Assistant General Counsel

City

San Mateo

State

California

Job Location

San Mateo Corp Office

Position Type

Regular

REPORTS TO

The Assistant General Counsel will report directly to the Vice President, Associate General Counsel.

LOCATION

San Mateo, California Corporate Office

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY

The Legal Department is integral to the Company’s day-to-day operations and strategic success and provides practical, business-oriented and efficient advice on all legal matters. The department is functionally responsible for all Essex’s legal affairs in California, Washington, and beyond, and serves both to ensure legal and ethical compliance, and to collaborate with across departments as a business partner to help create enterprise value consistent with Essex’s business model and core values. The culture of the department is fast-paced, collaborative, smart, and professional.

POSITION SUMMARY/OBJECTIVE

The position will serve as Essex’s in-house legal lead for claims management focused on resolving matters efficiently, strategically, and within budget. A successful candidate will protect the company’s interest through pragmatic risk assessment, cost control, and resolution focused strategy. Managing claims to a budget, overseeing outside counsel, and driving timely, practical resolutions are core to the role.

The candidate will oversee all litigation and pre-litigation matters, including coordination with outside counsel, negotiation of settlements, budgeting and reserves, as well as internal and external reporting. A successful candidate will translate litigation outcomes into practical business improvements — including the development of internal compliance programs that prevent repeat issues and reduce future risk, along with the proactive identification of emerging risk and compliance plans to minimize exposure.

Beyond claims, the position will provide legal support across all aspects of Essex’s day-to-day operations, including but not limited to landlord/tenant law, debt collections, and regulatory compliance. A successful candidate will be comfortable addressing legal questions across a range of disciplines, and adept at identifying the right experts and converting technical legal advice into clear, actionable guidance for business partners.

The successful candidate must be business oriented as well as able to work in a collaborative and fast-paced environment. The successful candidate will be able to communicate effectively with personnel in a variety of roles, effectively translating often complex information and directives between these groups. Demonstrated business judgment, a commitment to common sense, a collaborative nature, and superior interpersonal skills will be crucial to the candidate’s success. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Litigation & Claims Management

• Lead and manage all litigation and pre-litigation matters, including oversight outside counsel, budget oversight, and settlement strategy.
• Develop and implement litigation budgets, monitor reserves, and ensure timely and effective case resolution.
• Identify trends, establish benchmarks, create actionable reporting, and partner with operations to develop targeted risk mitigation strategies and staff training.
• Translate litigation learnings into practical improvements to business practices, compliance tools, and training programs.

Compliance & Risk Mitigation

• Conduct regular compliance assessments to identify risk exposure, non-compliance, and process gaps.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to develop remediation plans and implement corrective actions.
• Lead investigations into internal complaints and compliance concerns; recommend and execute corrective measures as needed.
• Monitor and report on compliance metrics to support business decision-making.

Operational Legal Support

• Provide day-to-day legal counsel to Property Operations (1,300+ team members) on a variety of matters, including resident disputes and regulatory issues, through ticketing system.
• Oversee the resolution of property incident tickets in coordination with site teams to prevent legal escalation and manage team completing same.
• Negotiate and draft various legal agreements including settlement agreements and lease terminations.
• Collaborate on the development and delivery of legal training for site teams on high-risk and recurring issues.

Policy & Process Development

• Lead updates to internal policies, procedures, and forms in response to evolving laws and regulations.
• Contribute to department-wide legal initiatives and special projects as assigned by the Vice President, Legal & General Counsel.
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QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Licensure

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in California and/or Washington strongly preferred.

Experience

• 7 - 10+ years’ of attorney experience
• Demonstrated litigation and claims management experience in-house required.
• Experience in regulatory compliance and landlord/tenant law strongly preferred.
• Experience using Legal Tracker, LinkSquares, or ServiceNow is a plus

Skills

• Strategic thinker with a business-oriented approach to legal problem solving.
• Skilled in managing outside counsel and internal clients across functional levels.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill complex legal issues into practical guidance.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a collaborative, team-first mindset.
• Proven ability to prioritize, manage multiple high-impact projects, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
• High attention to detail, analytical acumen, and proficiency in interpreting legal data.
• Technologically adept with strong organizational and time-management capabilities.

All full-time regular associates are offered competitive salaries, experience career growth, and are eligible for benefit packages that include medical, dental, vision, paid parental leave, 401k employer match, excellence rewards, wellness programs, and much more. With our 12 paid holidays and 15 PTO days, work/life balance is a priority! Additionally, most positions are eligible for a housing discount of 20%.

Essex provides great communities in which to live, work and invest. We are a purpose-driven company, and we pride ourselves on promoting an internal culture of growth and opportunity by engaging, enabling, and empowering our teams. Working at Essex is not a destination. It is a journey where you can confidently build your career.

The pay range for this position is $188,000.00 - $303,000.00 per year. New hires generally start between $188,000.00 - $246,000.00 per year. The final salary offer will be determined after reviewing relevant factors, including but not limited to skill sets; relevant experience; internal equity; and other business and organizational needs.

This role is also eligible to participate in Essex’s discretionary Annual Bonus program that is commensurate with the level of the position.