Commercial Legal Counsel Director

CMA CGM • Houston, TX

2d • $245,000 - $255,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

This role will provide leadership and oversight to the commercial contracting activities of CEVA Logistics, NORTAM. This includes both customer-facing commercial agreements and vendor and subcontractor agreements. As a people manager, you will oversee the activities of several legal counsel, paralegals, and contracts managers providing cross-product support. As an individual contributor, you will be responsible for the drafting and negotiation of complex commercial contracts with customers, focusing on CEVA’s IPES and Contract Logistics service offerings. You will also support Air/Ocean and Ground/Rail commercial contracts with customers on an as needed basis.

CEVA Logistics provides global supply chain solutions to connect people, products, and providers all around the world. Present in 170+ countries and with more than 110,000 employees spread over 1,500 sites, we are proud to be a Top 5 global 3PL.
We believe that our employees are the key to our success. We want to engage and empower our diverse, global team to co-create value with our customers through our solutions in contract logistics and air, ocean, ground, and finished vehicle transport. That is why CEVA Logistics offers a dynamic and exceptional work environment that fosters personal growth, innovation, and continuous improvement.
At CEVA Logistics, we Rise in Motion. Your career is always on the move, growing as fast and as far as your ambition takes you. Join a global team of nearly 200 nationalities, shaping the future of global trade, moving essential goods, forging new paths, and pushing boundaries to serve an ever-changing world. The pace is fast, the challenges are real, but the rewards are greater: growth, purpose, and the chance to make a meaningful impact. This is more than a job. It’s a journey on which you rise.

Requirements

• Law degree and bar admission in Texas
• Minimum ten (10) years of commercial contracting experience at a reputable law firm or as in-house counsel.
• Previous experience in logistics or supply chain industry.
• Ability to work on multiple issues and set appropriate priorities with clients and delivery results efficiently.
• Provide ability to provide entrepreneurial, pragmatic, business-oriented advice with a dedication to superior customer service.
• Highly organized, reliable, detail-oriented, and diligent.
• Proven success working effectively across business units and internal functions to efficiently resolve complex business and risk management issues.
• Familiarity working across the globe, working with multiple time zones and cultures.
• Collaborating with senior executives.
• Concise, precise, clear and professional communication skills (both oral and written).
• Outstanding organizational skills
• Excellent attention to details
• Excellent reporting skills and good ability to synthetize complex problems.
• Animated by a strong curiosity toward business/ strategic topics.

Nice To Haves

• Twelve (12) to fifteen+ (15+) years of general commercial legal experience at a reputable law firm or as in-house counsel.

Responsibilities

• Primarily responsible for owning the contracting cycle for complex commercial contracts with customers, vendors, and subcontractors for Commercial Legal – from initial draft to execution and leading the review for compliance with applicable laws and regulations, company's business policies and strategies, and in support internal company approval process.
• Proactively partner with the Vice President Legal and Product and Functional leadership team as its go-to business lawyer and trusted advisor.
• Serve as initial point of contact for legal questions regarding IPES and Contract Logistics service offering, its key customers, and its agreements with multi-national customers.
• Understand business requirements and the company's risk tolerance, and provide timely, thoughtful, ethical, and practical written and oral product, business, and legal/risk counseling, judgment, and support on various legal risks, business strategies, and other issues related to products/services, commercial transactions, and general operations to business development, operations, and other internal teams.
• Analyze complex legal and commercial issues, advocating for CEVA’s interests. Contribute to the design, build, maintenance of commercial transaction workflows in CLM platform and to updating commercial legal playbook.
• Manage and resolve complicated issues related to commercial deals, and drive alignment with various cross-functional teams.
• Assist on legal aspects of CEVA’s transactional matters including areas of real estate, vendor and procurement agreements, as well as other service product areas.
• Help build, streamline, and operationalize CEVA’s contract management tool/process to help save the legal team resources (time, cost, and limit risk). This includes the deployment of AI tools relevant to commercial contracting

Benefits

• Competitive Paid Time Off
• 401(k)
• health insurance
• employee benefits platform that offers discounts on gym memberships and a diverse range of retail, travel, car and hospitality brands
• pet insurance
• Multiple health plans (company contribution to health savings account)
• prescription, dental and vision coverage
• Company paid life insurance, accident insurance, short- and long-term disability coverage and employee assistance plan.
• Voluntary benefits including additional life insurance, AD&D coverage, buy-up short- and long-term disability, critical illness, identify theft & legal plan.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Flexible Paid Time Off programs including company paid holidays.
• Tuition reimbursement program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director