General Counsel

About the role

This Jobot Job is hosted by: Amber Wood.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a key legal advisor to the business, providing practical, business-oriented counsel across a broad range of corporate legal matters.
• Advise business leaders and internal stakeholders on a broad range of corporate legal matters, including commercial contracting, employment, compliance, intellectual property, litigation, and enterprise risk management.
• Draft, review, revise, redline, negotiate, and provide legal and compliance guidance regarding customer, vendor, supplier, and other commercial agreements, including agreements with annual values exceeding $10 million.
• Develop and maintain practical contract-review processes, playbooks, templates, and policies that balance commercial objectives with appropriate legal and business protections.
• Provide day-to-day employment-law counseling to management and Human Resources on matters such as hiring, onboarding, employee performance, discipline, leaves, workplace policies, investigations, separations, and risk mitigation.
• Draft and revise employment-related documentation, including offer letters, employee handbooks and policies, confidentiality agreements, restrictive-covenant agreements, separation and release agreements, and other workforce-related materials.
• Monitor federal, state, and local legal and regulatory developments that may affect the company’s operations, workforce, commercial activities, or strategic objectives.
• Assess the impact of legal and regulatory changes and implement practical compliance plans, policies, training, and operational measures to reduce legal exposure and mitigate business risk.
• Support the company’s compliance program by advising on applicable laws, internal policies, ethics requirements, and risk-management initiatives.
• Manage and oversee outside counsel on intellectual-property matters, litigation, employment matters, regulatory issues, and other specialized legal projects.
• Coordinate with outside counsel to establish project scope, manage budgets, evaluate legal strategy, and ensure timely, cost-effective delivery of legal services.
• Partner with internal teams—including executive leadership, finance, sales, operations, human resources, technology, and procurement—to identify legal issues early and provide proactive, commercially sound solutions.
• Aid in the protection and management of the company’s intellectual-property assets, including coordination with outside counsel on trademarks, copyrights, licensing, disputes, and related matters.
• Support dispute resolution and litigation-management efforts, including preservation obligations, internal fact gathering, strategy discussions, settlement evaluations, and coordination with insurers or external legal advisors as appropriate.
• Contribute to the development of scalable legal processes, governance practices, and risk-management strategies as the organization grows.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active license and good standing with the Illinois state bar.
• [5–10]+ years of relevant legal experience, including meaningful in-house corporate counsel experience and/or a combination of law-firm and in-house experience.
• Demonstrated experience drafting, negotiating, and managing a broad range of commercial contracts, including significant customer and vendor agreements.
• Experience advising on employment-law issues and preparing employment-related agreements, policies, offer letters, and separation documentation.
• Strong knowledge of corporate compliance, legal-risk assessment, and practical implementation of policies and procedures.
• Experience managing outside counsel and legal budgets across multiple matter types.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly and concisely to non-legal business partners.
• Strong judgment, attention to detail, negotiation skills, and ability to prioritize effectively in a fast-paced environment.