Senior Legal Counsel

XQ Institute is the nation's leading organization dedicated to rethinking the high school experience so that every student graduates ready to succeed in life. We work in communities nationwide, with individual schools and entire school systems, to help them dream big about what high school could be, turn their innovative ideas into action, and create more rigorous and equitable schools.

The Opportunity

The XQ Senior Legal Counsel powers and protects the organization by integrating legal strategy and support into programs, partnerships, and operations. XQ Senior Legal Counsel reduces risk, accelerates confident execution, and builds scalable, cost-effective systems that enable trusted collaboration with partners and informed decision-making.

This senior leader will ensure that XQ’s mission-driven initiatives are supported by strong legal frameworks that balance compliance with innovation.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

Define Legal Strategy & Risk Management

• Develop and maintain a legal and reputational risk management framework, including proactive guidance, policies, and training to build organizational capacity.
• Establish and update legal templates, practices, and policies that balance compliance with flexibility to accelerate execution without compromising accountability.
• Work with outside counsel to define and implement intellectual property and licensing strategies that safeguard XQ’s assets and brand while enabling strategic collaboration and adoption.
• Shape legal strategies for programs, products, partnerships, and governance to ensure initiatives launch with clear expectations, protections, and measurable outcomes.

Lead & Drive Legal Leadership and Transformation

• Advise and issue spot to ensure all organization operations and activities comply with non-profit status.
• Protect XQ’s intellectual property and ensure compliance with data privacy laws while enabling content sharing aligned with “making in the open” principles.
• Represent legal perspective in cross-functional transformation initiatives such as AI/OSS governance and California workplace requirements.
• Drive continuous legal education and knowledge sharing across the organization to enable confident decision-making.
• Ensure timely legal review of all contracts and grants in support of operational and programmatic goals.
• Implement cost-effective contracting strategies, pushing decisions to the right level and right-sizing legal documentation.
• Design flexible partnership structures (e.g., IP co-development) that support innovation and transformation at scale.

Manage Legal Operations & Team Performance

• Oversee cost-effective legal operations, including legal technology adoption, reporting, and strategic use of outside counsel.
• Manage the legal team’s development and performance to ensure responsive, high-quality legal support.
• Streamline contract and grant processes through cross-functional alignment that accelerates agreements while maintaining protections.
• Achieve predictable and efficient outside counsel spend, including scope control and delegation, with a target of double-digit reductions.

Collaborate Cross-functionally

• Partner with Finance, HR, and IT to integrate legal processes with operational and financial systems, reducing risk and increasing efficiency.
• Advise on HR and Workplace legal compliance.
• Collaborate with vendors and partners to resolve conflicts efficiently while preserving relationships and reputation.
• Support leadership team with aligned nonprofit policies and practices that protect XQ and its partners.
• Work with programmatic and product teams to embed legal considerations early, enabling impactful launches with built-in risk management.
• Partner with senior leadership on Board governance matters to ensure transparent credibility and fiduciary effectiveness.

Qualifications

• J.D. degree and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar, preferably CA, NY or DC.
• 7+ years legal experience, preferably 3-5 years in house or with a law firm practice serving non-profit clients.
• Demonstrated expertise in nonprofit law, contracts including grants, intellectual property, compliance and general operations and risk management.
• Proven ability to integrate organizational strategy with legal operations to enable mission-driven execution.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing teams and outside counsel including legal budget.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence at the executive level.

Benefits

Compensation

This is a full-time, exempt role with a competitive salary, commensurate with experience. XQ Institute offers a generous benefits package, including health coverage, retirement plans, and paid time off.

Compensation range: $225,000 - $255,000

Location

XQ is based in Oakland, CA with offices in Washington DC, LA, and New York. This role will be based in Oakland, CA onsite 5 days per week.