Career Center

General Counsel

Looking for a: Other
Practice Area:
Job Type: Full-Time
Starting Salary: $400,000
Job Duration: Permanent
Job Description:

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (https://www.rutgers.edu/) is seeking nominations, inquiries, and applications for the position of Senior Vice President and General Counsel (General Counsel). The General Counsel will report to the President and provide strategic guidance, consultation, and support on a wide range of legal and related issues to the President, the Board of Governors, the Board of Trustees, senior leadership, and administrators across all University campuses.

Founded in 1766, Rutgers is America’s eighth-oldest institution of higher learning and an academic, health, and research powerhouse that leverages outstanding talent, resources, and expertise to address challenges and create positive impact in New Jersey and beyond. Rutgers educates across the full educational spectrum: undergraduate to graduate, residencies to postdoctoral fellowships, continuing education for professional and personal advancement, and early childhood and pre-college programs. Rutgers represents inclusive access for students, with a focus on being the national model for outstanding academic programs, social mobility, and educational equity, with purposeful and timely degree completion, career preparation, and lifelong learning. Through the excellence of its scholarly research, partnering health systems, and outreach programs, Rutgers propels the creation, sharing, and application of knowledge, and addresses societal challenges and improves lives in collaboration with local and global partners.

One of the leading comprehensive public research universities in the nation with its New Brunswick campus, a member of the Association of American Universities, Rutgers operates 29 schools and colleges (https://www.rutgers.edu/schools-and-colleges) that together enroll over 69,000 undergraduate and graduate students; receives over $969 million in research grants and sponsored programs annually; and has over 600,000 alumni around the world. Rutgers is a national leader across disciplines, including the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, and professional fields. Currently, 53 Rutgers faculty are members of the National Academies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, or both. Additionally, more than 100 Rutgers faculty have been inducted as members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Rutgers is a member of the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference (Scarlet Knights) and NCAA Division III New Jersey Athletic Conference (Scarlet Raiders and Scarlet Raptors). The university has an annual operating budget of nearly $6 billion.

As a crucial member of the President’s senior leadership team, the General Counsel will provide executive and administrative direction over the University’s legal matters. This individual will act as the chief legal officer, offering legal support, advice, and guidance to the President, the Board of Governors, the Board of Trustees, senior leadership, and administrators on all legal issues affecting the institution. The General Counsel’s role will encompass a diverse array of legal, transactional, regulatory, compliance, and litigation matters and will involve the management of legal resources to align with the organization’s overarching priorities. The position necessitates extensive experience in areas such as contracts, labor and employment law, intellectual property, research agreements, litigation and risk management. The General Counsel is expected to bring a proactive and collaborative approach to addressing the legal challenges associated with an innovative organization dedicated to reshaping the future of higher education and healthcare delivery.

The individual selected for this position will be a highly strategic, forward-thinking attorney who is well-versed in the business dynamics and regulatory environment of higher education and healthcare. The General Counsel will be innovative, capable of creating solutions that facilitate the University’s initiatives to assure the success and growth of the organization. The successful candidate must have excellent academic credentials and a law degree from an ABA accredited school of law with at least fifteen years of broad legal experience in higher education, government, healthcare and/or other non-profit entities gained in-house or through working closely with higher education, healthcare or not for profit clients. The selected candidate should also be a member in good standing of NJ State Bar, or eligible to become a member of the New Jersey State Bar within one year after being hired.

Expressions of interest and applications are welcome. For more information, questions or nominations, please contact Werner Boel, Zach Smith, and Tyler Workman via email at [email protected]. To be considered applicants must complete the following two-step process:

1. Submit an employment application via the Rutgers career site: Rutgers University Employment Opportunities | Senior Vice President and General Counsel (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/248405__;!!GTF8f0q2V2sp!5NPt__JB_GD0S47BVGbdXtI-Gw1XG9WebulQGmQoP8VLPzbr1akNBvacWg_po-nRZP-ApnUShLQ5RpHRUQFK3qF0T5w$).
2. Provide a curriculum vitae and a letter of application that addresses the responsibilities and requirements in the leadership profile (https://wittkieffer.com/positions/201026) using WittKieffer’s Candidate Portal (https://apptrkr.com/6131593).

WittKieffer is assisting Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by April 30, 2025.

The minimum salary for this position is $400,000.

It is university policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all its employees and applicants for employment regardless of their race, creed, color, national origin, age, ancestry, nationality, marital or domestic partnership or civil union status, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability status, liability for military service, protected veteran status, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical cellular or blood trait, genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing), or any other category protected by law. As an institution, we value diversity of background and opinion, and prohibit discrimination or harassment on the basis of any legally protected class in the areas of hiring, recruitment, promotion, transfer, demotion, training, compensation, pay, fringe benefits, layoff, termination or any other terms and conditions of employment. For additional information please see the Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address: https://uhr.rutgers.edu/non-discrimination-statement.

Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey
Posted On: April 11, 2025 at 12:12 pm