Senior Corporate Counsel - Labor & Employment

Position Summary

Serves as a key legal advisor to executive leadership and business partners across a large, multi-state construction enterprise, with a strong emphasis on California & Texas operations, overseeing all labor and employment legal matters.

Focuses on union relations, wage-and-hour compliance, class/collective action/PAGA strategy, and high-volume litigation risk, bringing deep expertise in all areas of employment law within a complex, fast-paced environment.

Position Details

• Labor Relations and Union Strategy: Advise on collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements, union negotiations, grievances, and arbitrations in heavily unionized environments; guide responses to union organizing activity and NLRB matters, including unfair labor practice charges; monitor significant developments in the NLRA, and partner with HR and Division to align labor strategy with project execution, particularly in California and Texas.
• California Employment Law and Compliance: Serve as subject matter expert on California employment law, including wage/hour, PAGA, CFRA, paid sick leave, and Cal/OSHA; develop California-specific policies and field guidance; and advise on classification issues (exempt/non-exempt and contractor status).
• Wage and Hour Litigation: Comprehensive guidance on wage and hour pay policies, with a particular focus on “per diem” or other expense reimbursement policies or incentive pay policies in union and non-union space; conduct wage/hour audits and manage FLSA suits, collective actions, and California class and PAGA representative actions.
• Litigation and Dispute Management: Oversee a high volume of employment litigation, including class actions; manage agency matters (DLSE, EEOC, DOL, Cal/OSHA, CA CRD); direct outside counsel and control legal spend; oversee and coordinate with internal partners on litigation holds, depositions and document production, and lead internal investigations and enterprise-wide risk mitigation.
• Business Partnership: Advise executives, HR, and operations on workforce decisions in a high-risk regulatory environment; support M&A activity with a focus on California / Texas labor and employment matters; and partner with payroll and HRIS teams to ensure compliance in execution.
• Policy and Governance: Build scalable compliance frameworks for high-regulation jurisdictions; monitor developments in employment law (including the ADA, FMLA, Title VII, PWFA, and state laws), wage/hour enforcement trends, particularly under the FLSA and CA law, Cal/OSHA developments, and restrictive covenants; and drive consistency and accountability across business units and project sites.
• Exercises significant independent legal judgment in overseeing labor and employment matters, leading class/collective/CA PAGA and litigation strategy, and directing outside counsel, within the authority delegated by the VP & General Counsel.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership required (California strongly preferred).
• Twelve or more years of labor and employment law experience with significant exposure to California/ Texas law, including at least five to seven years in-house handling sophisticated labor and employment issues. Construction, infrastructure, or project-based industry experience with unionized workforces strongly preferred.
• Deep expertise in California and/or Texas labor and employment regulatory environment, including PAGA and wage/hour law.
• Experience managing complex litigation, including class actions and representative actions, and strong familiarity with FLSA and multi-state compliance frameworks.
• Strategic, solutions-oriented mindset with strong risk judgment.
• Executive presence and the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Ability to balance legal risk with operational realities in the field.
• Strong negotiation and communication skills.
• Scholarly or ABA published writings, articles, CLE or client training on a L&E subject, demonstrating SME in this field.
• Primarily an office-based role; prolonged periods of sitting and computer/phone use.
• Occasional travel may be required to support investigations, hearings, mediations, and business needs across company locations, including California, Texas, and Northern Virginia.

Benefits

As a 100% employee-owned company, we offer a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family:

• 401(k) plan with 50% company match (no cap) and immediate 100% vesting
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (100% paid for employee)
• Annual bonus program based upon performance, achievement, and company profitability
• Term life, AD&D insurance, and voluntary life insurance
• Disability income protection insurance
• Pre-tax flexible spending plans (health and dependent care)
• Paid parental leave
• Paid holidays, vacation, and personal time
• Training/professional development opportunities and company-paid memberships for professional associations and licenses
• Wellness benefits

About Southland Industries

As one of the nation’s largest MEP companies, Southland Industries is built on the foundation of great people. Since 1949, we have put our people first, enabling growth, professional achievement, and innovation. If you want to join a fast-paced environment where you’re engaged, challenged, and valued,

To learn more about careers at Southland, explore our career opportunities, follow us on social media, and check out our website.

Southland Industries and all its subsidiaries are an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing our employees with a safe work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Southland Industries are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, gender, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, family care or medical leave status, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Southland Industries will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

Pay: Final pay is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data. For California this ranges from $240,000.00 - $270,000.00 plus annual incentive, benefits, and retirement program as outlined above.

Contingent Employment: All employment offers are contingent upon successful drug tests, background checks, and professional reference checks. Roles that include driving as an essential job duty will be required to have a successful Motor Vehicle Record check (MVR). We are not able to offer sponsorship of employment at this time.

External Agency Announcement : Its Southland Industries' policy not to accept candidate submissions from recruiting agencies without an active and authorized work order. Candidate ownership can only be established after a bona fide work order is issued by a member of the Southland Industries Talent Acquisition team and the candidate is appropriately submitted through our Applicant Tracking System (ATS).