VP, Senior Counsel- Commercial Transactions, Regulatory, Research & Strategic Operations

Kids Are Our Everything.

Department

Pay Range

About the Role:

The Senior Counsel- Commercial Transactions, Regulatory, Research & Strategic Operations serves as a senior legal leader reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer and acting as a trusted advisor to executive and operational leadership. The position provides legal counsel and strategy guidance across a broad range of healthcare and business maters including but not limited to commercial transactions/contracting, regulatory oversight, government relations, IT, real estate, construction, research, marketing and immigration matters. The role serves as a key partner to hospital operations, finance, facilities, human resources, strategy, supply chain, and clinical leadership.

The successful candidate will possess significant healthcare industry experience, strong business judgment, and a demonstrated ability to translate legal requirements into practical operational solutions. The position also demands steady leadership and oversight of legal professionals, paralegals, contract specialists, and administrative staff while supporting departmental strategic initiatives and operational excellence.

What You'll Bring:

Minimum Education

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.

• Active membership in at least one state bar and eligibility to practice as in-house counsel in the District of Columbia.

Minimum Work Experience

• 15-20 years of progressively responsible legal experience.

• Significant experience representing hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, physician organizations, or other healthcare providers.

• Demonstrated experience serving in an in-house legal leadership role within a hospital or healthcare system.

• Prior law firm and/or Federal oversight experience strongly preferred.

• Proven experience managing legal departments, legal operations, outside counsel, and multidisciplinary professional teams.

• Experience advising executive leadership, governing boards, and operational leaders on complex healthcare matters.

Required Skills/Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of hospital operations and healthcare delivery systems.

• Deep experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex commercial agreements and strategic transactions.

• Expertise in healthcare regulatory compliance, including provider regulatory matters, licensure, accreditation, and reimbursement-related issues.

• Experience with healthcare real estate transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, and construction projects.

• Working knowledge of healthcare workforce immigration programs, including physician and employee immigration matters.

• Demonstrated financial acumen and ability to analyze operational and business implications of legal decisions.

• Exceptional leadership, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.

• Strong project management and organizational abilities.

• Ability to balance legal risk with business objectives and operational realities.

Functional Accountabilities
Strategic Legal Counsel

• Serve as a primary legal advisor to executive and operational leadership on strategic and operational initiatives.

• Provide practical, business-focused legal guidance that supports the organization's mission, growth strategy, and operational objectives.

• Identify legal, operational, financial, and reputational risks and develop effective mitigation strategies.

• Present legal analyses and recommendations to senior executives, committees, and the Board of Directors as requested.

Commercial Contracting and Transactions

• Lead legal support for enterprise-wide contracting activities.

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage complex healthcare, technology, supply chain, professional services, clinical, research, and operational agreements.

• Provide legal support for mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, joint ventures, management agreements, clinical collaborations, and other strategic transactions.

• Develop and maintain standardized contracting processes and playbooks to improve efficiency, consistency, and risk management.

Regulatory Affairs

• Provide counsel on federal and state healthcare regulatory requirements affecting hospital operations.

• Advise on licensing, accreditation, reimbursement, Certificate of Need, Certificate of Public Need, provider enrollment, fraud and abuse, and related healthcare regulatory matters.

• Monitor emerging legal and regulatory developments and advise leadership regarding organizational impact.

• Partner with compliance, audit, finance, and operational teams to support enterprise-wide regulatory initiatives.

Real Estate, Leasing and Construction

• Lead legal support for healthcare real estate transactions and facilities development projects.

• Negotiate and advise on leases, purchase and sale agreements, easements, licenses, construction agreements, design agreements, and development projects.

• Partner with facilities, construction, finance, and operational leadership to support capital planning initiatives.

• Advise on construction risk management, project disputes, and regulatory approvals related to development activities.

Immigration

• Collaborate with Human Resources and external immigration counsel regarding visa sponsorship, work authorization, and permanent residency matters.

• Ensure compliance with immigration-related regulatory requirements and reporting obligations.

Leadership and Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop attorneys, legal operations professionals, paralegals, contract specialists, and administrative staff.

• Foster a highly collaborative, service-oriented, and accountable team culture.

• Manage outside counsel relationships and related legal expenditures.

Legal Operations and Department Management

• Support departmental strategic planning and operational improvement initiatives.

• Assist the Chief Legal Officer in managing legal department priorities, resource allocation, staffing, budgeting, and performance management.

• Develop meaningful relationships with internal stakeholders and serve as a trusted partner throughout the organization.

Research, Innovation and Academic Affairs

• Provide legal support and strategic counsel for the organization's research, innovation, academic, and commercialization activities.

• Advise investigators, research administration, compliance personnel, and executive leadership regarding clinical research, sponsored research, grants, research collaborations, data use arrangements, biobanking, and academic affiliations.

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of research-related agreements, including clinical trial agreements, sponsored research agreements, material transfer agreements, data use agreements, confidentiality agreements, consortium agreements, and research collaboration agreements.

• Counsel stakeholders on regulatory requirements affecting research activities, including human subjects protections, FDA regulations, Good Clinical Practice standards, grant compliance obligations, and research integrity matters.

• Support technology transfer, intellectual property, innovation, commercialization, licensing, startup relationships, and strategic research partnerships.

• Advise leadership on significant research-related disputes, investigations, audits, and regulatory inquiries.

• Foster collaborative relationships with academic institutions, governmental agencies, industry sponsors, foundations, and other research partners to advance the organization's research mission.

The disclosed salary range includes the minimum and maximum rates within which Children's National believes an individual's base pay rate will fall for this position. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the maximum of the pay range. The exact pay rate for this position will be based on a variety of factors in alignment with the Children's National compensation philosophy. These factors are legitimate and non-discriminatory including, but not limited to, the current market conditions; organizational needs; the individual's combination of prior work experience, level of education, knowledge, skills, and other qualifications. Children's National is committed to providing a fair and competitive total rewards package to each of our employees. This base salary range does not include our comprehensive benefits package or any additional compensation for which this position may be eligible.

Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The "Know Your Rights" poster is available here: and the pay transparency policy is available here:Know Your RightsPay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster.

Please note that it is the policy of Children's National Hospital to ensure a "drug-free" work environment: a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children's National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.