AVP, Employment Litigation & Consulting

If you're passionate about being part of a diverse organization that enables a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales to deliver innovative business solutions with excellence, then Nationwide's Legal team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

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Job Description Summary

Would you thrive in an environment where you can deliver top-quality legal services to support the mission of a Fortune 100 insurance and financial services company? If you enjoy having a diverse workload, are adaptable, highly skilled and bring a collaborative approach to complex and important legal work, we want to hear from you.

As an Associate Vice President, you’ll lead Nationwide’s Employment Consulting & Litigation team and be responsible for Nationwide’s employment law strategy and support across the enterprise. This role leads a trusted team of employment law professionals who provide practical, risk-balanced guidance to HR, business leaders, and other Legal partners on complex workforce issues across the associate lifecycle. You’ll oversees high-impact employment litigation and agency matters, guides the approach to sensitive investigations and disputes, and helps design policies, processes, and tools that promote consistent, equitable, and legally compliant people practices. You’ll serves as a key strategic partner on major workforce initiatives, ensuring employment risks are proactively identified and managed in alignment with Nationwide’s values and risk appetite.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities: 

• Directly leads, oversees, and coordinates the provision of employment law services in support of HR and business partners across the enterprise.

• Provides proactive and reactive advice and guidance on hiring, performance management, discipline and termination decisions, accommodations and leaves, wage and hour compliance, investigations, and other associate-related issues, including multi-jurisdictional matters.

• Oversees strategy for employment litigation, agency charges, and high-risk pre-litigation disputes, including management of outside counsel and alignment on enterprise positions.

• Monitors and interprets evolving federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations and translates them into practical policies, playbooks, decision frameworks, and guidance for client use.

• Partners with senior HR leaders, business executives, and other Legal partners on major workforce initiatives such as reorganizations, new work models, acquisitions and divestitures, global employment matters, pay transparency and equity, and the responsible use of AI and analytics in HR tools and decisions.

• Leads workforce strategy and organizational change for the Employment Consulting & Litigation team and contributes informed employment law perspectives to enterprise strategies affecting talent, culture, and risk posture.

• Leads and develops attorneys and legal professionals by setting expectations, coaching performance, building succession capability, and fostering a culture of collaboration, integrity, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Designs and continuously improves scalable, data-informed processes for service delivery, documentation standards, intake and triage, metrics and reporting, and decision-making.

• Builds trusted relationships across HR, the business, and Legal and influences outcomes through sound judgment, collaboration, credibility, and clear communication of risk, options, and trade-offs.

• Serves as a member of the broader legal leadership team to help drive strategic priorities and overall department execution.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned. 

Reporting Relationships:  Reports to VP, Employment & Tax Legal. Leads a team of three legal professionals.

Typical Skills and Experiences: 

Education:  Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school. 

License/Certification/Designation: Associates reporting within Nationwide’s Office of the Chief Legal Officer (OCLO) who are functioning in attorney roles must be fully licensed in accordance with OCLO policy, in good standing and in compliance with all continuing legal education requirements at all times in the state(s) in which they practice. 

Experience:  Typically 15 years of employment law experience, with a strong mix of law firm and in-house experience preferred. Demonstrated experience counseling on complex employment matters, including discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, accommodations, leaves, and discipline and termination issues. Proven track record managing or overseeing employment litigation, agency charges, and high-risk internal investigations and pre-litigation disputes. Prior experience leading or supervising attorneys or legal professionals and partnering closely with HR and business leaders in a large, complex organization is preferred.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills:  Deep knowledge of U.S. employment laws and regulations, with the ability to apply them pragmatically to complex business situations. Strong business acumen and judgment, with the ability to clearly articulate relative risks, options, and trade-offs to senior leaders and recommend a path forward. Demonstrated ability to build and sustain trusted relationships up, down, and across the organization and influence outcomes through collaboration rather than positional authority. Skilled at translating legal concepts into clear, concise guidance, tools, and processes that are easy for HR and leaders to use. Strategic mindset for risk mitigation and continuous improvement, including identifying and reporting internal and external legal and regulatory trends and recommending strategic shifts. Demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and retain high-performing, engaged legal teams. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to handle sensitive and confidential matters with discretion. Experience working with a multinational company on international employment law issues is a plus.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and Human Resource Business Partner.

Values:  Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions: 

Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not Eligible)

Working Conditions: Normal work from office/hybrid environment

ADA:  The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job.  Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties. 

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

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Smoke-Free Iowa Statement: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, its affiliates and subsidiaries comply with the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas on or around company premises as well as company issued vehicles. The company offers designated smoking areas in which smoking is permitted at each individual location. The Act prohibits retaliation for reporting complaints or violations. For more information on the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, individuals may contact the Smokefree Air Act Helpline at 888-944-2247.

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES:

We value the partnerships we have built with our preferred vendors. Nationwide does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies. All resumes submitted by employment agencies directly to any Nationwide employee or hiring manager in any form without a signed Nationwide Client Services Agreement on file and search engagement for that position will be deemed unsolicited in nature. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is subsequently hired as a result of the referral or through other means.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range. Note on Compensation for Part-Time Roles: Please be aware that the salary ranges listed below reflect full-time compensation. Actual compensation may be prorated based on the number of hours worked relative to a full-time schedule.

The national salary range for AVP, Associate General Counsel - Employment : $175,000.00-$326,000.00

The expected starting salary range for AVP, Associate General Counsel - Employment : $175,000.00 - $291,000.00