Senior Legal Counsel - Advisory and Intermediary Lead

Position Overview

GMO seeks to add a senior attorney to its Legal Team. The Senior Legal Counsel - Advisory and Intermediary Lead serves as a trusted legal advisor to the firm’s investment, client relationship, business development, and distribution teams.

This role is responsible for providing strategic legal counsel across client advisory matters, intermediary relationships, and regulatory requirements, with a particular focus on complex investment mandates, distribution agreements, and global client structures.

As a senior member of the Legal Team reporting to the General Counsel, this role partners closely with internal stakeholders to support asset growth, client retention, and regulatory compliance across U.S. and non-U.S. markets. Over time, the successful candidate will, among other responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary legal advisor on complex institutional client matters, including negotiation of investment management agreements, guidelines, fee arrangements, and bespoke side letters for U.S. and non-U.S. clients;
• Lead legal support for intermediary, model-delivery, and distribution relationships, negotiating and structuring agreements with registered investment advisers, wirehouses, private banks, and platform partners;
• Partner closely with Investment, Client Relationship Management, Business Development, Operations and Product teams to deliver commercially pragmatic, risk-aware legal advice that supports asset growth and client retention;
• Lead analysis and governance of fee arrangements, “Most Favored Nation” analysis, and affiliation rules to ensure regulatory compliance and risk mitigation; and
• Review and provide final legal sign-off on RFP responses, due diligence questionnaires, and client-facing disclosures.