Corporate Counsel

Description

CORPORATE COUNSEL – COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS & EMPLOYMENT

Department: Legal

Reports To: President/Chief Executive Officer

Classification: Exempt

EEO-1 Category: Professionals

Supervises: None

Location: Pasadena, Texas

POSITION SUMMARY

The Corporate Counsel – Commercial Contracts & Employment serves as Spike Electric’s primary internal legal advisor for commercial contracting and selected labor and employment matters. The position drafts and negotiates customer, supplier, vendor, service, and other business agreements; advises leadership on contractual and operational risk; supports Human Resources on employment-law matters; and coordinates specialized litigation and regulatory work with outside counsel.

The Corporate Counsel provides practical, business-oriented advice that protects Spike’s interests while supporting timely and commercially reasonable decisions. Commercial contracting is the position’s principal area of responsibility. Experience handling EEOC charges, employment-discrimination matters, and workplace investigations is strongly preferred.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Commercial Contracts

• Draft, review, revise, and negotiate customer and supplier agreements, master service agreements, purchase orders, terms and conditions, nondisclosure agreements, professional-services agreements, subcontractor agreements, software and technology agreements, and other commercial documents.
• Evaluate and negotiate indemnification, limitation-of-liability, warranty, insurance, intellectual-property, confidentiality, data-security, termination, payment, dispute-resolution, and other material provisions.
• Advise sales, procurement, operations, project management, engineering, and executive leadership regarding contractual obligations and business risk.
• Support requests for proposals, customer exceptions, contract renewals, amendments, claims, defaults, and contract-interpretation questions.
• Develop and maintain approved templates, fallback provisions, negotiation guidance, contract-approval requirements, and legal review procedures.
• Help establish an organized contract repository and a reliable process for tracking obligations, renewals, expirations, and required notices.

Employment and Employee Relations

• Advise Human Resources and leadership on employment-discrimination, retaliation, reasonable-accommodation, leave, wage-and-hour, disciplinary, termination, and other workplace matters.
• Provide legal guidance during sensitive employee-relations investigations while preserving appropriate confidentiality and attorney-client privilege.
• Review employment policies, agreements, corrective-action documentation, separation documents, releases, and employee communications when legal review is warranted.
• Assist with EEOC and Texas Workforce Commission matters, including charge assessment, evidence preservation, position statements, requests for information, mediation, and response strategy.
• Coordinate employment litigation and specialized matters with qualified outside counsel.
• Monitor material developments in federal and Texas employment law and translate them into practical guidance, training, or policy recommendations.

Disputes, Compliance, and Legal Operations

• Assess threatened claims, commercial disputes, demand letters, subpoenas, and litigation notices.
• Issue or coordinate legal holds and oversee the preservation and collection of relevant documents.
• Select, engage, and manage outside counsel within approved authority, including matter strategy, budgets, invoices, and performance.
• Assist with corporate compliance, governance records, insurance-related legal matters, and other legal projects assigned by executive leadership.
• Deliver targeted training to managers and employees on contracting, documentation, employment-law risk, and other relevant subjects.
• Maintain appropriate matter records, privileged files, deadlines, and status reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active law license in good standing in Texas or another United States jurisdiction, with the ability to provide legal services lawfully to the company in Texas.
• At least five years of progressively responsible legal experience, with approximately six to ten years preferred.
• Substantial experience independently drafting and negotiating business-to-business commercial contracts.
• Working knowledge of commercial transactions, contract interpretation, risk allocation, and applicable Uniform Commercial Code principles.
• Ability to communicate complex legal issues clearly and provide practical recommendations to business leaders.
• Strong judgment, discretion, writing, negotiation, organizational, and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple matters and deadlines with limited day-to-day supervision.

Strongly Preferred

• Direct experience responding to EEOC or state-agency discrimination charges.
• Experience advising employers on Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, retaliation, accommodations, investigations, discipline, and termination.
• Prior in-house legal experience.
• Experience supporting manufacturing, electrical equipment, industrial services, construction, distribution, supply-chain, or project-based operations.
• Experience managing outside counsel and controlling external legal expenses.

ROLE BOUNDARIES

The Corporate Counsel provides legal advice and identifies legal risk but does not replace the business owner responsible for commercial, financial, operational, or personnel decisions. Agreements outside approved authority, material litigation, significant regulatory matters, and unusually high-risk provisions must be escalated to the President/CEO and other designated decision-makers.

The position has no employee-supervision authority unless separately authorized in writing.