EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Wadhwani Foundation seeks an accomplished, strategic, and entrepreneurial attorney to serve as its inaugural Vice President & General Counsel (“General Counsel”). They will serve as the chief legal advisor to the Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF) and the Wadhwani Charitable Foundation (WCF) (together, “the Foundation”), providing sophisticated legal leadership across a global philanthropic enterprise.

Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani in 2001, the Foundation is dedicated to accelerating economic development in emerging economies by creating large-scale, family-sustaining employment through initiatives in entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, artificial intelligence, innovation, and social good across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The General Counsel will join the Foundation at an important time of growth and evolution. The successful candidate will establish a sophisticated, globally coherent legal and governance framework that enables the Foundation to pursue its ambitious mission while protecting its fiduciary, legal, regulatory, and reputational interests. They will advise the Chairman, CEO, Boards of Directors, and senior executives on matters spanning governance, philanthropy, international grant-making, strategic partnerships, technology, intellectual property, data and privacy, regulatory compliance, and enterprise risk.

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned, entrepreneurial legal executive with deep expertise in nonprofit and foundation law, governance, cross-border philanthropy, commercial agreements, and regulatory compliance, ideally complemented by experience in technology, IP, data privacy, and complex international partnerships. The successful candidate will bring exceptional judgment, executive presence, and a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach, along with a genuine commitment to the Foundation’s mission and global impact.

This is a remote position based in the United States, with a strong preference for candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The role requires regular travel in the United States and internationally. The salary range for this position is $300,000 – $350,000, includes a 25% bonus component, and comes with a generous benefits package.

ABOUT THE WADHWANI FOUNDATION

Wadhwani Foundation is the global philanthropic brand representing the work of Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF), the principal operating and program-stewardship organization, and Wadhwani Charitable Foundation (WCF), the principal philanthropic donor and grant-making entity. 

Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani in 2001, its central mission is to accelerate economic development in emerging economies by creating large-scale, family-sustaining jobs. Through WCF and WOF, independent local non-profit organizations receive funding and strategic support to design and deliver high-impact programs in entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, artificial intelligence, innovation, and social good across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

WCF advances research, innovation, entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, and social good through philanthropic grantmaking. WOF sponsors and supports high-impact programs delivered by independent local non-profit organizations. WOF and WCF work with affiliated and independent charitable organizations across multiple geographies. Each U.S. entity has distinct operating, grant-making, governance, and fiduciary responsibilities, while both are committed to the highest standards of legal compliance, ethical conduct, governance, and stewardship.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The General Counsel will serve as the chief legal advisor to WOF and WCF, providing strategic legal leadership across the Foundation's U.S. and global operations, global grant-making, governance, contracts, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and enterprise risk.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the General Counsel will protect WOF and WCF's legal and fiduciary interests while enabling each entity's distinct mandates: WCF's grant-making and donor-stewardship responsibilities, and WOF's program, operating, technology, and partnership activities. Working closely with the Chairman, CEO, Governing Boards, Finance leadership, WCF Grants leadership, WOF Programs leadership, and external counsel, the General Counsel will establish consistent legal frameworks while respecting the legal independence and statutory responsibilities of recipient and affiliated organizations.

Immediate opportunities for impact include:

Legal Strategy and Governance

• Develop and implement the legal strategy, governance framework, delegated authorities, and legal policies for WOF and WCF.
• Advise the Chairman, CEO, Governing Boards, and executive leadership on fiduciary duties, governance, legal structure, conflicts, regulatory matters, and enterprise legal risk.
• Ensure legal governance evolves with the Foundation's international activities, operating models, technology platforms, and philanthropic structures.

WCF Grant-Making and Donor Legal Support

• Provide legal leadership for domestic and international grant-making from the donor perspective, including grant structures, due diligence, agreements, restrictions, reporting obligations, amendments, renewals, and closeout.
• Partner with WCF Grants leadership and Finance to ensure grant documentation protects WCF's legal and fiduciary interests and is consistent with approved governance and compliance requirements.
• Ensure grant structures respect the independence, governance, and local regulatory responsibilities of recipient organizations.

WOF Programs, Operations and Partnership Legal Support

• Provide legal support for WOF's program operations, strategic partnerships, technology arrangements, research collaborations, consulting and vendor relationships, and other operating activities.
• Review and negotiate partnership agreements, MOUs, service agreements, technology and data arrangements, and cross-border collaborations.
• Advise WOF leadership on legal implications of program delivery models and relationships with affiliated entities, governments, educational institutions, nonprofits, and other partners.

Intellectual Property, Technology, Data and Privacy

• Develop and oversee legal frameworks for intellectual property ownership, licensing, technology development, data use, privacy, cybersecurity-related contractual risk, and AI-enabled products and platforms.
• Protect Foundation-owned intellectual property while establishing appropriate licensing and usage rights for affiliated entities and external partners.
• Coordinate specialist counsel where technology, privacy, AI, or jurisdiction-specific issues require additional expertise.

Global Regulatory Compliance and Enterprise Risk

• Monitor legal and regulatory developments affecting WOF and WCF and coordinate with local counsel on country-specific requirements.
• Support compliance with applicable U.S. nonprofit, charitable, corporate, tax-related, sanctions, privacy, and other relevant legal obligations in coordination with specialist advisors.
• Maintain an enterprise legal-risk framework covering governance, grants, contracts, IP, technology, privacy, regulatory, tax, employment-related, and reputational risks.

External Counsel, Disputes and Regulatory Matters

• Build and manage a high-quality global network of external legal advisors and establish clear standards for engagement, cost management, and accountability.
• Coordinate legal advice across jurisdictions to ensure consistent risk assessment while recognizing local legal requirements.
• Oversee significant disputes, investigations, regulatory inquiries, registrations, licensing, statutory matters, and interactions with government authorities affecting WOF or WCF.

Board Advisory, Ethics and Legal Operations

• Serve as principal legal advisor to the Chairman, CEO, and Governing Boards and prepare resolutions, governance papers, legal opinions, and strategic recommendations.
• Establish practical legal policies, contract-management disciplines, ethics standards, and compliance frameworks across WOF and WCF.
• Promote legal awareness and disciplined escalation of material legal and governance risks across the Foundation.

Staff Management

• Lead recruitment and hiring of a legal team, identifying organizational needs, defining roles, interviewing candidates, and onboarding and training new staff.
• Supervise, coach, and evaluate legal team members, including assigning and prioritizing work, supporting performance and professional growth, and fostering a results-oriented and accountable work environment that supports high performance and retention.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The General Counsel will be a seasoned, entrepreneurial, and accomplished attorney with experience in diverse arenas (e.g., legal services, business, philanthropy, and/or the nonprofit sector) and a passion for and alignment with the mission, vision, and values that undergird the work of the Wadhwani Foundation. While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• An experienced attorney:
  • 15+ years of legal experience with significant senior in-house leadership responsibility in a non-profit, foundation, law firm, or corporate setting
  • A Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school, and membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state bar association, or international equivalent.
  • Extensive experience advising global foundations, nonprofit organizations, mission-driven institutions, or multinational organizations with complex cross-border activities.
  • Deep expertise in nonprofit and foundation law, corporate governance, cross-border grant-making, commercial contracts, regulatory compliance, and enterprise risk.
  • Meaningful experience with intellectual property, technology, data/privacy, licensing, and complex partnership arrangements strongly preferred.
  • Experience managing external legal counsel and material legal matters across multiple jurisdictions.
  • Strong preference for international legal experience in India.
• Experienced in board governance: Strong Board advisory, negotiation, drafting, executive judgment, and stakeholder-management capabilities.
• Understanding of international law: Awareness of (and/or capacity to identify) distinctions in business practices, cultural norms, and legal requirements in grant-making, human resource practices, private social impact investing, contractor relationships, and advocacy in various jurisdictions globally, with particular interest in the U.S., India, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya. Able to manage cross-border projects and coordinate with remote, diverse, globally dispersed team members.

• A strong communicator: Capacity to convey complex information to a wide variety of stakeholders and audiences, including capacity to translate complex legal ideas for audiences outside the legal profession.
• Comfort with ambiguity and working in a start-up/entrepreneurial culture: Adept at navigating complex, unstructured, dynamic situations without being deterred or paralyzed by a lack of clear direction, ambiguity, or opacity.
• Experienced people manager: People-centered leader with demonstrated skills building and leading teams within a high-performing organization.

WORK LOCATION, COMPENSATION and BENEFITS

Work Location: Wadhwani Foundation is a remote-first organization with U.S. offices in Los Gatos, California. While team members are located throughout the United States and internationally, there is a strong preference for candidates who reside in/near the San Francisco Bay Area to enable on-site presence in the office. This role will require regular domestic and international travel (approximately 4-5 weeks per quarter).

Salary and Benefits: The salary range for this full-time, exempt position is $300,000 – $350,000 annually, which includes a 25% bonus component and a generous benefits package.

TO APPLY

More information about Wadhwani Foundation may be found here: www.wadhwanifoundation.org.

This search is being led by Ellen LaPointe and Emily McCarthy of NPAG. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

Should you have questions, candidate nominations, or if you need assistance or accommodations in the application process, please contact Emily McCarthy at [email protected].

The Wadhwani Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.

Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.