Corporate Counsel, Commercial Transactions

Dole Packaged Foods•Thousand Oaks, CA

4d•$225,000 - $265,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Dole Packaged Foods is seeking an experienced, business-oriented Corporate Counsel to join its Legal team and support the Americas region. This role will have primary responsibility for commercial contracts, strategic transactions, and practical legal counseling across commercial, operational, and regulatory matters. The ideal candidate will have approximately 7-10 years of relevant experience and be able to independently manage sophisticated commercial matters in a fast-paced, global organization. This role requires strong legal judgment, collaboration skills, and the ability to translate legal risk into clear, practical, and actionable business guidance. The position offers flexibility for a hybrid work environment, requiring three days per week in the Westlake Village, CA office.

Requirements

7-10 years of relevant experience in a law firm, in-house legal department, or a combination of both, with significant experience supporting commercial contracting and business transactions
Substantial experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements and supporting commercial transactions
Strong understanding of contract law, commercial risk allocation, and in-house client counseling
Excellent drafting, negotiation, issue-spotting, and practical problem-solving skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities, own matters independently, and exercise sound judgment in a fast-paced environment
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal issues for business audiences
Collaborative, solution-oriented mindset, with high attention to detail and a commitment to ethical decision-making
Ability to build trusted relationships with business clients and manage negotiations with external counterparties
Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school
Active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction

Nice To Haves

Experience in food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, supply chain, or other regulated industries
Experience using or implementing contract lifecycle management systems, templates, playbooks, and legal operations tools
California bar admission or eligibility to register as in-house counsel in California

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements and transaction documents, including vendor and procurement contracts, supply chain and co-manufacturing agreements, sales and distribution agreements, marketing, agency, and promotional agreements, confidentiality agreements and master services agreements, technology, SaaS, data processing, cybersecurity, and AI-related agreements or contract provisions, licensing, intellectual property, and innovation-related agreements, and logistics, warehousing, transportation, and cross-border commercial agreements.
Lead and support the contract lifecycle from intake through execution, including scoping, drafting, negotiation, redlining, approval routing, escalation, signature, renewal, termination, and post-execution obligations.
Lead negotiations with vendors, customers, distributors, agencies, and other commercial counterparties, balancing legal risk, business objectives, and operational requirements.
Develop and apply fallback positions, playbooks, and clause guidance for recurring contract issues such as indemnity, limitation of liability, insurance, confidentiality, data use, audit rights, termination, and dispute resolution.
Serve as a primary legal partner to internal stakeholders across operations, supply chain, procurement, marketing, sales, finance, technology, and other business functions.
Translate complex legal and regulatory issues into practical, business-focused recommendations that enable informed decision-making.
Advise on risk allocation and mitigation in commercial arrangements and business initiatives, including indemnity, limitation of liability, warranties, insurance, confidentiality, data security, intellectual property, consumer protection, and dispute resolution issues.
Manage internal client expectations, communicate negotiation status and material risks clearly, and help business teams make risk-calibrated decisions.
Escalate material legal, reputational, regulatory, or business risks to senior Legal leadership with concise recommendations and proposed paths forward.
Support compliance with laws and regulations affecting food and beverage, labeling, marketing, advertising, promotions, privacy, and general commercial practices.
Review advertising, promotional materials, product claims, and consumer-facing communications for legal and regulatory compliance.
Partner with Quality, Regulatory, Marketing, Commercial, and other internal teams to support adherence to company policies, approval processes, and risk frameworks.
Review and negotiate technology, data, cybersecurity, privacy, and AI-related contract provisions in collaboration with appropriate subject-matter experts.
Support responsible use of contract templates, playbooks, legal technology, and AI-enabled tools in accordance with company policies and risk controls.
Partner with Legal Operations and Contract Management teams to improve contract intake, review processes, and templates, enhance efficiency, turnaround times, and consistency in legal service delivery, and support implementation and adoption of contract lifecycle management tools, legal technology, and responsible AI-enabled workflows.
Develop and maintain playbooks, training materials, clause libraries, and standardized workflows.
Work closely with internal functional teams across the Americas and other global functions, including colleagues in legal, commercial, supply chain, procurement, marketing, finance, regulatory, and technology roles.
Manage external counsel strategically, as needed, on specialized commercial, regulatory, technology, employment, litigation, or local-law matters.
Support legal aspects of cross-border commercial activities, including coordination with local counsel and regional teams on contract, compliance, and market-entry considerations.
Perform other duties related to the role’s purpose and accountabilities.