Director of Legal Affairs & Counsel

A Great Place to Work

As a Certified Great Place to Work, we think that you are going to love it here. Your work will be meaningful to you. You will make a genuine difference in the lives of our aging guests and the families that love them. You will enjoy lasting bonds with the families you meet and with the teams you work on. And if you desire, you will experience real career growth where your expertise and dedication is valued and appreciated. We invite you to join our team!

Location:  20 E. Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream, New York, 11581

National Health Care Associates, provider of high-quality long-term care and short-term rehabilitation services, with over 40 skilled nursing facilities in the Northeast and New England, is seeking a Director of Legal Affairs & Counsel.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to join one of the premier healthcare organizations in the region.

What You'll Do:

The Director of Legal Affairs & Counsel serves as the organization's sole in-house legal and compliance professional, providing strategic legal guidance and risk management support across a multi-state healthcare and post-acute care network. Reporting directly to the CEO with a functional matrix to the CHRO, this role oversees compliance program administration, litigation management, healthcare regulatory matters, contract review, and general legal support for operating facilities and affiliated business entities.

This is a highly visible, hands-on individual contributor role requiring strong judgment, extreme responsiveness, and the ability to navigate a fast-paced healthcare environment with diverse legal and operational priorities. Because there is no internal legal department, the successful candidate must be equally comfortable executing routine daily legal tasks and setting enterprise-level legal strategy.

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact across a growing long-term care organization.

Position Responsibilities:

Compliance Program Management

• Oversee the organization's compliance program, including hotline administration and multi-channel complaint intake, investigation, escalation, and resolution.
• Ensure compliance concerns are appropriately documented, investigated, and remediated.
• Monitor developments in healthcare compliance laws and regulations, including fraud and abuse requirements and related regulatory guidance.
• Develop and deliver compliance education and training initiatives.
• Support a culture of ethics, accountability, and regulatory compliance across all facilities.

Litigation & Risk Management

• Manage a substantial portfolio of resident, family, and healthcare liability claims and litigation matters.
• Direct and oversee outside counsel in all phases of litigation, from claim assessment through resolution.
• Partner with third-party administrators, insurance carriers, and operational leadership to mitigate risk and manage exposure.
• Evaluate litigation strategy, settlement recommendations, and case reserves.
• Support enterprise-wide risk management initiatives.

Contracts & Transactions

• Draft, review, negotiate, and advise on a wide range of agreements, including vendor, service, healthcare, hospital, and managed care contracts.
• Partner with operational, purchasing, finance, and business leaders to assess contractual risk and business terms.
• Provide legal support for acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions as needed.

Healthcare Regulatory Affairs

• Advise leadership on healthcare regulatory matters affecting skilled nursing, long-term care, and post-acute care operations.
• Interpret and apply federal and state healthcare regulations, including Medicare, Medicaid, Department of Health, and related agency requirements.
• Assist facilities with regulatory inquiries, surveys, audits, investigations, and compliance initiatives.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with regulatory agencies and stakeholders.

General Legal Counsel

• Provide legal guidance on commercial matters, collections, corporate initiatives, and ancillary business operations.
• Support affiliated organizations and business entities on legal and regulatory matters.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on day-to-day legal and business issues.
• Identify legal risks and develop practical, business-oriented solutions.

Day-to-Day Duties

• Respond to compliance reports, resident and family complaints, and operational legal inquiries.
• Coordinate investigations and track corrective actions.
• Manage active litigation matters and communications with outside counsel.
• Review and negotiate contracts submitted by operational and purchasing teams.
• Advise facility leadership on healthcare regulatory and risk management issues.
• Participate in executive discussions regarding strategic initiatives, transactions, and operational challenges.
• Support affiliated businesses with legal and compliance matters as needed.
• Provide responsive counsel to facility leaders, executives, and internal stakeholders across multiple states.

What We Offer

As part of National Health Care, our team enjoys:

• Competitive compensation and benefits package
• Comprehensive training and mentorship
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• Supportive and collaborative work environment
• The chance to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our residents

What You'll Bring:

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active admission and good standing with at least one state bar.
• 7+ years of legal experience, preferably with significant healthcare industry exposure.
• Demonstrated experience managing litigation, outside counsel, and legal risk.
• Experience reviewing, drafting, and negotiating complex commercial agreements.
• Working knowledge of healthcare regulatory compliance, including Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term care regulations.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing a broad and evolving workload.

Preferred Qualifications

• Operational Independence: Proven track record of operating successfully as a solo corporate counsel or as an autonomous individual contributor within a lean corporate department.
• Outside Counsel Supervision: Demonstrated capability to independently audit, manage, and direct external law firms to maximize case outcomes while rigorously controlling outside legal spend.

• Experience supporting skilled nursing, long-term care, post-acute care, hospital, or healthcare service organizations.
• Department of Health, CMS, or healthcare regulatory agency experience.
• Medical malpractice, healthcare liability defense, or healthcare regulatory law background.
• Trial experience or meaningful exposure to litigation through trial proceedings.
• Experience developing relationships with government agencies, regulators, and industry stakeholders.
• Prior in-house counsel experience within a healthcare organization.
• Experience managing high-volume litigation portfolios.

Key Success Factors

• Customer-service mindset with a commitment to supporting facilities as internal clients.
• Ability to balance strategic legal advice with hands-on execution.
• Strong judgment in high-pressure and high-exposure situations.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial, and frequently changing environment.
• Highly responsive, adaptable, and capable of managing competing priorities.
• Willingness to engage with both routine operational matters and complex enterprise-level legal issues.

We Hire for Heart!

National Health Care Associates (National) is proud to be a family-run organization since 1984. Like family, each of National’s centers are unique but share common values: Kindness, Service, Compassion and Excellence.  Today, our centers include more than 40 premier providers of short-term rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and post-hospital care including several named “Best Of” by US News & World Report.  When you join the team at a National center, you join a team that provides life-changing care to thousands of patients, residents, and families in a Great Place to Work Certified environment.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status.