General Counsel

Rain For Rent•Bakersfield, CA

6h•$230,000 - $280,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The General Counsel serves as advisor to the executive team, board of directors, and key business leaders. This role is responsible for overseeing legal affairs of the company, including contract management, regulatory compliance, intellectual property strategy, litigation management, employment law support, enterprise risk, insurance and oversight of outside counsel. This role operates as both a strategic advisor and a practical problem solver, offering proactive legal guidance that supports business growth while mitigating legal and regulatory risk. The General Counsel requires a dynamic and strategic leader capable of balancing corporate-level initiatives while ensuring the operational success of a business unit.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school is required.
A current license to practice law in California or eligibility to register as in-house counsel is required.
4+ years of progressive legal experience, in-house GC or Deputy GC experience preferred.
Prior experience across corporate, business law, commercial contracts (customers, vendors, partnerships), employment law, regulatory compliance, and oversight of outside counsel preferred.
Proven leadership experience managing teams, legal operations, and external counsel in an applicable industry (services, construction, oil & gas, agriculture, mechanical contracting, engineering, etc.).
Strong understanding of contracts, risk management, insurance, and compliance functions.
Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and communication skills with the ability to engage cross-functional stakeholders and provide excellent service to operations teams.
Experience in process improvement, change management, and business transformation.
Experience collaborating with Board of Directors, Executive Leadership, and multi-branch service operations.
Experience with Artificial Intelligence tools is preferred.
Experience in building and scaling multi-site industrial services businesses preferred.
Experience conducting M&A transactions is preferred.
Active Bar license to practice law in California.

Nice To Haves

in-house GC or Deputy GC experience preferred
Prior experience across corporate, business law, commercial contracts (customers, vendors, partnerships), employment law, regulatory compliance, and oversight of outside counsel preferred.
Experience with Artificial Intelligence tools is preferred.
Experience in building and scaling multi-site industrial services businesses preferred.
Experience conducting M&A transactions is preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide practical, business focused legal advice to the CEO and executive leadership team on strategic initiatives, operations, and risk management.
Build and lead a high-performing legal and risk department, including recruitment, mentorship, performance evaluation, and succession planning.
Provide strategic legal guidance on a wide array of matters including governance, regulatory compliance, litigation, and business operations.
Lead activities to develop (with governance from the board of directors) and ensure adherence to all corporate policies.
Present to the Board of Directors while maintaining strict confidentiality and attorney-client privilege.
Regularly consults expert legal outside counsel in all areas beyond in-house counsel’s expertise which exposes the Company to risk.
Standardize and streamline the contract management process to improve the customer onboarding process (measured in response time).
Support contract lifecycle processes including review, drafting, negotiation, risk analysis, and enforcement.
Support operational teams by aligning contractual frameworks with risk mitigation, strategic and financial goals.
Lead the enterprise risk management strategy including oversight of insurance programs, claims management, and alternative risk transfer programs.
Represent the company in legal proceedings, investigations, and compliance reviews.
Refresh framework to proactively identify and mitigate operational, financial, and reputational risk of the enterprise.
As a member of the IT Steering Committee, provide thought leadership on all aspects of artificial intelligence.
Lead the cross functional Risk Management Committee meetings, presenting risk assessments, mitigation plans, and key developments to the Board of Directors.
Collaborate with Safety, Compliance, and HR leadership to monitor and mitigate environmental, regulatory, and workplace risk.
Work with outside council and HR to manage risk within our workforce model to include managing union activity and cross-border interactions.
Understand, guide (as necessary), and collaborate with HR on job classification, wages and hours requirements at various levels of the organization across all states and provinces where the company operates.
Work with Environmental Health & Safety and outside council to manage Safety, Health, and Incident Response policies and procedures including interacting with OSHA and other related agencies.
At times, work with HR and outside council to manage independent contractor vs employee status, subcontracting, and prevailing wage obligations on public work.
Direct all litigation matters, including oversight of outside counsel and internal litigation strategies.
Evaluate potential liabilities, set reserves in coordination with Finance, and recommend resolution strategies.
Serve as legal lead for corporate development activities including acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures globally.
Lead legal due diligence, deal structuring, negotiation, and post-close integration.
Implement tools and practices to directly reduce legal and operational costs.
Collaborate with Finance and branch admin teams (as necessary) to support dispute resolution and collections efforts from a legal and contractual standpoint.
Other duties assigned in support of the operation.