Senior Legal Counsel, NA Litigation & Employment

CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth via our 347 million pallets, crates and containers. We employ approximately 13,000 people and operate in 60 countries. Through our pioneering and sustainable share-and-reuse business model, the world’s biggest brands trust us to help them transport their goods more efficiently, safely and with less environmental impact. 
What does that mean for you? You’ll join an international organization big enough to take you anywhere, and small enough to get you there sooner. You’ll help change how goods get to market and contribute to global sustainability. You’ll be empowered to bring your authentic self to work and be surrounded by diverse and driven professionals. And you can maximize your work-life balance and flexibility through our Hybrid Work Model.

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Legal Counsel – Litigation / Employment to act as a business-facing legal partner across North America, leading legal strategy related to employment law, litigation, and enterprise risk.

Key Responsibilities May Include:

• Provide reliable, cost-effective, and timely legal counsel to business units across a wide array of matters affecting the region and the global corporation.
• Advise on and negotiate commercial transactions, contracts, and agreements with key customers, vendors, and service providers, ensuring alignment with business goals and legal standards.
• Offer strategic legal guidance on major transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with a focus on identifying risks and conducting necessary due diligence.
• Manage day-to-day legal issues for business operations, including matters related to plant operations, logistics, asset management, and real estate (e.g., leases, property agreements).
• Anticipate, mitigate, and manage legal risks by providing proactive legal strategies and monitoring emerging legal trends that may impact the business.
• Support the company’s litigation strategy, manage disputes, and handle intellectual property rights issues, leveraging external counsel when necessary.
• Support the development of company policy, operational improvements, and procedural enhancements by providing legal insights on regulatory compliance and business operations.
• Research and monitor evolving legal issues, using external counsel where needed, to provide pragmatic, business-oriented legal advice to senior leadership.

Position Purpose

The Senior Legal Counsel, Litigation, Employment & Risk serves as the lead legal advisor for litigation, disputes, employment matters, claims, and other high-risk matters across North America.

Location: This is a remote, U.S.-based individual contributor role with a preference for candidates located in Eastern or Central time zones (including Texas).

Major/Key Accountabilities

• Oversee North America litigation and claims across a broad risk portfolio, including asset recovery / protection, commercial disputes, employment matters, general liability, personal injury, and IP / trade secret disputes

• Serve as primary legal advisor on employment matters, including employee relations issues, investigations, demand letters, agency matters, terminations, reductions in force, policy-related issues, and employment-related strategic projects

• Manage outside counsel on employment and litigation matters, including scope, strategy, budgets, staffing, and outcomes.

• Provide strategic advice on dispute prevention, early resolution, settlement strategy, risk escalation, and privilege-sensitive internal responses

• Partner with HR, Operations, Asset Recovery, and other business teams to support issue spotting, claims handling, improved visibility, and the efficient use of outside counsel.

• Support legal hold, subpoena, service-of-process, and related matter-management processes in coordination with legal operations or paralegal support.

• Escalate material disputes, precedent-setting matters, and sensitive employment issues to the General Counsel as appropriate.

Skills and Knowledge

• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong work ethic, coupled with superior multi-tasking capabilities.

• Must be a team player, and highly approachable.

• Strong interpersonal, presentational and networking skills

• Strong analytical and technical legal skills

• Must be able to work autonomously

• Dynamic, energetic, positive

Essential Qualifications

• J.D. and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction or Canada jurisdiction

• Bachelor's Degree and qualification from an accredited law school

• Strong required expertise in:

  • Employment law

  • Litigation and dispute strategy

• Experience managing outside counsel and complex disputes

• Strong judgment in handling privileged, sensitive, and reputationally significant matters

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• Strong judgment, executive presence, and ability to work cross-functionally with non-legal stakeholders

• Strong cross-functional partnership skills and the ability to advise business teams in a practical, solution-oriented manner.

• Experience managing outside counsel, budgets, litigation strategy, and early case assessment

• Ability to provide practical, business-oriented advice in fast-moving, operationally complex environments

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in creating or improving process and automation for the efficient and effective delivery of legal services

• Experience working with digital technology such as AI tools and systems to support the efficient and effective delivery of legal services

• Experience working in a global company

• Experience in matrixed environments

Experience

• At least 8+ years post qualification experience

• See qualifications above for required and desired experience

Languages

• Essential: English

• Desirable: Spanish

Remote Type

Fully Remote

Skills to succeed in the role

Coaching, Cross-Functional Work, Disruptive Thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Feedback, General Corporate Counsel, Inclusive Leadership, Influencing, Intellectual Property Protection, Leading Change, Leading Customer Centric Teams, Legal Risk, Legal Strategies, Mentorship, Prioritization, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management, Strategic Thinking

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to developing a diverse workforce in which everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has the opportunity to contribute to business success while realizing his or her potential. This means harnessing the unique skills and experience that each individual brings and we do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class.

Individuals fraudulently misrepresenting themselves as Brambles or CHEP representatives have scheduled interviews and offered fraudulent employment opportunities with the intent to commit identity theft or solicit money. Brambles and CHEP never conduct interviews via online chat or request money as a term of employment. If you have a question as to the legitimacy of an interview or job offer, please contact us at [email protected].