Full-Time

Associate General Counsel

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

201-500 employees

Philanthropic foundation funding social progress

Compensation Overview

$174.8k/yr

Company Does Not Provide H1B Sponsorship

Chicago, IL, USA

Hybrid

Hybrid position based in Chicago, Illinois.

JD

Category
Legal (1)
Required Skills
Risk Management

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Requirements
  • Juris Doctor from an accredited institution with a record of strong academic and professional achievement.
  • Current admission to the Illinois State Bar, an ability and willingness to sit for the bar exam for admission to Illinois Bar, or eligibility for immediate admission as registered in-house counsel.
  • At least five years of experience as a practicing lawyer in a firm, organization, or government.
  • Experience managing a wide range of multiple projects, clients, and issues simultaneously in a role requiring a broad base of knowledge, being able to respond timely to multiple requests with different priorities and reacting to new ideas and changing strategies.
  • Ability to think strategically and be solution oriented.
  • Ability to exercise independent judgment and work autonomously while maintaining strong alignment with department colleagues.
  • Ability to write and speak clearly and concisely to identify, assess, and resolve legal and business problems and to summarize complex information.
  • Experience balancing risk management with innovation in a fast-moving legal environment.
  • Ability and willingness to exercise sound, informed judgment and build and maintain positive, collaborative relationships internally, finding consensus among a diversity of perspectives where appropriate.
  • Critical thinking ability.
  • High level of integrity, discretion, and professional judgment.
Responsibilities
  • Serve as primary legal counsel to multiple grantmaking teams, advising on grant structures, legal due diligence, compliance with private foundation tax rules, and related domestic and international legal requirements.
  • Review and draft grant agreements and related documents.
  • Counsel program staff on legal and reputational risk.
  • Review, draft, and negotiate documentation for the Foundation's traditional investment portfolio, including partnership agreements, subscription documents, and side letters.
  • Advise on private investment and mission-related investment transactions from term sheet through closing and ongoing compliance.
  • Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of agreements, including consulting, technology, data privacy, licensing, real property, and vendor agreements.
  • Contribute to the development of templates, policies, and playbooks that support consistency and risk management across the Foundation's legal work.
  • Participate in cross-functional working groups and support knowledge management infrastructure across the department.
  • Assist with Board and Committee materials, minutes, resolutions, and consents for the Foundation and its affiliates.
  • As assigned, serve as counsel, director, and/or officer to affiliated entities.
  • Support regulatory filings.
  • Help design and deliver legal training for Foundation staff.
  • Translate complex legal analysis into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyer audiences.
  • Represent the Foundation through conference speaking, professional committees, and peer networks.
  • Bring emerging legal developments and best practices back to the team.
  • Contribute to the development of consistent legal frameworks and department-wide practices in a quickly evolving operating environment.
  • Advise on novel and complex legal and risk questions where established precedent may be limited.
Desired Qualifications
  • Prior in-house experience, ideally with a not-for-profit organization.
  • Knowledge of private foundation tax law, nonprofit governance, and/or philanthropic sector regulation.
  • Experience with investment and/or impact investment deals, including equity and debt structures.
  • Familiarity with international grantmaking compliance, cross-border contracting, and/or OFAC/ATF requirements.
  • Experience advising on data privacy, technology agreements, and/or artificial intelligence governance matters.
  • Experience negotiating and drafting contracts, legal memoranda, investment documents and other agreements.
  • Experience designing legal systems, templates, and/or cross-functional processes.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

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The MacArthur Foundation funds people, projects, and organizations to improve justice, the environment, and peace around the world. It provides major grants, fellowships, journalism support, and research funding to help creative individuals, strong institutions, and influential networks succeed in tackling big social challenges. Its approach relies on long-term endowment-based giving, targeted programs, and strategic partnerships to drive measurable progress rather than quick fixes. What makes it different is its large endowment, its focus on “big bets” across diverse areas (such as reducing over‑incarceration, climate action, nuclear risk, and expanding social-sector finance), and its emphasis on supporting journalism, place-based impact in Chicago, and knowledge generation. The Foundation’s goal is to create a more just, verdant, and peaceful world by amplifying creative talent, strengthening institutions, and mobilizing networks to address critical societal issues.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

$158.9M

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois

Founded

1978

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • MacArthur lifted 2025 charitable spend to $619 million, then budgeted $576 million for 2026.
  • The foundation pledged six-percent payout through 2026 after federal funding cuts.
  • June 12, 2025 Native self-determination and January 14, 2026 Hill hire expand Indigenous work.

What critics are saying

  • Climate Solutions ends in 2026, forcing staff and grantees into transition.
  • A 6% payout still leaves 2026 spend below 2025, squeezing partner budgets.
  • Federal excise-tax hikes or payout mandates would crush MacArthur's endowment model.

What makes John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation unique

  • John Palfrey's 2026 Big Bets framework pairs time-limited programs with enduring commitments.
  • Megan Minoka Hill launched Native self-determination on February 3, 2026.
  • MacArthur's 2025 Fellows program awards $800,000 unrestricted grants to 22 individuals.

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Benefits

Hybrid Work Options

Remote Work Options

Performance Bonus

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Taxpayer funds used in climate change research that detractors have criticized. (The Center Square) - Lawmakers in Congress and President Donald Trump scrutinized a nonprofit research academy that has received millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal grants while producing a report linking global energy companies to climate change. The National Academy for Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report titled "Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and their Impacts," which used attribution science to link greenhouse gas emissions from particular energy companies to local climate change events. The group does not receive direct congressional appropriations, instead it earns money from federal contracts and grants. In 2024, the national academy received more than $205 million in contracts from executive agencies. "The use of larger ensembles of climate model simulations is enabling researchers to more effectively separate the human-caused climate signal from natural variability," the report reads. President Donald Trump and lawmakers in Congress have called for an investigation into the national academy. The president ordered federal officials to review conduct of the academy. "Our taxpayers should not be funding Climate Fraud, and judges should never have relied upon it," Trump wrote on social media. The report ties human activity and greenhouse gases to increased local weather events, including El Nino patterns and hurricane activity. The research compares models with and without human-involved activities, including oil and gas drilling, to determine whether there is a link to increased climate variability. The academy reports are often used as reference manuals for federal agencies, the judiciary and other policymaking organizations and have been criticized in the past. The group has also received funding from several prominent organizations tied to climate change proponents. "Radar, satellite, and on-site observations have expanded in terms of area and length of time covered, resulting in additional data to support EEA analyses for many regions," the report reads. Reps. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., Lauren Boebert, R-Col., and other lawmakers called on the Office of Management and Budget to cancel the National Academy's contracts with federal agencies. The lawmakers also highlighted the academy's lack of peer review on its climate change chapters and other published content. Lawmakers asserted the report's authors had conflcits of interest when writing the climate science chapters. "There are clear conflicts of interest as the climate science chapter was written by academics funded by the very same groups behind many climate lawsuits, including the for-profit law firm Sher Edling - best known for representing state and local governments in numerous lawsuits against oil and gas companies seeking enormous compensation for damages allegedly caused by climate change," the lawmakers wrote. The National Academy has received $32.4 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, $18.9 million from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, $15.9 million from the MacArthur Foundation and $11.7 million from the Hewlett Foundation, according to the group's financial disclosures. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has advocated for climate change policies including combatting "environmental racism," and "disproportinate pollution." Additionally the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation dedicated funds for a climate change museum, designed to link environmental issues to human causes. The MacArthur and Hewlett Foundations have called for greenhouse emissions to be halved by 2030 and at net zero by 2050. The report said it did not fully address the issues surrounding human-related climate change correlations and called for more investments to be made in the research and development. "The field is still an emerging area, with substantial opportunities to advance the methods and expand investigations internationally and across various impact types," the report reads. Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are expected to hear Suncor v. Boulder County Commissioners, a pivotal case examining whether state and local governments can prevent energy companies from engaging in global emissions activities that contribute to climate change. In Boulder County, officials attempted to institute nuisance laws to prevent energy companies like Suncor from emitting pollutants. Nuisance laws are typically used to deal with discrepancies between neighbors where an individual may be conducting business that harms another's property interest. "These issues directly contradict NASEM's own promises of integrity, objectivity, and independence from outside influence," the lawmakers wrote. (0 Ratings) Locations. Thank you for reading! Purchase a Subscription

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