Policy Counsel Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

TITLE:                       Senior Counsel

LOCATION:           Alexandria, Virginia

DATE CREATED: July 2026

FLSA:                       Exempt

DIVISION:             Office of Legal Counsel

TRAVEL REQUIREMENT:
Minimal, less than 10%.

HOURS and SCHEDULE:
Generally, Monday – Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm (minimum 37.5 hours over 5 days per week). Additional hours are required to be responsive to after-hours and time-sensitive deadlines and requests.

REPORTS TO:
Chief Legal Officer

RESPONSIBILITY FOR PUBLIC CONTACT:

Regular contact requiring timeliness, accuracy, courtesy, discretion, and sound judgment.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This position will support the Chief Legal Officer in overseeing basic legal, legislative, and policy functions for the organization including partnering with the Chief Legal Officer to manage the timely execution of deliverables, projects, and workflows concerning core legal, legislative, and policy initiatives and priorities; the development of strategic and consistent legal and policy positions for the organization; the handling of and response to prosecution-related matters and litigation issues; the preparation and review of substantive written materials for public distribution relating to NCMEC’s mission and legal, legislative, and policy initiatives; and improvements to and maintenance of NCMEC’s legal workflows, corporate documents and communications.  

The Senior Counsel will promote a professional image and communicate with NCMEC teams and senior leaders, external corporate, nonprofit, and legal partners, government agencies, law enforcement, and members of the public in a timely, courteous, and professional manner.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide strategic partnership to the Chief Legal Officer on emerging and evolving legal, legislative, and policy issues related to NCMEC’s mission.
• Coordinate tracking of global, national, and state legal and legislative/policy trends, issues, and developments related to NCMEC’s mission.
• Support identification of trends, gaps, and opportunities in the legal and policy landscape that are relevant to NCMEC’s mission and operations.
• Partner with the Chief Legal Officer to support organizational governance and policy matters to advance the organization’s mission while balancing risk management and compliance issues.
• Provide legal insight and strategic input on day-to-day management of Office of Legal Counsel functions.
• Write clearly and persuasively for diverse audiences including NCMEC staff and Board of Directors, lawyers and nonlawyers, members of the public, corporate and nonprofit partners, and legislators/policymakers.
• Support management of workflows and projects relating to legal, legislative, and policy issues, including creating and overseeing internal legal processes to improve the consistency and accessibility of information and documents within the Office of Legal Counsel.
• Help ensure all written materials and work product reviewed or issued by the Office of Legal Counsel are accurate, well-sourced, consistent with NCMEC’s positions, and reflect the organization’s voice and mission.
• Collaborate with the Office of Legal Counsel team and cross-divisionally within NCMEC on operational, programmatic, financial, and mission-related projects.

 EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Juris Doctor required.
• Minimum 3-5 years’ experience working at a law firm required.
• Previous experience with litigation and contract matters required.
• Familiarity with or working knowledge of general corporate legal matters, including at least one of the following areas: nonprofit and related compliance issues, employment and labor, corporate governance, real estate, intellectual property, data privacy, and criminal law, required.
• Familiarity with or working knowledge of child protection, online safety, or cybercrime issues preferred.
• Previous experience drafting legal documents, corporate policies, and/or legislative/policy positions required.
• Previous experience with general corporate litigation matters, including discovery, document review, and motions practice required.
• Experience effectively managing multiple deliverables and workflows with differing deadlines and staff relating to various subject areas required.
• Experience effectively communicating status of projects and consistently managing up and down on workflows and project deliverables required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Strong written, oral, and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated skill and comfort level optimizing delivery of various project outputs, including but not limited to research, drafting, and strategic evaluation and recommendations to address intermittent legal issues on compressed timelines.
• Ability to produce simple, clear work product for lawyers and non-lawyers based on research, evaluation, and analysis of complex, sophisticated legal and policy issues.
• Excellent judgment in setting priorities and interacting with internal and external contacts.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail and accuracy.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively balance and ensure momentum on multiple complex matters and projects with shifting prioritization.
• Ability and dedication to learning about NCMEC’s mission, programs, and operations and operational, technology, legal, and legislative/policy issues relating to child protection.
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to work collaboratively and in an individual capacity.

• Ability to maintain integrity and confidentiality of sensitive material and information.

• Proficiency using word processing, Excel, and standard office technology programs, as well as discovery and document management systems, and legal research databases.