{"id":1364422,"url":"https://alion.io/job/american-equity-counsel-product","title":"Counsel, Product","company":{"id":1791729,"name":"American Equity","domain":"american-equity.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/american-equity","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Legal","role_family":"Legal","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Des Moines, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":87000,"max_usd":204000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":2113},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-05-11T19:01:55Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T18:49:45Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-11-04T18:49:45Z","days_open":176,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":176},"description":"At American Equity we offer leading annuity products that help empower our clients to fulfill their needs and wants in retirement. Our success comes from hiring high-energy individuals who embody the beliefs that drive our unique culture. We currently fund over half a million retirements nationwide, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, for over thirty years with satellite offices in New York, NY.\nGENERAL PURPOSE OF THE JOB: \nCounsel is responsible for providing in-house legal advice and guidance, with primary focus on the development and filing of retail and institutional annuity products, annuity product distribution, and annuity operations support. This role serves as a strategic legal advisor in support of the company’s product development and distribution initiatives, working under the direction of senior legal leadership. \nESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: \nScope of responsibility in each legal discipline may vary. Incumbent will provide legal counsel to assigned business units. \nProduct Development\nServes as a key legal advisor to product development, actuarial, and compliance teams, including providing legal analysis and risk assessment on product design decisions, filing strategies, and product launch readiness.\nDrafts, reviews, and refines annuity product forms and supporting documentation across retail and institutional product lines, including individual and group annuities.\nSupports regulatory compliance and product filing activities for SEC-registered and non-registered annuity products under applicable state insurance requirements and, when applicable, federal securities laws requirements, including the Securities Act of 1933, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and related SEC rules and guidance.\nAdvises on legal and regulatory requirements specific to group annuity contracts, including plan-level documentation, certificate forms, and coordination with ERISA and tax qualification requirements where applicable.\nProvides legal support for institutional annuity products, including funding agreements, guaranteed investment contracts, pension risk transfer transactions, and other institutional solutions.\nReviews and negotiates index, data, and trademark licensing agreements and related documentation including coordination with product development, actuarial, compliance, and external index providers.\nProduct Distribution\nDrafts, reviews, and negotiates distribution and selling agreements with IMOs, broker-dealers, and other distribution partners.\nProvides legal guidance on producer licensing, appointment, compensation arrangements, and ongoing compliance with producer conduct and oversight requirements.\nAdvises on advertising, marketing materials, and sales illustrations for compliance with state insurance regulations and, where applicable, FINRA rules and SEC requirements.\nMonitors and advises on regulatory developments affecting annuity distribution, including state suitability and best interest standards and SEC Regulation Best Interest.\nAnnuity Operations\nAdvises annuity operations teams on contract interpretation and administration of annuity transactions, including surrenders, withdrawals, annuitizations, required minimum distributions, and ownership changes.\nReviews estate planning and fiduciary authority documents, including trusts, powers of attorney, wills, guardianship and conservatorship documents, and advises on their impact on annuity contract ownership, beneficiary designations, claims, distributions, and administrative processing.\nSupports the handling of claims disputes, including death claims, beneficiary disputes, contestability matters, overpayments, and other collection matters.\nEvaluates, advises, and responds to consumer complaints, disputes, and inquiries, as well as subpoenas and information requests from attorneys and regulators. \nOther\nEnsures prudent management of expenses for assigned matters and projects, including budgeting, forecasting, and outside counsel oversight.\nProvides work direction to paralegals as applicable.\nPerforms other related work as assigned.\nSUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: \nDirect Reports: None \nGeneral Description of Indirect Reports (2 and 3-downs): None \nEDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE: \nJuris Doctorate degree from an ABA accredited law school plus a minimum of five years practicing law within the insurance or financial services industry.\nExperience with annuity product development, regulatory filings, or insurance product distribution strongly preferred.\nCERTIFICATES, LICENSES, PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS: \nAbility to practice law within the U.S. and admitted to the Bar in at least one U.S. state, preferably in the State of Iowa. \nKNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: \nDeep familiarity with annuity product development, product distribution, and annuity operations, including state insurance regulatory frameworks and federal securities laws governing registered and non-registered annuity products.\nDemonstrated experience drafting and reviewing complex contracts, product forms, and regulatory filings.\nExceptional contract drafting, analytical, and legal writing skills.\nStrong risk assessment capabilities with the ability to communicate complex legal concepts clearly to internal stakeholders and frame legal guidance in business-friendly terms.\nExperience with regulatory compliance under the Securities Act of 1933 and related SEC regulations preferred.\nAbility to deliver and prioritize legal services across multiple business units with a solid understanding of insurance company operations.\nStrong organizational and planning skills with the ability to handle pressure and meet deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.\nClear understanding and adherence to ethical principles, company values, code of conduct, and policies.\nThis description covers the major purpose and essential functions of the job. It is not intended to give all details or a step-by-step account of the way each task is to be performed. Employees may receive other job related instructions and be required to perform other job related work requested by their manager. All requirements are subject to possible modification to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities.\nAt American Equity, our core values-Empowered, Passion, Integrity, and Caring-are more than words. They guide how we support one another and how we serve our clients every day. To learn more about American Equity, our culture, and our values, visit the Careers site.\nIowa Best Companies to Work for 2025 | Top Workplaces\nFor more information about how your information is processed, please click on the Privacy tab at the bottom of the page and then click on the Applicant Privacy Policy.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6713,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Financial Services","Property & Casualty Insurance","Life Insurance & Annuities"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-28T01:30:51Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-11-04T18:49:45Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/american-equity-counsel-product","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/american-equity-counsel-product.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-12T09:34:42Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":19481,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-13T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1791729},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1791729"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Famerican-equity-counsel-product"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Famerican-equity-counsel-product"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Famerican-equity-counsel-product"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/american-equity-counsel-product\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Famerican-equity-counsel-product"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1364422}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"american-equity.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1364422},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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