Senior Counsel, North America Retail

General Mills is seeking a director-level Senior Counsel to join the North America Retail Legal team, providing strategic legal guidance on iconic brands like Cheerios, Pillsbury, and Nature Valley. This role will partner with senior business leaders, enabling the business to make decisions quickly with confidence while appropriately managing legal, regulatory and reputational risks. Reporting to the Vice President, Deputy General Counsel North America Retail and Pet, this attorney will be a member of one or more business leadership teams and will advise clients on all areas of commercial law, with a particular focus on marketing, advertising, sales, and antitrust law.**Key Accountabilities:** • Serve as a strategic legal leader to North America Retail business leaders in US and Canada and cross-functional business partners, providing clear, practical and timely guidance with a focus on driving growth and appropriately managing risk. • Advise on marketing, advertising, consumer communications, product claims, brand activity and related risk-management questions, in close partnership with business teams. • Work with Sales teams to manage complex commercial issues, customer relationships, and antitrust related matters. • Collaborate with a variety of legal department colleagues (e.g., Intellectual Property, Food Law, Government and Regulatory Affairs) to provide holistic business advice, navigate regulatory frameworks, and manage enterprise issues. • Identify legal and compliance risks early, frame practical options, and recommend a path forward that balances business objectives, risk tolerance and speed. • Support business leadership teams through planning, innovation, launches, issue management and other enterprise or NAR priorities. • Manage and strategically deploy outside counsel when appropriate, including scoping work, evaluating advice, managing spend and ensuring strong client service. • Bring a creative and innovative mindset to the business and legal teams, adapting to evolving business needs, operating effectively in ambiguity and bringing a growth mindset to a rapidly changing business and legal environment. • Contribute to a collaborative, high-performing legal team and take on additional responsibilities as the organization’s needs evolve.**Minimum Qualifications** • Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school. • Admission to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction and ability to maintain any required in-house authorization. • 8+ years of post-law-school experience in a sophisticated law firm, in-house legal department or comparable setting. • Demonstrated experience leading sophisticated commercial counseling and advising business clients on complex, cross-functional issues. • Strong judgment, written and verbal communication skills, negotiation skills and ability to prioritize in a fast-paced environment. • Ability to operate credibly with senior business leaders and independently lead matters from issue identification through execution.**Preferred Qualifications** • Experience in-house at a consumer products company or other regulated business • Experience in commercial law, marketing/advertising law or food regulatory matters • Experience working directly with senior leadership teams on high-visibility or high-consequence business matters • Experience managing others #J-18808-Ljbffr General Mills