Description:
At Williams, we're powering a cleaner, more connected future, and that starts with you. Here, your work fuels communities, drives innovation, and helps deliver reliable energy the world depends on. Join a Fortune 500 team that invests in your growth, values your contributions, and challenges you to make a lasting impact every day.The Senior Counsel is responsible for providing legal advice, opinions and support to help work towards our goals in addition to initiating and supervising project case management to ensure their timely and efficient completion. As a specialist, this role will provide advice and recommendations for action to internal leaders regarding sophisticated matters with meaningful impact on business activities and operations. The ability to use good judgment, collaborate with others and develop and obtain approvals from senior leaders for situation specific strategies and approaches are keys to success.
Corporate Strategic Development
Day in the Life:
In your work on our Corporate Strategic Development Legal team, you will support and work with other internal Legal colleagues and Williams team members to complete our Corporate Strategic Development business strategy, including business transactions and other strategic initiatives. Your role will include:
- Supporting our legal and Corporate Strategic Development teams regarding business transactions and other strategic initiatives, negotiating various deal documentation, and providing legal advice and support to relevant internal parties
- Supervising transaction management to ensure the timely and efficient completion of results
- Mitigating risk and ensuring compliance with business agreements and federal, state, local and industry specific laws and regulations
- Identifies and assesses legal issues and risks for assigned area(s) of responsibility; recommends and initiates appropriate courses of action
- Interacts with internal leadership regarding legal strategies, scenario plans, and desired outcomes
- Negotiates contract terms, settlements, mediation and agreements; conducts all post-closing or settlement requirements
- Retains and manages outside counsel to the extent the organization does not have in-house expertise and work justifies retention of an external party
- Leads department and enterprise initiatives
- Researches legislative history and legal issues to ensure up-to-date knowledge and interpretation of laws, regulations, case precedents, court and regulatory orders
- Monitors compliance with federal, state, and local laws and industry regulations; collaborates with appropriate parties for resolution
- Provides training to internal business partners on applicable laws, regulations, procedures, risks and regulatory changes
- Knowledge of corporate matters, including entity formations, governance, and maintenance
- Experience with pre-transaction agreements, including negotiating and drafting confidentiality agreements, term sheets, letters of intent, and similar customary agreements
- Experience conducting legal and corporate due diligence, as well as supporting a broader due diligence process
- Experience with transaction documentation, including negotiating and reviewing customary mergers and acquisitions documentation
- Experience preparing disclosures for both federal securities filings with the SEC and Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification filings with the FTC/DOJ
- Experience researching legal questions and issues arising in the context of business transactions and general corporate matters
- Demonstrates action orientation to drive time-sensitive and sophisticated business transactions
- Must be collaborative and team-oriented while also possessing the ability to work independently with minimal direction
- Preferred: Minimum ten (10) years' corporate and transactional experience, with emphasis on in-house or law firm experience supporting energy clients, including work with public companies
- Other duties as assigned
- Required: Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school; a minimum of ten (10) years' relevant legal or energy experience; member of State Bar Association and admitted to practice in the state hired, or eligible to become admitted in the state hired within one (1) year of date of hire, with current CLE compliance
- Preferred: Juris Doctorate from ABA-accredited law school; a minimum of twelve (12) years' relevant legal or energy experience
- Shift/Work Hours/Travel Requirements:
- Willing to travel up to 10%
Other Requirements:
- Demonstrates excellent organizational/interpersonal skills and safety as the utmost priority
- Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office and PC skills
- Experience in drafting of agency communications, contracts, motions, briefs, pleadings and opinions
- Experience in legal research and analysis
- Demonstrates objective and detailed analytical and problem solving abilities
- Demonstrates negotiation skills
- Knowledge of substantive law