Description:

Members of Johnsonville's legal team provide counsel, service and leadership that touches on a wide range of subjects including contracts, employment, litigation, regulatory matters and governance matters. In each case, you must relentlessly drive our business needs and seek to create a competitive advantage, usually in ambiguous circumstances. Members of the team also possess a keen business mind and an immense amount of curiosity for Johnsonville's business drivers, as well as a love for elevating legal skills throughout the organization.

Position Overview:
The Senior Counsel will play a key part in supporting our growing global Legal team. This role will offer broad exposure to legal operations across Johnsonville's presence in the Western Hemisphere and will serve as a key legal role supporting the business in this geography.

This is a generalist role and will involve a wide portfolio of legal matters as noted below. We won't require deep expertise in every area, but we will require a drive to learn and gain expertise over time at our company. Specifically, this role will handle contracts, employment, employee benefits, litigation, regulatory matters, and governance matters (among others). In each case, the Senior Counsel must relentlessly drive Johnsonville's business needs and seek to create a competitive advantage, usually in ambiguous circumstances. The successful candidate will possess a keen business mind and an immense amount of curiosity for Johnsonville's business drivers as well as a love for elevating legal skills throughout the organization.

Responsibilities:

Partner with members (including senior management) of the U.S. Johnsonville business units and shared services; partner with International Business Unit to provide support for operations in Canada, Mexico, and South America/Caribbean
Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts and NDAs in the following areas: vendor, customer, IT (including master services agreements, software licensing agreements, and SaaS agreements), employment, engineering, leases, real estate, transportation, logistics, insurance, tax, and finance
Assist with litigation and pre-litigation matters, including matters relating to contract disputes, transportation, intellectual property, product liability, and employment; respond to subpoenas
Manage trademark and patent portfolios with the assistance of outside counsel
Advise Member Services (HR) team on HR matters, including matters related to employee benefits and employment laws
Support strategic activities such as mergers and acquisitions, licensing, joint venture and co-packer agreements
Handle regulatory and compliance matters, including domestic and international human safety and food safety food regulations
Support Compliance team in implementing effective compliance policies and practices
Advance the legal department's mission through training, coaching and mentoring
Report directly to the Associate General Counsel
Exemplify the Johnsonville Way in all communications and interactions

Education:
Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited institution, required

Experience:

At least 7+ years of experience practicing law at a law firm and/or in-house, required
Strongly preferred to have a combination of law firm and in-house experience
Experience providing superlative counsel, advice, and training to management and their related functions, required

Skills:

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
Demonstrated high integrity, sound judgment, and the ability to manage confidential information with care
The ability to work independently in a fast paced, high-volume environment, and handle both small and large matters with equal effectiveness and enthusiasm
Strong business judgment and the ability to understand and respond to business issues and needs
Ability to encourage risk-taking at the company's level of risk tolerance
Results-driven, with the ability to inspire others deliver highest impact on customer success
Proven track record for leading and influencing people
The ability to “issue spot” and exercise sound judgment across multiple areas of the law
Effective leadership style
A coachable attitude; able and willing to receive and provide constructive feedback
Curiosity and a love for lifelong learning

Other Requirements: