AW Technical Center USA · 5 months ago
Corporate Counsel – Contracts
Northville, MI
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level
5+ years expAISIN World Corp of America is looking to hire a dynamic in-house attorney for the position of Corporate Counsel - Contracts. The role involves managing the company’s contract program, including contract review and lifecycle management, while providing legal advice and guidance on commercial and transactional documents.
Automotive
Responsibilities
Legal review of commercial and transactional documents
Review markups of commercial and transactional documents
Draft commercial and transactional documents
Manage employee expectations and communicate effectively with Company staff regarding the review processes and lead times for commercial and transactional documents
Provide legal advice and guidance to Company employees on issues related to commercial and transactional documents, negotiations, and contract disputes
Collaborate closely with Company staff during contract negotiations and transactions
Negotiate with customers, suppliers, vendors, and other external parties to protect the Company’s legal interests
Oversee legal vendors and law firms in relation to contract review assignments and legal tasks
Report to the general counsel on ongoing projects, including contract negotiations, review statuses, and legal support for disputes
Conduct training sessions for Company employees on best practices for contracts
Work with multiple teams internal to the Company to support decision-making relating to contracts and transactions among the various departments
Perform all other duties as assigned
Monitor the company’s cloud-based contract queue daily
Monitor the legal department’s email dedicated to contract issues
Conduct regular reviews of contract documents received in the queue promptly
Evaluate and decide how to handle contracts
Triage and assign contracts to internal and external counsel for legal review
Coordinate and facilitate communication of legal reviews between counsel and team members
Maintain clear expectations with company employees and communicate effectively regarding contract reviews and lead times
Issue legal approvals or denials for contracts
Update the cloud-based queue daily with the status of contracts
Oversee and manage outside counsel’s review of contracts, including issues like timing, cost, and information facilitation
Train team members on using the contract document review program
Perform any other tasks related to the contract document review program as needed
Monitor the Company’s contract lifecycle management system
Upload, tag, and organize executed contracts as needed
Collaborate with team members to assist in uploading all executed contracts
Work with team members to ensure proper tagging and organization of all executed contracts
Help identify contract champions at each of the Company’s locations as needed
Partner with contract champions to train and facilitate the correct use of the contract lifecycle management system
Upload, tag, and organize executed contracts as necessary
Work with the Company and team members to locate, obtain, and upload legacy contracts at each location
Perform any other tasks related to the contract lifecycle program as needed
Manage all of the Company’s standardized contracts
Ability to identify needs for additional standardized contract documents
Update and revise standardized contracts as directed by internal counsel
Manage the Company’s standardized eContract system
Train team members in the proper use and application of standardized contracts
Assist team members with using and implementing standardized contracts as needed
Develop and maintain contract playbooks regarding the legal department’s stance on various contract clauses and language
Perform any other tasks related to standardized contracts as required
Qualification
Required
At least five (5) years of verifiable prior experience in an in-house legal department reviewing contracts and providing advice and counsel on contracts and transactions
Self-directed leader with the ability to work independently and show initiative
Strong business acumen and proficiency in the automotive industry and supply chain issues are essential
Outstanding client service mentality
Ability to manage many contracts simultaneously
Good with technology and software applications
Ability to manage client expectations
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Detail-oriented
Strong attention to detail with a factual and legal analytic capability
Ability to interact effectively with individuals of varied backgrounds and skill levels
Comfortable with aggressive and proactive defense strategies
Ability to maintain confidentiality
Impeccable communication, both written and verbal, with strong negotiation skills
Proficient in Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.… Including the ability to 'track changes' and redline documents
J.D. or LLM with Foreign License is required
Preferred
Prior experience in the automotive industry
Prior experience with Japanese companies
Prior experience with an enterprise-wide contract document review and contract lifecycle management program
Prior experience with Canadian and Mexican contracts/transactions
Contract Management Software
Form-Building Software
MBA or Undergraduate in Business Administration is preferred
Company
AW Technical Center USA
Incorporated in 1999, AW Technical Center USA is a group company of Aisin-AW, with technical centers located in Ann Arbor (MI), Plymouth (MI), Los Angeles (CA), San Jose (CA), and Plano (TX).
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageCompany data provided by crunchbase