What are the responsibilities and job description for the General Counsel position at Georgia Ports Authority?
JOB INFORMATION:
Job Title: General Counsel
Department(s): 5070 - Finance
Location(s): Garden City Terminal
FLSA Status: Exempt
JOB OVERVIEW:
Under the supervision of the Chief Financial Officer, the General Counsel serves as a senior leader responsible for overseeing legal affairs, risk management/sustainability, compliance, contracts, and grants functions for the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA). This role provides strategic legal counsel to executive leadership and the GPA Board, ensures regulatory compliance, mitigates organizational risk, and supports the Authority's mission of driving economic growth through safe, efficient, and innovative port operations. Provides leadership, exercises maximum degree of initiative and judgement in developing, coordinating, organizing, planning and executing policies, programs, methods and procedures relating to administration and associated activities.
Upholds the values of the GPA to promote Safety, Integrity, Respect, Community, Creativity and Opportunity. Promotes a safe work environment by participating in safety initiatives and reporting unsafe conditions and behaviors.
JOB DUTIES:
- Legal Strategy & Counsel
- Serve as the legal advisor to the President and CEO, executive leadership team, and GPA Board of Directors.
- Provide strategic legal guidance on commercial transactions, contracts, governance, regulatory matters, and major initiatives.
- Oversee litigation, claims, and dispute resolution, including coordination with outside counsel.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including maritime, environmental, labor, and public authority regulations.
- Represent GPA in legal matters with regulatory agencies, governmental bodies, and industry stakeholders.
- Manage relationships with external legal counsel, insurers, brokers, and consultants.
- Monitor legislative and regulatory developments impacting port operations and advise leadership accordingly.
- Risk Management and Sustainability
- Develop and lead a comprehensive risk management program aligned with GPA's strategic objectives and support programs related to carbon reduction, energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate operational, financial, legal, environmental and reputational risks.
- Oversee insurance programs, including property, casualty, marine, liability, and self-insured risk structures.
- Lead incident response and crisis management planning in coordination with operational leadership.
- Grants
- Provide leadership on the design and execution of grant policies to ensure compliance.
- Ensure all applications strictly conform to funding agency parameters, instructions, and electronic portals.
- Monitor active award spending against proposed budgets to ensure costs are reasonable, allocable, and allowable.
- Supervise the timely preparation and submission of technical progress reports and closeouts.
- Compliance & Governance
- Establish and maintain compliance frameworks, policies, and internal controls.
- Ensure adherence to public sector governance standards, ethics requirements, and transparency obligations.
- Advise on procurement, open record requests, record retention contracting, and public-private partnership structures.
- Support GPA Board governance, including preparation of materials, resolutions, and legal opinions.
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
High ethical standards and sound judgment in a public governance environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills required. Understanding of regulatory environments affecting port, logistics and stakeholder operations. Strong business acumen with the ability to make decisions tactfully under pressure, balance legal risk and operational objectives. Exceptional communication, leadership, negotiation and strategic thinking skills. Proven ability to manage complex legal matters and high-stakes risk scenarios. The ability to interact and communicate effectively and professionally with the GPA staff on all levels of administration including management and co-workers required. Knowledge of Microsoft Office. Willingness and ability to travel, be on call, work nights and weekends.
High ethical standards and sound judgment in a public governance environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills required. Understanding of regulatory environments affecting port, logistics and stakeholder operations. Strong business acumen with the ability to make decisions tactfully under pressure, balance legal risk and operational objectives. Exceptional communication, leadership, negotiation and strategic thinking skills. Proven ability to manage complex legal matters and high-stakes risk scenarios. The ability to interact and communicate effectively and professionally with the GPA staff on all levels of administration including management and co-workers required. Knowledge of Microsoft Office. Willingness and ability to travel, be on call, work nights and weekends.
Experience
- 10 years legal experience with experience in corporate law, government law, contracts, insurance, and regulatory compliance Required
Education
- Required Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school
- Preferred Master's Degree
Licenses & Certifications
- TWIC - Transportation Worker Identification Credential Required
- Driver's License - Valid state driver's license Required
- Member of the State Bar of Georgia Required Upon Hire
Note: This job description is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, job requirements, or working conditions associated with the job. Management reserves the right to revise the job or to require the performance of different or additional tasks. The employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, an without direct threat to the health or safety of others.
Revised: 6/22/2026
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