Associate General Counsel - Ethics and Employment - Morristown, NJ

We are looking for a highly motivated and detail-oriented attorney to join our growing Legal team.

As our Assistant General Counsel - Ethics and Employment Investigations, you will help support all aspects of Valley National Bank's employment law practice and our ethics program. The preferred candidate will have some experience handling workplace investigations and employment litigation and the desire to assist with a variety of other employment law matters. Working closely with senior legal and HR professionals as well as outside counsel, you will gain exposure to the full range of workplace legal issues and help ensure compliance with the intricate patchwork of federal, state, and local employment laws.

The role offers significant opportunities for professional development and enhancement of basic skills and is an excellent opportunity for an attorney interested in furthering their career trajectory as employment counsel in an in-house environment.

Primary Responsibilities include:

• Support administration of all aspects of Valley's Ethics Program, including overseeing investigations of complaints alleging ethical violations, ensuring issues identified are resolved with appropriate action, and maintaining the complaint database.
• Participate in providing senior management and the Board Audit Committee with regular reporting on ethics-related issues and trends throughout the organization and appropriately escalate significant complaints to Senior Management when necessary.
• Partner with Human Resources, Regulatory Compliance and Fraud Risk Management to investigate complaints and to address any complaint trends.
• Provide legal support to the HR team with other employment-related matters arising throughout the associate life cycle, including recruiting/onboarding, employee relations, training, benefits, performance management, leave administration and offboarding.
• Track, research, analyze and summarize developments in employment laws and regulations across several jurisdictions; inform HR and recommend actions to modify or implement policies and procedures to address compliance and support Valley's culture.
• Support internal investigations of employee complaints and disciplinary matters; provide legal guidance and risk assessment on employee relations issues, and review related documentation prepared by HR.
• Assist in responding to administrative claims (e.g., EEOC, DOL, state agencies), working closely with outside counsel when necessary; advise on resolution strategies.
• Assist with drafting and review of policies and the Employee Handbook, Code of Conduct, offer letters, separation agreements and other HR-related documents.
• Help develop and deliver internal training programs on employment law, investigations and compliance topics.
• Participate in the selection and management of outside counsel relationships, and the coordination strategy for employment litigation and disputes.
• Collaborate with HR and other business partners to promote a compliant and positive workplace culture.

• Knowledge of and experience with the alphabet soup of federal banking laws and regulations.
• Knowledge of and experience with bank regulatory laws and regulations.
• Ability to draft complex contractual documents.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to apply principles of legal, logical or scientific thinking to a wide variety of intellectual and practical problems.
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret the complex documents.

• JD degree and admission to practice in good standing in the state of New Jersey or the state of New York.
• Minimum of 4 years of applicable experience.

• Experience with banking matters at a medium to large law firm with banking clients and/or an in-house legal department at a bank, but will consider other backgrounds.