As the Associate Director of Litigation and Legal Operations in the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), you will play an integral role in the day-to-day management of litigation matters involving the NCAA.  This position will support and work in coordination with the Managing Director of Litigation and the legal operations team to execute litigation strategy, manage third-party legal counsel and spend, develop analytics to strengthen team performance, and ensure compliance with litigation and legal operations. In addition, you will provide targeted support in regulatory compliance, risk management, and select operational areas where litigation intersects with internal national office operations. This position requires a strategic thinker with strong organizational skills and a solutions-oriented approach. This position reports to the Managing Director of Litigation and Legal Operations and operates in alignment with the general counsel.

Job Responsibilities: 

• In collaboration with the litigation and operations team, support day-to-day management of all phases of litigation and third-party legal counsel defending the Association in complex, public litigation. This requires attention to consistency of legal positions in collaboration with communications and the general counsel.
• Support with financial management of litigation and legal affairs, including litigation budgets and expenses, selection and management of outside counsel, alignment of strategy for litigation with business goals, development of standard methodologies for legal operations, complex recoveries, dispute resolution and litigation avoidance for the Association.
• In coordination with the litigation operations team, oversee eDiscovery and document management initiatives, including development of innovative processes for identifying, preserving and producing data, with responsibility for vendor selection and management.
• Monitor industry trends, participate in litigation and defense counsel professional organizations, and develop key metrics that help the company to understand and mitigate against emerging areas of risk.
• Provide legal guidance and facilitation for the development, interpretation and implementation of various internal and external policy compliance matters.
• Maintain strong cross-functional communication to ensure litigation strategies align with organizational priorities.
• Provide legal advice to national office staff and governance committees in areas of subject matter expertise. Specific areas to be agreed upon by the general counsel.
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements        

• JD degree and current bar admissions in any state required; ability to obtain in-house licensure in Indiana.
• 1-3 years of in-house or law firm litigation experience.
• Sports industry in-house experience is a plus.
• True litigation experience; familiarity defending tort and/or antitrust claims.
• NCAA membership knowledge or experience a plus.
• Estimated Travel Required <20%.
• This position will be based out of the national office in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Current work environment is hybrid; 3 days in the office and 2 days are remote.

Key Competencies

• EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION| Can exchange ideas, thoughts, and opinions, knowledge, and data so that the message is understood with clarity and purpose.
• TEAMWORK| Can effectively work together with other people to collaborate to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
• STRATEGIC AGILITY| Sees ahead clearly, can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately, has broad knowledge and perspective, is future oriented, can articulate paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods, can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT| The discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of a specific project.
• DRIVES FOR RESULTS| Can be counted on to consistently accomplish work effectively and efficiently, is very bottom-line oriented, steadfastly pushes self and others for results.

Core Values

• LEADERSHIP| We actively listen and continually strive to provide vital solutions, counsel and advocacy for student-athletes and intercollegiate athletics.
• INCLUSION| We seek and incorporate different perspectives and experiences to drive innovation and impact.
• COMMUNICATION| We commit to an environment of openness to build trust and make timely decisions.
• COLLABORATION| We work together, based on mutual respect, to lead and serve our stakeholders.
• ACCOUNTABILITY| We take ownership for our actions and results to add value every day.

• 1 - 3 years: In-house or law firm litigation experience.

• Juris Doctorate or better

Equal Opportunity Employer
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