Managing Counsel

At MFS, you will find a culture that supports you in doing what you do best. Our employees work together to reach better outcomes, favoring the strongest idea over the strongest individual. We put people first and demonstrate care and compassion for our community and each other. Because what we do matters – to us as valued professionals and to the millions of people and institutions who rely on us to help them build more secure and prosperous futures.

THE ROLE

MFS is seeking a highly motivated and collaborative lawyer to join our Legal team as Managing Counsel. This role leads a team of lawyers and paralegals that provide legal support to investments, investment operations and trading across all asset classes. The successful candidate will join a specialized legal team that collaborates closely with our business and Compliance colleagues to advance key initiatives of the firm.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Advises on regulatory issues relevant to investments, investment operations and trading. A successful candidate will have deep knowledge of applicable US laws and, preferably knowledge of non-US laws, as well as the ability to work closely with international colleagues and be the lead lawyer covering these areas from a global perspective. 

• Acts as the lead lawyer advising the firm on issues such as error resolution, best execution, cross-trades, material non-public information, major shareholder filings, and other relevant capital markets and trading regulatory matters. 

• Overseas a team of lawyers covering capital market transactions across equity and fixed income investments, including PIPEs, certain venture capital private transactions and fixed income restructurings. 

• Collaborates with Compliance, Investments and Operations to ensure legal and regulatory risk is appropriately managed in commercial negotiations and in supporting business activities. 

• Works with Compliance on regulatory engagement and regulatory examinations.

• Monitors legal and regulatory developments and assess their impact.

• Prepares and presents materials related to investments, investment operations and trading for the meetings of the various Boards of MFS, its subsidiary companies and/or its fund complexes. Additionally, this individual may offer legal advice or identify issues of importance to the Boards.

• Works with and oversees the work provided by outside counsel on a variety of highly complex legal matters to ensure that standards for quality, service delivery and cost are met.

• In their role as a Managing Counsel, directs staff in their participation in projects; monitors assignments and makes decisions regarding employment, training and development, performance appraisals and compensation, and/or provides large-scale project management, including planning, budgeting, and implementation. Coaches team to coordinate and to implement solutions. Assists in determining allocation of resources and negotiates deadlines.

• Provides input into strategic planning and develops short- and long-range plans to satisfy departmental objectives. Coordinates and implements solutions.

• Assists investments, investment operations and trading with any other legal issues depending upon business needs.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Bachelor’s Degree and Juris Doctorate Degree. Must have been admitted to and be a member in good standing of a state bar, such as the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, or country of practice, such as the UK, Luxembourg, Japan, Australia, etc.  

• 12-15+ years of experience (10+ years post bar experience), with at least 8-9 years of specialized legal experience in applicable area of law. 

• Proven leadership skills and experience managing multiple disciplines within a legal department with a commitment to personal and team development.

• Excellent analytical, organization, communication, and interpersonal skills and that ability to implement new processes across an organization.

• Excellent Collaboration skills that prioritize teamwork, innovation, excellence and breaking down silos. 

PREFERRED SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Advanced work in legal specialty is a plus.

#LI-JN1

At MFS, we believe in fair and transparent compensation. For that reason, we’re including the salary range for this position. This range reflects our good-faith expectation for what we’ll pay depending on the candidate’s experience, training and education. In addition to the salary, we also offer significant and competitive incentive compensation based on both individual and company performance. Other components of our Total Rewards Package include:

• MFS contributes an amount equal to 15% of your base salary to your retirement account that is separate from the company -sponsored 401(k) 

• Education Assistance: MFS contributes $100 monthly up to $10,000 lifetime maximum directly to loan provider

• Education Assistance: Tuition reimbursement up to $8,000 annually 

• Education Assistance: Access to discounted tutors and college coaches

• Generous time off and fully paid leaves including 20-weeks for maternity, 12-weeks for parental and caregiver leaves

• Choice of medical and dental plans and an and an employer contribution into the Health Savings Account

• Tax deferred commuter benefits & flexible spending accounts (medical & dependent care)

• Wellness Programs: Robust wellness webinars, employee assistance program with a focus on mental health, subsidized fitness benefit via Wellhub (formerly Gympass), where you can workout at gyms, studios and boutique fitness locations near you, join virtual personal training sessions and access a wide variety of well-being apps

Our compensation philosophy is to pay competitively for talent while ensuring equity across employees performing comparable work. We are committed to transparency – if you have questions about how we arrived at this range or what additional benefits and bonus opportunities come with the role, we’ll be happy to discuss them

#LI-HYBRID

At MFS, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply - you might be just the right candidate for this role or others.

MFS is a hybrid work environment (remote/onsite) unless otherwise stated in the job posting.

If any applicant is unable to complete an application or respond to a job opening because of a disability, please contact MFS at 617-954-5000 or email [email protected] for assistance. 

MFS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and it is our policy to not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state or local laws. Employees and applicants of MFS will not be subject to harassment on the basis of their status. Additionally, retaliation, including intimidation, threats, or coercion, because an employee or applicant has objected to discrimination, engaged or may engage in filing a complaint, assisted in a review, investigation, or hearing or have otherwise sought to obtain their legal rights under any Federal, State, or local EEO law is prohibited. Please see the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal document, linked for your reference.