio of fund products.  The role should understand the requirements of various funders and be able to negotiate for consistency and good sense in new initiatives, and support in managing those relationships.  This role balances the fund manager’s needs for integrity, consistency and coherence across products, as well as the specific fund team’s needs for a saleable, effective fund product.
  
  
• Deal Diligence and Documentation, and Contract Review: The role will assist in ensuring that returnable fund investments meet funder requirements, which may include creating investee side letters passing on certain obligations, review of term sheets and diligence summaries to identify conditions to the investment, and review of final documentation in coordination with outside counsel. In such a role, knowledge of venture capital and emerging markets investing is a plus.  Additionally, the incumbent will handle contractual needs for our returnable fund teams, including grants, vendors, technical assistance and nondisclosure agreements.  The role will involve ongoing monitoring of fund activities alongside the fund teams for alignment with investor notice and consent requirements.
  
  
• Collaboration with Legal Team Needs. As a hands-on, 11 person internal legal team consisting of Legal (programmatic, governance), Compliance and ESG accountabilities, additional activities outside the pooled vehicle work may be requested.  As needed, such individual may be asked to 1) support our early stage pioneer investing team members in structuring and developing term sheets and documentation for Acumen’s venture capital debt and equity investments, and driving investments to efficient closing, 2) draft and review contracts for our various functional teams and 3) engage in various other initiatives to promote operational sustainability, among other activities.

Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience practicing corporate law and managing legal projects across various stakeholders; experience with funds formation, governmental funders, including the Green Climate Fund or development finance institutions is a plus, as is experience working with an impact or charitably oriented organization, as well as exposure to US and/or UK investment adviser regulations
• Strong organizational and diplomacy skills and the ability to work and deliver various, simultaneous projects independently, proactively and under pressure
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Commitment to accuracy, attention to detail and follow-through
• Commitment to, and enthusiasm for, Acumen’s mission and business model, a sense of the sector’s inherent challenge
• Aptitude for and comfort navigating ambiguity, and striving to create clarity, with a constant emphasis on integrity and ethical behavior
• Ability to remain cool-headed in unexpected or emotionally charged situations, use education and pragmatism to stay the course on Acumen’s goals and withstand the tests of a rapidly changing environment with resilience, resolve, empathy, humor and kindness
• Amenability to working across different time zones in an efficient manner
• Self reflective and aligned with Acumen values
• Must be licensed to practice law in the US, with a JD or equivalent
• Must be authorized to work in the US.

DeadlineApply as early as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

The salary range for this role in New York is $90,000 to $120,000 USD plus a performance-based bonus. This range represents the present low and high end of pay range for this role. Actual compensation will vary based on various factors including but not limited to experience. Acumen has equal pay, so pay is determined through comparison to a cohort of employees in the market at the same level of accountability.

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