Senior Counsel - Americas

About the role

The Senior Counsel - Americas serves as the lead legal advisor and strategic business partner for Valvoline Global Operations' Americas business, a $2.5 billion region spanning the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer and serving as a member of the Americas Leadership Team, this role provides commercially focused legal leadership that enables growth, protects enterprise interests, and supports the execution of regional business strategies.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead legal advisor to the Americas Leadership Team, providing strategic counsel that supports business growth, operational excellence, and achievement of regional objectives.
• Act as the primary legal business partner to the SVP, General Manager - Americas and senior leadership team.
• Participate as an active member of the Americas Leadership Team, contributing to business strategy, commercial decision-making, risk assessment, and operational planning.
• Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice that appropriately balances risk mitigation with commercial objectives.
• Identify emerging legal, regulatory, and commercial risks impacting the Americas region and develop proactive mitigation strategies.
• Influence business decisions through effective communication of legal implications, alternatives, and recommended courses of action.
• Lead all legal support for the Americas commercial, procurement, supply chain, and operational functions.
• Lead the legal support strategy for commercial contracting activities across the Americas region, providing oversight and guidance for the negotiation, execution, and management of a broad range of commercial agreements, including supply, manufacturing, distribution, procurement, services, technology, marketing, and strategic partnership agreements.
• Provide legal guidance on commercial transactions, strategic initiatives, pricing programs, sales models, and customer relationships.
• Advise business leaders on contractual risk allocation, liability management, performance obligations, and dispute avoidance.
• Support the development and implementation of scalable commercial contracting processes and governance frameworks.
• Lead legal support across the United States, Canada, and Latin America, ensuring consistent legal standards while accounting for local market requirements.
• Partner with regional stakeholders to address legal matters arising from business operations, supply chain activities, and customer engagements.
• Assess and manage commercial, regulatory, operational, and reputational risks associated with regional initiatives.
• Establish practical legal policies, guidelines, and controls that enable efficient business execution.
• Support internal investigations, dispute resolution efforts, and risk mitigation activities in partnership with Legal Centers of Excellence when applicable.
• Ensure legal considerations are effectively integrated into strategic business initiatives and operational processes.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team consisting of two attorneys and two paralegals supporting the Americas region.
• Establish priorities, allocate resources, and ensure delivery of high-quality legal services aligned with business needs.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, continuous improvement, and customer-focused legal support.
• Develop team capabilities in commercial contracting, legal operations, and business partnership.
• Drive workload management and resource optimization across the regional legal team.
• Partner closely with Employment, Litigation, Ethics & Compliance, Intellectual Property, Data Privacy, and M&A legal teams to deliver coordinated legal support.
• Champion the implementation, optimization, and governance of contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools and processes supporting increasing commercial and procurement contracting volumes.
• Drive standardization, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency, compliance, and business responsiveness.
• Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, approval frameworks, and negotiation guidelines.
• Leverage data, analytics, and technology to improve contract management effectiveness and legal service delivery.
• Promote self-service and scalable legal solutions where appropriate to support business growth.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school and an active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of progressive legal experience, including significant commercial, transactional, and business counseling experience gained through a combination of in-house and/or law firm roles.
• Demonstrated success serving as a trusted legal advisor to senior executives and business leaders within a complex, multinational organization.
• Extensive experience drafting, negotiating, and managing a broad range of sophisticated commercial agreements, including supply, manufacturing, distribution, procurement, services, technology, marketing, and strategic partnership agreements.
• Experience supporting commercial, procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and operational functions.
• Experience managing outside counsel and supporting business operations across multiple jurisdictions; experience supporting the United States, Canada, and Latin America preferred.
• Strong knowledge of commercial contracting, transactional law, contract risk management, and legal and regulatory frameworks affecting multinational business operations.
• Experience leveraging legal technology, including contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems, to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives and provide practical, business-focused solutions.
• Exceptional analytical, judgment, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and effectively translate complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Proven leadership, collaboration, and stakeholder management capabilities, including experience leading teams and developing talent.
• Demonstrated integrity, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to operate effectively in complex, ambiguous, and high-stakes environments.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of commercial contracting, transactional law, contract risk management, and legal and regulatory frameworks affecting multinational business operations.
• Experience leveraging legal technology, including contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems, to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives and provide practical, business-focused solutions.
• Exceptional analytical, judgment, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and effectively translate complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Proven leadership, collaboration, and stakeholder management capabilities, including experience leading teams and developing talent.
• Demonstrated integrity, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to operate effectively in complex, ambiguous, and high-stakes environments.

Skills

• Strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Effective communication and negotiation skills.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and translate complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Leadership and team management skills.
• Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems.
• Strong business and financial acumen.

Benefits

• Health insurance plans (medical, dental, vision)
• Health Savings Account (with employer-base deposit and match)
• Flexible spending accounts
• Competitive 401(k) with generous employer base deposit and match
• Incentive opportunity
• Life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Paid vacation and holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employee discounts
• PTO Buy/Sell Options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Adoption assistance

Pay

Compensation is commensurate with experience.

Schedule

Full-time, in-office work schedule (4 days per week).