Lead Paralegal - Corporate Counsel

Benefits Overview

A career at CoBank can offer you the opportunity to make a personal impact on the people and communities where we do business. In order to be the best, we hire the best!

Benefits Offered by CoBank

• Careers with a purpose
• Time-Off Packages, 15 days of vacation, 10 paid sick days and 11 paid holidays
• Competitive Compensation & Incentive
• Hybrid work model: flexible arrangements for most positions
• Benefits Packages, including Medical, Dental and Vision coverage, Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
• Robust associate training and development with CoBank University
• Tuition reimbursement for higher education
• Outstanding 401k: up to 6% matching and additional 3% non-elective contribution & Student Loan Match
• Community Impact: United Way Angel Day, Volunteer Day and Associate Directed Contribution
• Associate Resource Groups: creating a culture of respect and inclusion
• Recognize a fellow associate through our GEM awards

Job Description

This role will perform a variety of tasks in assisting the Corporate Counsel Division with vendor contract management, regulatory review and implementation, legal document management, collection and review for litigation matters, and day-to-day support of the bank’s standards of conduct program along with required quarterly reporting. In collaboration with Regulatory & Compliance associates, oversees the bank's processes and procedures for the bank's standards of conduct program, and regulatory environment monitoring and implementation tracking.  This role will also perform various complex legal and other necessary work and research to assist the teams of the Corporate Counsel Vision, including Board Relations, Corporate, transactional and litigation work. 

Performs varied legal, title, abstract, and other necessary research to assist attorneys and supervisors with the performance of corporate and/or transactional legal work. Assists in the preparation of the most complex legal and loan documents, analyses and opinions and acts as a resource and subject matter expert for other paralegals, May provide support for various corporate legal functions as needed.

Essential Functions

• Drafts and reviews the most complex documents, correspondence and opinions, ensuring accuracy and high quality.
• Drafts and updates standard documentation templates and contracts. 
• Assists supervisor and attorneys by performing quality review of legal documents prepared by other attorneys and/or paralegals for complex and standard transactions, as needed. Identifies errors, skillfully provides feedback, guidance and training, as appropriate.

• Assists in the review and management of various legal third-party contracts with suppliers and vendors, including Non-Disclosure Agreements, Statements of Work, Master Service Agreements, etc.

• Manages contract databases and assists with review and compliance of cybersecurity, data protection and artificial intelligence terms. Assists with tracking of approvals of affirmations, users and assistance with legal review of use cases.

• Monitors, tracks and assists with standards of review and approach with assistance in running monthly meetings for the legal team to discuss consistency and updates to legal standards for cybersecurity, data protection and artificial intelligence terms and regulations.

• Manages team workflow and manages priorities, as needed, to meet internal and external deadlines.
• Support and drive organizational change, identifies opportunities for improvement, drive change initiatives and implement innovative solutions.
• Leads project work, offering guidance, setting priorities and making decisions. 
• Obtains and reviews organizational documents. Performs follow up, tracking and maintenance of updated organizational documents.
• Assists in performing most complex legal audits. May train other associates to perform legal audits. Reviews the legal audits of others, identifying errors and skillfully providing feedback.
• Performs legal research, including but not limited to cite checking. Summarizes research results and recommends appropriate courses of action. Assists with monitoring the regulatory environment and the bank’s monitoring and tracking program for the implementation of new regulatory requirements.
• Independently performs general corporate support functions as required, including independently completing complex assignments. Assists Senior Regulatory & Compliance Analyst with the day-to-day oversight of the standards of conduct program with monitoring standard of conduct communications, following-up with new hires on disclosure requirements, regular compliance reporting, disclosure reviews and mitigation, and preparing and review of annual disclosure process.
• Assists Senior Regulatory & Complaint Analyst with reputation risk and system reporting.
• Maintains adherence to bank policies, procedures and controls to ensure consistency and quality. Drafts and reviews job aids, procedures and maintains training materials, provides comments and recommendations.
• Anticipates and takes proactive action to address potential issues, manage risks and escalates appropriately and timely/early in the process. Demonstrates good judgement, analytical and decision-making skills.
• Serves as a resource and subject matter expert for peers, attorneys and internal customers on vendor contract management and if working with the Legal Loan Processing Team, on all transaction types, including the most complex and non-standard. Proactively and independently resolves problems and assists others toward issue resolution.
• Identifies potential risks and works with leadership to appropriately mitigate those risks. Acts as a resource for other associates and subject matter expert, shares knowledge and trains other associates.

Education

• High school diploma or GED required
• Bachelor's Degree preferred
• Paralegal Certification preferred

Work Experience

• 8 years of paralegal experience or equivalent, preferably in a secured lending practice or law firm required.
• Demonstrated skills in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, SharePoint, and Excel) required.
• Prior experience in regulatory compliance matters, such as adherence to standards of conduct requirements preferred.
• Prior experience with nCINO Salesforce Experience preferred.
• Ability to prioritize and schedule work and projects with minimal supervision.
• Flexible to work with multiple teams and balance ongoing projects and work.
• Ability to work independently with minimal guidance, as well as collaboratively in a team environment.
• Acts as resource to others on the team, answers questions and provides training as needed.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Strong detail and customer service orientation.
• Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills.

Physical Exertion Details

Sedentary Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally (Occasionally: activity or condition exists up to 1/3 of the time) and/or a negligible amount of force frequently (Frequently: activity or condition exists from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time, but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Travel Requirement Details

Occasional Travel occurs infrequently (typically, once a month or less).

About CoBank

The base pay range for this role is between $90,900 - $111,800. Compensation may vary based on individual job-related knowledge, skills, expertise, and experience. This position is eligible for a discretionary annual incentive program driven by organization and individual performance. The listed salary, other compensation and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. This job will be posted for a minimum of five (5) business days or until the position is filled. CoBank reserves the right to adjust compensation for all positions and to modify or discontinue benefits programs at any time in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law.

CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 76,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

We are committed to ensuring that our online application process provides an equal employment opportunity to all applicants, including qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are an applicant with a disability, or are assisting an applicant with a disability, and require accessibility assistance or would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any aspect of the application process, including completing an application, interviewing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please submit a request by emailing [email protected]. Include your contact information and specific details about your requested accommodation.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

CoBank is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.