Chief Legal Officer

Chief Legal Officer

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is one of the nation's most influential forces for racial justice in the United States, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.

Founded in 1971 to ensure that the promise of the Civil Rights Movement became a reality for all, the organization continues to engage in both legal and community-based efforts to topple institutional racism and stamp out remnants of Jim Crow segregation; unmask and defeat some of the nation's most violent white supremacist groups; and protect the civil rights of communities of color, children, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, prisoners, religious minorities, and many others who face discrimination, abuse, or exploitation.

The work of SPLC touches every part of the country, with a focus on five priority Deep South states:
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi—regions that have played historic roles in the Civil Rights Movement and remain critical battlegrounds for racial justice. Headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, the organization also maintains offices in Miami, Florida;
Atlanta, Georgia;
New Orleans, Louisiana;
Jackson, Mississippi; and Washington, D.C. This network of offices allows the SPLC to implement people-centered programs while developing broader strategies to confront systemic challenges both regionally and nationally. By transforming the Deep South, SPLC is leading the way for the rest of the country.

Reporting to the President & CEO and as a key member of the SPLC executive team, the Chief Legal Officer will be a thought partner and collaborative visionary responsible for shaping, leading and managing a strategic, innovative litigation docket at the federal, state, and regional level.

Effectively managing a large and experienced Legal team – and collaborating across issues, areas, and departments - the CLO will direct and implement the organization's impact advocacy and litigation strategy at a time when the work of the SPLC has never been more vital.

The successful candidate will have a history of deeply credible and meaningful legal leadership experience in the civil rights space, with leadership in litigation and advocacy.

Key responsibilities include providing strategic thought partnership on legal objectives, strategies and priorities to the President and CEO, the Executive Team, the Board, the Legal Department's leadership team, and other members of the organization. The CLO will also participate in organization-wide strategic planning, including leading the development and expansion of new strategies, resources, and policy work.

The leader will demonstrate change leadership, shaping, guiding and managing the SPLC's litigation strategy while supervising the effective and impactful operations of the Legal Department, including managing and supporting the litigation strategies across the various practice groups, ensuring the Legal Department provides the highest quality legal representation in support of and consistent with the organization's mission, strategic framework, and values, developing and overseeing any needed structural changes in the Department, reviewing financial reports and develop and oversee the annual department budgets in compliance with the SPLC's administrative and financial management policies and practices, recruiting, hiring, coaching, developing, mentoring, training, and motivating a team of highly skilled and collaborative litigation professionals, including attorneys and non-attorney professionals, and working with the organization's Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team to assess outcomes and impact of the Legal Department.

The Chief Legal Officer will actively participate in work to promote justice and equity, and incorporate a DEIA lens on the Legal Department's internal and external work. They will serve as an enterprise leader, bringing an organization-wide perspective to legal strategy and decision-making, and ensuring alignment of litigation priorities with the organization's broader strategic,…