Senior Counsel - Public Affairs

Zones LLC.•Chicago, IL

9d•$175,000 - $195,000

About The Position

The Corporate Attorney serves as a key legal advisor to the business, providing practical, business-oriented counsel on commercial transactions, government and public sector contracting, vendor relationships, strategic partnerships, and corporate matters. The role drafts, reviews, negotiates, and advises on complex agreements for public and private sector business, including state and local government contracts, utility agreements, customer and commercial contracts, vendor agreements, subcontractor agreements, and partner and alliance agreements. The attorney works closely with Sales, Finance, Procurement, Operations, Risk, other legal team members, and executive leadership to structure agreements, identify and mitigate legal and commercial risks, negotiate agreements, and enable business growth. The position provides legal support for commercial and customer contracting, public sector and federal contracting, utility-sector agreements, vendor and supplier relationships, and general corporate matters. It involves advising on contract risk and compliance, improving contract templates and processes, supporting strategic initiatives and transactions, and translating legal issues into actionable business guidance. Experience supporting mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, or other general corporate matters is desirable; Federal Government contracting experience is a plus.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
Active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
7 or more years of relevant legal experience; a combination of law firm and in-house corporate experience is preferred.
Significant experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating sophisticated commercial contracts.
Demonstrated experience supporting public sector and/or government contracting.
Working knowledge of federal contracting principles, including familiarity with FAR and DFARS requirements.
Experience negotiating vendor, supplier, partner, subcontractor, and commercial customer agreements.
Strong knowledge of commercial contracting principles, risk allocation, and contract negotiation.
Ability to independently manage complex negotiations and appropriately escalate significant business or legal risks.
Strong analytical, judgment, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, actionable business guidance.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.

Nice To Haves

Federal contracting experience is strongly preferred.
Experience supporting utility-sector contracts or customers.
Prior in-house legal experience within technology, IT services, solutions integration, managed services, or a similarly complex B2B organization.
Experience supporting mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence, transaction documentation, integration, and related corporate activities.
Experience with corporate governance and general corporate legal matters.
Experience supporting organizations that sell to commercial, public sector, federal, and regulated-industry customers.
Experience partnering directly with senior executives and Sales, Finance, Procurement, Operations, and Compliance teams.

Responsibilities

Work with sales leads and other stakeholders to support strategy, opportunities, and contracting with customers, vendors, and partners.
Identify and drive improvements to contract templates and internal processes.
Draft, review, negotiate, and provide legal guidance on complex commercial agreements, working with stakeholders to bring agreements to closure.
Support customer contracting, including master services agreements, professional services agreements, statements of work, purchase agreements, licensing agreements, confidentiality agreements, and other commercial arrangements.
Advise business leaders on contractual risk, liability, indemnification, warranties, intellectual property, insurance, data protection, termination rights, and other material contract provisions.
Provide practical recommendations that balance legal risk with business objectives and commercial considerations.
Develop and maintain contract templates, standard provisions, negotiation guidelines, and contracting best practices.
Provide legal support for contracting with federal, state, local, education, and other public sector customers.
Review and negotiate government and public sector contracts, solicitations, RFP terms, subcontracting agreements, teaming agreements, and related documents.
Advise internal stakeholders on federal contracting requirements and contractual compliance obligations, including relevant FAR and DFARS provisions where applicable.
Identify government-contracting risks and work across the organization to develop mitigation strategies.
Partner with business and compliance stakeholders on representations, certifications, flow-down provisions, recordkeeping, audit rights, and other public sector obligations.
Support agreements involving utility-sector customers and partners, including regulated or public utility organizations.
Advise business teams on contractual requirements, risk allocation, procurement requirements, and other considerations specific to utility-sector engagements.
Collaborate with business stakeholders to address complex customer terms while supporting commercially viable solutions.
Draft and negotiate agreements with technology partners, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, service providers, subcontractors, and other third parties.
Support strategic partner and alliance relationships, including reseller, referral, channel, and related partnership agreements.
Work with Procurement and business stakeholders to negotiate favorable commercial terms while managing legal and operational risk.
Provide guidance on disputes, contract interpretation, renewals, amendments, terminations, and other contract-lifecycle issues.
Provide general corporate legal guidance across the organization as needed.
Partner with senior leadership on strategic initiatives, corporate transactions, and emerging legal and business risks.
Assist with corporate governance, entity management, and other corporate matters as appropriate.
Support legal due diligence and transaction activities associated with acquisitions, investments, integrations, or other strategic transactions when applicable.