Lead Counsel, Employment, Benefits & Executive Compensation

About the role

McKesson is an impact‑driven, Fortune 10 company that touches virtually every aspect of healthcare, delivering insights, products, and services that make quality care more accessible and affordable. The MMS Legal Department is seeking a Lead Counsel, Employment to join its Technology, Risk & People (TRP) pillar. This role is critical to MMS’s transition to a standalone company. The TRP team provides practical, business‑oriented legal support across human resources, employee benefits, executive compensation, technology, compliance, and risk‑related matters, helping the business achieve its objectives while appropriately managing legal and regulatory risk. The role reports to the Managing Principal Counsel, Technology, Risk & People and serves as a trusted legal partner providing day‑to‑day advice on employment, workforce, benefits, and people‑related matters. The successful candidate will work closely with cross‑functional stakeholders to identify and address legal risks, support key business and workforce initiatives, and help develop practical, scalable solutions that balance legal requirements with business needs. The role requires sound judgment, strong collaboration skills, a proactive mindset, and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic environment with evolving priorities and occasional ambiguity. The Lead Counsel is expected to serve as a strategic thought partner to senior Human Resources, Finance, Compensation, and business leaders, assessing complex legal and business risks, guiding high‑impact workforce decisions, developing governance and compliance frameworks, and helping shape long‑term people‑related strategies while balancing legal, regulatory, operational, and business considerations. This position offers the opportunity to help build foundational processes and legal frameworks that support organizational growth, workforce innovation, and compliance in a newly independent healthcare company. McKesson Medical‑Surgical (MMS), which is expected to become Wellverse in early 2027, distributes medical‑surgical supplies, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic equipment and supplies, along with other solutions and services to virtually every type of healthcare setting and provider outside of the traditional hospital. With a team of approximately 8,000 employees, a network of 15 distribution centers and approximately 900 delivery vehicles, MMS collaborates with more than 2,200 leading manufacturers and serves over 200,000 customer accounts across the U.S. The catalog includes more than 270,000 SKUs of branded and private‑label medical‑surgical products – from bandages to specialty pharmaceuticals and COVID‑19 tests. The position offers a hybrid work model (preferred location Richmond, VA; also Jacksonville, FL; Alpharetta, GA) with up to 25% travel. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States; sponsorship is not available.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the company's lead legal advisor on labor, employment, employee benefits, and executive compensation matters, providing strategic, risk‑based counsel on complex and high‑profile workforce issues, organizational changes, executive matters, and enterprise initiatives.
• Lead legal support for enterprise‑wide workforce, benefits, and executive compensation initiatives; design and implement scalable legal, compliance, and governance frameworks that support organizational growth, workforce transformation, and public‑company readiness.
• Partner across legal functions to develop coordinated enterprise risk management strategies.
• Draft or comment on various HR, employment and benefits related agreements, policies and guidelines.
• Partner with HR, business leaders and cross‑functional leaders to proactively identify and manage labor, employment, benefits, and executive compensation risks, and implement practical, preventative solutions.
• Effectively manage outside counsel, including budgeting, scope management, and review of work product; partner with Senior Litigation Counsel as appropriate.
• Manage competing priorities, adjust to changing business needs, and operate effectively with limited structure in certain areas.
• Anticipate emerging legal and regulatory developments affecting employment, benefits, executive compensation, and workforce strategy; assess enterprise impact and lead implementation of proactive compliance and risk mitigation initiatives.

Requirements

• JD and active U.S. bar membership.
• 10‑15 years of relevant legal experience at a law firm and/or in‑house legal department (preferred).

Qualifications

• Experience with employment law counseling.
• Experience with HR policy development.
• Experience with benefit plan design and administration legal counseling (a plus).
• Experience with executive compensation legal counseling (a plus).
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex legal matters and influence executive‑level decision‑making.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to advise and challenge senior leaders while maintaining trusted relationships.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional initiatives across HR, Finance, Compliance, Internal Audit, Regulatory Affairs, and business operations.
• Working knowledge of 50 state labor and employment laws.
• Working knowledge of benefits and executive compensation laws (a plus).
• Strong drafting, negotiation, and issue‑spotting skills.
• Strong research skills.
• Ability to provide clear, practical legal guidance.
• Proven ability to adapt to evolving business needs and operate effectively in ambiguous situations.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.

Skills

• Experience in the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare technology, or healthcare distribution industries (preferred).

Benefits

McKesson offers a competitive compensation package as part of its Total Rewards, which includes base pay, annual bonus, and long‑term incentive opportunities. Additional benefits information is available via the company’s benefits portal.