Description:

Overview:
The Legal Counsel, Hotels, provides internal counsel to the different business functions involved in hotel operations, and negotiations with third parties all type of agreements for the whole lifecycle of Hard Rock branded hotels. The geographic scope of the role is global.

Responsibilities:

Drafting and negotiation of development deals (frachised and managed) and workouts for existing properties, in collaboration with Hotel Development team and other internal stakeholders.
Day to day legal support to the Hotel corporate teams on owner related issues and general legal matters arising from the lifecycle of hotel operations: Liaison with operations, tax, finance, marketing, sales, PR, and HR teams. Liaison and guidance to Hotel-based executives and local counsel on hotel-level issues.
Provide hospitality legal and industry advice on corporate hotel initiatives: brand standards, reporting, hotel openings and exits, etc.
Collaborate with the compliance function in probity and due diligence process.
Training of Corporate/Development Executives and Hotel Operators: provide assistance onboarding new senior hotel executives, provide acrive guidance in th erevision of the major hotel contracts, summarize and explain main terms of principal hotel agreements.
Sourcing, onboarding and management of outside counsel as agreed with senior Legal team.

Qualifications:

Juris Doctor degree from a U.S. law school.
Admission and in good standing to one or more U.S. state bars.
A minimum of 8 years legal experience with at least 5 years international hospitality practice in-house. Experience must include work in both development and operations support.
Proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, and/or other major European or Asian language.
Expertise on hospitality industry main business models and trends. Working knowledge of financial and tax factors influencing hotel and international franchising and management business.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment with quick deadlines and multiple demands. Comfortable in navigating uncertain scenarios and frameworks, and interested in shaping the company's hospitality practices.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (including legal drafting skills). Ability to summarize and "translate" main issues of any matter for discussion with lawyers and non-lawyers.
Ability to influence others by developing strong working relationships and delvering excellent commercial solutions to complex legal and regulatory issues.