Senior Counsel, Employment Law - Mars Veterinary Health

Banfield Pet Hospital•Vancouver, WA

20d•Onsite

About The Position

As part of the Mars Petcare family of businesses, Mars Veterinary Health is a global network of veterinary practices made possible by 75,000 Associates who care for millions of pets across nearly 3,000 clinics in more than 20 countries each year. We are committed to leveraging our reach to make a long-term positive impact on people, pets, and the planet and know our Purpose – A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS – starts with the people who care for them. We strive to offer unparalleled veterinary care for pets by first and foremost enabling and empowering our Associates to do what they love, whether in primary, specialty, and emergency care or management and leadership. This role requires Associate to work out of a MVH Hub location in Vancouver, WA. Why This Role Matters: The Senior Counsel, Employment Law supports Mars Veterinary Health’s (MVH) business units in North America. including Banfield, BluePearl, and VCA. This role is part of the MVH Legal function’s regional Employment Law Center of Excellence & Deployment (CoE&D), a collaborative pool of legal resources designed to flexibly support business needs, balance workload across the team, and provide responsive, high-impact employment law guidance across multiple business lines and jurisdictions, including outside the United States with the assistance of local counsel. The Senior Counsel, Employment Law advises on a wide range of employment and labor-related issues and strategic workforce matters, including employment agreements, restrictive covenants, policy development, administrative claims, litigation (single party and class action), and other dispute management, associate relations, and professional licensing and liability matters.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to practice law in the United States.
8+ years of experience practicing employment law preferred, with a significant portion spent as in-house counsel in a large, matrixed, or multi-unit organization.
Deep understanding of U.S. federal and state employment laws; labor law and Canadian employment law experience strongly preferred.
Proven ability to manage multiple complex legal issues simultaneously while maintaining responsiveness in a dynamic business environment.
Experience in employment litigation management, investigations, and proactive risk mitigation.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to partner effectively across MVH functions (e.g. P&O, Legal, and Operations) and greater Mars.
High integrity, sound judgment, and a practical, solutions-oriented mindset.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated success working within a shared services or Center of Excellence model is a strong plus.
Comfortable working in an environment of shifting priorities and shared resource allocation.

Responsibilities

Provide proactive legal counsel to P&O and business leaders to support day-to-day decision-making and workforce strategy development across Banfield, BluePearl, and VCA, covering a broad spectrum of employment and labor law issues including performance management, investigations, terminations, discrimination, wage & hour compliance, accommodations, leaves, I&D, and professional licensing and liability matters (e.g., overseeing license defense).
Advise on employment litigation and pre-litigation matters, including responding to agency charges, internal complaints, and managing outside counsel.
Contribute to the development, implementation, and maintenance of employment policies, handbooks, and training materials tailored to the North American workforce as well as conduct trainings with the P&O teams.
Draft and advise on Employment Agreements for veterinarians as well as other Associates throughout MVH.
Stay current with and communicate changes in federal, state, provincial, and local employment laws across North America; assess potential impacts and coordinate responsive actions.
Collaborate with global Legal colleagues across MVH and greater Mars to align North American practices with global employment law strategies and policies.
Provide legal guidance in connection with workforce changes, including restructuring/severance, acquisitions, divestitures, and related integration activities.
Partner with P&O on immigration matters.
Supervise outside attorney preparation of employment-based immigration petitions, prepare, review and file PERM applications and provide support to P&O in preparing PERM recruitment documentation.
Participate in and/or lead cross-functional projects, sharing knowledge and insights with peers across Legal (including risk and regulatory compliance), P&O, and operational teams.
Mentor more junior attorneys or Legal staff as needed.
Live and exemplify the Five Principles of Mars, Inc. within self and team.
Other job duties as assigned.

Benefits

Competitive salary with paid time off & holidays so you can spend time with the people you love.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your loved ones.
Fertility and family-building assistance.
Paid Parental leave.
Practice Paid Basic Life Insurance.
Practice Paid Short- and Long-Term Disability.
Automatic enrollment 401(k) Savings Plan after 60 days of employment with generous company match.
Commuter Benefits.
Legal Plan.
Health Savings Account & Flexible Spending Account.
Mental health support and resources.
Paid Volunteering.
Optimum Wellness Plans® for up to three pets.
Continuing Education allowance & MED hours for eligible positions.
Student Debt Relief (for full-time DVMs).
A Variety of discounts including Mars, PetSmart, Royal Canin, fitness, cellular and so much more.