POSITION SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Vice President and General Counsel North America, the Corporate Counsel provides legal counsel and advisory support across the company's North American operations. This role contributes to the management of legal, risk, and compliance matters, and may engage in global legal initiatives as business needs require. The Corporate Counsel will provide legal guidance on a broad range of issues including, but not limited to, litigation and dispute management, compliance, commercial contracts, employment, real estate, and corporate governance. The role requires an attorney who can operate independently, exercise sound business judgment, and partner effectively with business leaders and cross functional teams to manage legal risk and support business objectives.

This position will collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, outside counsel, and insurance partners to ensure efficient and effective handling of legal matters while proactively identifying opportunities to mitigate risk and strengthen legal processes.

PRINCIPAL JOB DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Legal Advisory & Business Support

• Provide legal advice and guidance to internal stakeholders on commercial, operational, and strategic business matters.
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts, including vendor agreements, supply agreements, service agreements, distribution agreements, and other business arrangements.
• Provide legal support on commercial real estate matters, including leases, amendments, property-related agreements, and landlord/tenant matters.
• Identify legal risks and assist in developing risk mitigation strategies, training initiatives, and best practices.

2. Litigation & Claims Management

Support the General Counsel

• in litigation and dispute matters from inception through resolution, including early case assessment, development of litigation strategy, coordination with outside counsel and insurance carriers, and ongoing case management to ensure efficient and cost-effective resolution aligned with company objectives.
• to conduct pre-litigation evaluation and resolution of claims, work with internal stakeholders to assess exposure, investigate facts, and pursue early resolution strategies where appropriate to mitigate risk and avoid litigation.
• to oversee the litigation discovery process, including implementation of legal holds, coordination of document collection and production, drafting and review of discovery requests and responses, and management of internal fact investigations.

3. Legal Operations & Governance

• Support the General Counsel in corporate governance matters, including board materials, corporate records, and regulatory filings.
• Maintain corporate records including state filings, business licenses, corporate resolutions, and board documentation.
• Assist with the implementation of tools and systems to improve legal department efficiency and workflow management.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
• Active license and good standing with at least one U.S. state bar (Tennessee preferred).
• 58 years of legal experience in a law firm and/or corporate legal department.
• Experience advising business clients on commercial legal matters.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Experience managing litigation, disputes, or product liability claims.
• Ability to analyze complex legal issues and provide practical, business-focused advice.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and exercise sound professional judgment.
• Ability to travel.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Experience working in-house within a corporate legal department.
• Experience with commercial real estate matters, including leases and property-related agreements.
• Experience managing litigation or product liability matters.
• Experience supporting multi-jurisdictional or regional legal matters (U.S., Canada, Mexico or international matters) preferred.

CORE SKILLS:

• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, practical business advice.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple legal matters simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management abilities.

COMPETENCIES:

• Analytical Thinking Approaching a problem by using a logical, systematic, sequential approach.
• Attention to Communication Ensuring that information is passed on to others who should be kept informed.
• Forward Thinking Anticipating the implications and consequences of situations and taking appropriate action to be prepared for possible contingencies.
• Interpersonal Awareness Noticing, interpreting, and anticipating others' concerns and feelings, and communicating this awareness empathetically to others.
• Personal Credibility Demonstrated concern that one be perceived as responsible, reliable, and trustworthy.
• Thoroughness Ensuring that one's own and other's work and information are complete and accurate; careful preparation for meetings and presentations; following up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Lifting/ Carry Weight - Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 lbs.