Associate General Counsel

JOB SUMMARY Burning Man Project is seeking an Associate General Counsel to provide strategic legal counsel, risk management, and operational support for the nonprofit’s mission, program areas, event production, and global network. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, the Associate General Counsel will advise on a broad and highly diverse range of complex legal matters in a unique organizational setting. You will serve in a highly visible, deeply collaborative position, working hand-in-hand with numerous internal departments and teams to manage risk while keeping the spirit of Burning Man and Black Rock City alive. The successful candidate must have the skills necessary to navigate a wide range of practice areas including multi-jurisdictional government relations, global intellectual property licensing, enforcement and portfolio management, often complicated employment matters, nonprofit governance, event production contracting, and many others. If you thrive on intellectual variety, excel at building relationships across diverse teams, and love turning multi-layered legal complexity into elegant, creative solutions, we want to hear from you. This is a regular full-time role, hybrid (3 days per week in the office), located at Burning Man Project’s San Francisco, CA office. The deadline to apply for this role is 5:00pm Pacific on 08/7/26. DUTIES & ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Strategy & Risk Evaluation - Serve as a central legal partner across the organization’s departments and teams, evaluating operational risk and developing compliant solutions aligned with organizational goals. - Conduct complex legal research, draft legal memoranda, and manage incoming requests for counsel from across the organization. - Facilitate team and stakeholder meetings. Government Relations, Permitting & Land Use - Advise on governmental and regulatory issues across Federal, State, County, Local, and Tribal jurisdictions, working closely with the organization’s Government Relations Team. - Navigate regulatory frameworks and support ongoing compliance and relations with government agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Nevada state agencies, and Washoe and Pershing Counties. Employment Law and Employee Relations - Advise the People Operations (HR) team on high-risk employee relations matters, internal compliance investigations, and dispute resolution. - Monitor federal, state, and local employment law developments to ensure proactive compliance across a dynamic, event-driven workforce. Intellectual Property - Manage the organization's global intellectual property portfolio, ensuring the protection of trademarks, copyrights, and digital media in alignment with Burning Man’s Decommodification Principle. - Monitor and enforce against unauthorized commercial use of the organization’s intellectual property, event images, and audio/visual recordings. - Oversee IP licensing frameworks for media projects, publications, Regional Events, and international affiliates. Other - Pursues ongoing learning to stay current on emergent knowledge, skills and processes relevant to job duties - Performs other duties as assigned LEARNING AND TEACHING - Documentation - Drives the creation, publishing, and maintenance of process documentation related to assigned duties. - Teaching – Takes a leadership role in the acculturation and training of staff. Teaches live or e-learning classes, as requested. Promotes a culture of teaching and learning throughout the community. - Mentoring - Mentors subordinates in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and experience that will allow them to advance in the organization. Aids, encourages and inspires their team. - Training development - Collaborates with the education team to develop training materials in their area of expertise, as requested. - Learning – Pursues ongoing learning in their area of expertise, working to stay current on emergent knowledge, skills, and processes. Participates in conferences, forums, and netwo…