Associate General Counsel

About the role

The Associate General Counsel (AGC) serves as a key member of the Office of General Counsel and provides strategic and operational legal support across the organization. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, the AGC has broad responsibility for legal, regulatory, risk management, and compliance matters. The AGC partners closely with executive leadership, operations, People & Culture, Medical Services, Quality, IT, and Business Development teams to ensure legal compliance while supporting the mission to safely collect, process, and distribute blood and related products.

Responsibilities

• Regulatory & Healthcare Compliance (30%): Provide legal guidance on federal and state healthcare laws, FDA regulations for biologics and blood establishments, HIPAA privacy and security, and CLIA/laboratory frameworks; advise on quality systems, inspections, and regulatory audits; partner with Quality and leadership to assess and mitigate regulatory risk; support internal investigations and corrective‑action initiatives.
• Corporate & Governance (10%): Assist the General Counsel with board and committee matters, including governance documentation; draft and review corporate policies and procedures; support mergers, affiliations, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships.
• Contracts & Transactions (20%): Draft, review, and negotiate contracts such as hospital agreements, vendor and supplier contracts, clinical trial and research agreements, and IT/data‑management agreements; advise on contract risk allocation, indemnification, insurance, and limitation of liability provisions.
• Risk Management (10%): Identify enterprise legal risks and develop mitigation strategies; oversee claims management and coordinate with outside counsel on litigation; advise on insurance coverage and risk‑transfer strategies; assist in business continuity and crisis‑response planning.
• Intellectual Property (Preferred) (10%): Support patent strategy for laboratory innovations, devices, biologics processes, or proprietary technologies; coordinate with outside IP counsel on patent prosecution and portfolio management; advise on trade‑secret protection, licensing, technology transfer, and freedom‑to‑operate analyses; support R&D initiatives from a legal perspective.
• Employment & Workforce Matters (10%): Advise People & Culture on employment‑law compliance, investigations, and disciplinary matters; assist with workforce risk management in a regulated healthcare environment.
• Data, Technology & AI (10%): Advise on data governance, cybersecurity, and health‑data use; support compliance with evolving AI and digital‑health regulatory considerations; review software licensing and SaaS agreements.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
• Active Texas law license in good standing.
• Minimum four (4) years of relevant legal experience.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Experience working directly with business leaders and cross‑functional teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in healthcare, blood banking, biologics, laboratory medicine, regulated biologic manufacturing, life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, or other regulated healthcare‑related environments.
• Robust M&A and/or intellectual‑property experience, particularly patents.
• In‑house legal experience.
• Experience supporting nonprofit or mission‑driven organizations.
• Experience managing outside counsel.

Competencies

• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen.
• Ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical guidance.
• Strong risk assessment and judgment skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• High integrity and discretion.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Collaborative leadership style.

Physical demands and work environment

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Location

Onsite role at Gulf Coast Blood headquarters. Occasional travel to other business locations.

About Gulf Coast Blood

Since 1975, Gulf Coast Blood has been one of the nation’s largest community blood centers, serving 170 hospitals across 26 counties. Headquartered in Houston, the organization supports the world’s largest medical complex—the Texas Medical Center—while operating 18 donor centers and hosting more than 7,000 mobile blood drives each year. As an FDA‑accredited nonprofit, Gulf Coast Blood provides high‑quality human cellular material for both scientific and therapeutic use.