Paralegal

Paralegal

As a Paralegal, you will support the legal department and the business as a whole for Trew and its affiliated companies, including Intelligrated Systems, LLC. This is a cross-functional role, not one confined to purely legal work: much of your day will be spent working directly with Sales, Proposals, Sourcing, Installation, Field Service, Project Management, Billing, and Accounts Payable to get their questions answered and their projects moving. It is a construction-compliance-focused paralegal role: you will own the licensing, lien waiver, bond, and customer-prequalification work that allows our teams to bid, install, and service material handling systems at customer sites across the United States.

The ideal candidate comes from a construction background (general or specialty contractor, construction law practice, surety or insurance agency, or similar) and understands how contractor licensing, lien rights, bonding, and certificates of insurance work in practice; familiarity with commercial insurance concepts is a major plus. Success in this role depends less on already knowing every answer than on a willingness to learn. The questions that come to the legal department are rarely the same twice – a new state, a new customer requirement, a new scope of work – and the person in this seat needs to be curious, dig into unfamiliar rules and systems, and drive problems to resolution rather than wait to be told what to do.

This is a full-time role with a steady, varied workload; it is a good fit for someone who wants to build real expertise, take ownership of their areas, and be a visible resource to teammates across the company.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Contractor Licensing & Registration
• Day-to-day management and timely completion of company licensing and registration requirements (e.g., Secretary of State registrations; contractor, trade, engineering-firm, and business licenses; mechanical/electrical contractor licenses) for Trew and its affiliated companies, including the surety bonds and insurance certificates required to obtain and maintain those licenses
• Administer the third-party business license management database (BLMS) and the vendor relationship, including submitting and tracking license applications, renewals, and support requests
• Maintain the Licensing Watchlist for the Sales and Proposal teams – the states in which the company lacks one or more licenses needed to bid conveyor and/or electrical scopes of work
• Maintain the in-house installation capacity tracker for the Installation team (where the company may perform conveyor, electrical, and vertical conveyor installation with its own employees) and the state and local subcontractor licensing requirements tracker for the Sourcing team
• Research state and local contractor and trade licensing statutes, regulations, and code adoption (e.g., National Electrical Code) and answer questions from Installation, Field Service, Sourcing, and Sales about whether a specific scope of work (e.g., electrical rewiring, mechanical reinstallation) may be self-performed or must be subcontracted to a licensed trade; escalate legal judgment calls to counsel
• Validate and document the use of an alternate legal entity in jurisdictions where the primary contracting entity is not licensed
• Coordinate the Licensing Qualifier Incentive program: recommend locations where additional qualifying individuals are needed, assist prospective qualifiers with application forms and exam preparation materials, track application progress, and maintain the incentive agreement template, executed agreements, and related Teams site
• Maintain the company Licensing Procedure and related instructions
• Lien Waivers
• Maintain lien waiver templates, including company standard templates and approved customer-specific templates; confirm that any new or non-standard template has legal approval (as part of an existing contract or through review by the applicable attorney or contract manager)
• Prepare lien waivers upon request, gathering any additional information needed from Billing or Project Management; coordinate signature and notarization; and maintain files of completed lien waivers and supporting documents
• Maintain the delegation of authority for authorized lien waiver signers
• Answer questions from Accounts Payable regarding supplier and subcontractor lien waiver requirements
• Bonds & Insurance
• Process mechanic's lien bond invoices and maintain files of non-licensing bonds; support customs bond requests
• Respond to certificate of insurance (COI) requests and maintain the internal COI instructions site; support the Senior Paralegal and in-house counsel on other insurance administration as needed
• Customer Compliance Portals
• Management of Avetta, ISNetworld, and similar customer prequalification and compliance portals; project management of teammates to ensure all requirements for these portals are timely completed
• Legal Department Operations
• Process and track legal department vendor invoices (e.g., licensing service providers, surety and bond premiums, outside counsel)
• Serve as the legal department's business process owner (BPM/BPO): document legal department processes in the company's business process management system and keep them current
• Manage and organize legal files, documents, contracts, and databases
• Administration of internal compliance processes and tracking tools
• Other duties and special projects as assigned by in-house counsel; step in to support other legal department and business needs as they arise

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Construction industry background strongly preferred – e.g., experience with a general or specialty contractor, construction law practice, surety or insurance agency, or a construction-related compliance, contracts, or licensing function – with working knowledge of how contractor licensing, lien rights, bonding, and certificates of insurance operate on a project
• Familiarity with contractor licensing, state registration, and similar jurisdictional filing requirements and ability to manage related deadlines across many jurisdictions
• Familiarity with lien filing and lien waiver processes and procedures (e.g., conditional and unconditional, progress and final waivers; preliminary notice requirements)
• Familiarity with insurance concepts is a major plus – e.g., commercial general liability, auto, workers' compensation, umbrella/excess, builder's risk, additional insured and waiver of subrogation endorsements, and reading a certificate of insurance against a contract's insurance requirements
• Ability to read state statutes, regulations, and licensing board guidance and summarize the practical answer clearly for non-lawyers
• Strong proficiency with Excel, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams for maintaining trackers and shared files; comfort working with reports and dashboards (e.g., Power BI) a plus
• Willingness to learn – genuine interest in mastering new subject matter (licensing regimes, lien law, insurance and bonding, company systems) and in taking on new responsibilities as the role grows
• Problem-solving mindset – ability to take an unfamiliar question, figure out what is being asked, research it, work through roadblocks, and bring back a practical answer or recommendation
• Ability to work independently and manage a full, varied workload with competing deadlines
• Demonstrated initiative to start and complete projects with minimal oversight
• Ability to communicate effectively across all levels of the organization, including field and installation personnel
• Currently a Notary Public in the State of Ohio or willingness to immediately become an Ohio Notary

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree and/or a paralegal certificate from an accredited program, or equivalent construction industry experience in a licensing, compliance, contracts, or project administration role
• At least 1-3 years of experience as a paralegal, legal assistant, or construction compliance/licensing coordinator; experience in the construction or material handling systems integration industry strongly preferred
• Work Environment This is primarily a desk-based role, requiring extended periods of sitting and computer use
• Remote/hybrid position with approximately 3 days in office per week

Physical Requirements:

Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times. Ability to traverse office and manufacturing facility.

Trew EEO Statement Trew and its companies are an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, or veteran status.