Closing Date: 15th July, 2026
Description:
Job Responsibilities:The South Carolina Department of Commerce seeks a highly experienced, practical, and strategic attorney to serve as Chief Legal Counsel. This position provides a unique opportunity to help shape South Carolina's economic future. The Chief Legal Counsel serves at the center of transformational economic development projects, infrastructure investments, incentive programs, and public-private partnerships that create jobs and strengthen communities throughout the state. The position plays a key role in advising executive leadership on some of the state's most significant business recruitment, expansion, and infrastructure initiatives.
This role serves as the chief legal advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, executive leadership team, and agency divisions on legal, governance, compliance, transactional, operational, and risk-related matters affecting the agency and its economic development mission.
The Chief Legal Counsel also provides or coordinates legal support, as appropriate, for affiliated, related, or supported entities and public bodies, including the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority, the Coordinating Council for Economic Development, and Palmetto Railways. This includes legal matters connected to economic development projects, public infrastructure, grant programs, incentive programs, bond-financed projects, board and council governance, contracts, statutory compliance, public accountability, and intergovernmental approvals.
The role supports the legal, governance, transactional, and operational enterprise architecture behind economic development activity in South Carolina, including incentives, infrastructure, grants, bonds, affiliated-entity coordination, public accountability, risk management, and executive decision-making.
This is a senior executive advisory role. The Chief Legal Counsel is expected to be a contributing member of the executive leadership team as we make agency executive decisions. Additionally provide proactive, enterprise-level legal support that helps the agency anticipate risk, strengthen internal processes, support operational decision-making, and execute its economic development mission with appropriate legal discipline. While many matters will require timely legal review in response to project needs, public inquiries, contracts, board or council actions, or external requests, the Chief Legal Counsel is also expected to help strengthen the agency's legal frameworks, governance practices, documentation standards, and decision pathways.
The successful candidate must understand the intersection of law, public policy, economic development, confidentiality, transparency, public finance, incentives, contracts, ethics, procurement, legislative activity, and executive decision-making. This position requires sound legal judgment, discretion, business acumen, political awareness, strong communication skills, and the ability to help the agency move forward responsibly in a fast-paced, high-profile public-sector environment.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Serves as the chief legal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, executive leadership team, and agency divisions on legal matters affecting agency operations, economic development strategy, governance, compliance, transactions, public policy, and enterprise risk.
Provides practical, timely, and business-minded legal guidance that supports the agency's mission while protecting the legal, financial, operational, and reputational interests of the State.
Advises agency leadership on matters involving statutory authority, agency discretion, confidentiality, ethics, public accountability, interagency coordination, public-sector approvals, and appropriate decision-making processes. Consults with Human Resources regarding matters pertaining to personnel decisions, workplace policies, and administrative guidance.
Provides legal review and guidance on economic development projects, incentive agreements, grant agreements, infrastructure matters, project commitments, confidentiality agreements, nondisclosure agreements, public finance matters, ED Bonds, qualifying projects, closing documents, and related transaction materials.
Works with project managers, incentives staff, finance staff, grants staff, community development staff, local governments, and external partners to ensure project-related commitments are legally supportable, clearly documented, properly authorized, and consistent with applicable law and agency policy.
Provides or coordinates legal support, as appropriate, for the Coordinating Council for Economic Development, the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority, Palmetto Railways, and other affiliated, related, or supported entities.
Advises on Coordinating Council matters, including grant applications, Enterprise Program applications, state ceiling allocation petitions, contractual matters, policy issues, agenda items, board or council actions, statutory authority, and compliance requirements.
Oversees legal review of agency contracts, procurement matters, professional service agreements, interagency agreements, memoranda of understanding, partnership agreements, leases, amendments, vendor disputes, and other binding instruments.
Advises on governance, ethics, public records, public meetings, confidentiality, records retention, internal controls, delegation authority, approval pathways, legislative oversight, audit activity, and other public accountability matters.
Oversees and coordinates the agency's response to Freedom of Information Act requests and other public records matters, including matters involving confidential economic development information, project-sensitive information, exemptions, legal privileges, and disclosure obligations.
Monitors and stays current on state, federal, and industry-specific economic development trends, legislation, policies, programs, and emerging issues. Reviews relevant news and developments to identify potential impacts on the agency, stakeholders, and economic development initiatives, as well as best practices to support informed decision making and strategic perspective to leadership.
Coordinates with the Attorney General's Office, outside counsel, agency leadership, and relevant divisions on litigation, administrative proceedings, claims, subpoenas, investigations, protests, appeals, document preservation, settlement considerations, and other disputed matters.
Provides legal analysis, research, and counsel on proposed legislation, regulations, executive orders, provisos, policy proposals, agency initiatives, legislative inquiries, and other governmental actions affecting the agency.
Maintains effective working relationships with outside counsel, the Attorney General's Office, staff of the Joint Bond Review Committee, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, local governments, and other public entities whose review, approval, or coordination may be necessary for agency projects, transactions, or legal matters.
Leads the agency's legal function, including supervision of one (1) legal staff or shared legal resources, assignment and prioritization of legal work, management of outside counsel, staff development, performance management, and improvement of legal intake, documentation, templates, workflows, and escalation processes.
Develops practical tools, templates, guidance, protocols, and internal processes to help agency staff understand legal requirements, improve consistency, support timely decision-making, and reduce preventable legal risk.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Strong knowledge of public sector law, administrative law, contracts, procurement, ethics, public records, public meetings, confidentiality, governance, compliance, and risk management.
Knowledge of economic development project structures, incentive programs, grant administration, public finance tools, bond-related approvals, state ceiling allocation processes, infrastructure agreements, and related statutory requirements.
Ability to advise senior executives, public bodies, agency divisions, and affiliated entities on sensitive matters involving confidentiality, transparency, ethics, statutory authority, political visibility, public accountability, and reputational risk.
Ability to manage multiple high-priority legal matters, stakeholders, and competing interests in a fast-paced executive environment.
Excellent communication, negotiation, drafting, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues to diverse audiences.
Demonstrated judgment, integrity, discretion, and the ability to develop practical, legally sound solutions that advance organizational objectives.
Minimum and Additional Requirements:
Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
Active license to practice law and good standing with the South Carolina Bar, or eligibility to obtain admission within a defined period after appointment.
Significant experience practicing law in a public sector, corporate, economic development, government affairs, transactional, administrative, regulatory, public finance, or related environment.
Experience advising senior executives, elected officials, public boards, governmental entities, corporations, authorities, or complex organizations.
Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex agreements.
Experience managing sensitive, confidential, high-profile, or time-sensitive legal matters.
Experience providing legal advice involving contracts, statutory interpretation, public-sector comp
