Senior Counsel

Sherwin-Williams•Cleveland, OH

11d•Onsite

About The Position

This role serves as the primary US legal commercial counsel for assigned industrial business units. The Senior Counsel will develop a deep understanding of business strategy, commercial objectives, products, customers, and operating risks. They will provide proactive, practical, and business-focused legal advice to business leaders, participate in business planning initiatives and strategic projects, and identify legal risks while developing solutions that enable business growth and protect company interests. The position is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements, developing contracting strategies, and advising management on contractual disputes and pre-litigation claims. Continuous improvement of contracting processes, playbooks, templates, legal technologies, and other legal operations initiatives to enhance efficiency and business responsiveness is also a key responsibility. The role involves identifying emerging legal, regulatory, and operational risks, providing guidance on antitrust laws, assisting with antitrust compliance programs and training, and conducting legal research. Additionally, the Senior Counsel will support corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and minority investments, by drafting and negotiating relevant documents, managing legal due diligence, and coordinating with various subject matter experts. The position also requires serving as a trusted advisor to leadership teams, providing timely legal guidance, communicating complex legal concepts clearly, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Finally, the role involves managing outside counsel, leading legal department operational excellence projects, mentoring junior legal staff, and promoting a culture of integrity and continuous improvement. This position reports to Sherwin-Williams Global Headquarters in Cleveland, OH and is eligible for a performance-based bonus.

Requirements

Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
Active license to practice law in at least one US jurisdiction.
7+ years of legal experience.
Significant experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts.
Strong work ethic, the ability to act independently and adapt to changing priorities.
Demonstrated ability to provide practical business focused legal advice.
Strong communication and writing skills, in particular related to formal document drafting.
PC skills; Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); and other applications as required.
General working knowledge of legal software.
Excellent analytical, organizational and project management skills.
Must be at least 18 years of age.
Must have the legal right to work in the country of employment without needing sponsorship now or in the future for employment visa status.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting industrial or manufacturing businesses.
Experience with domestic and international M&A transactions.
Experience advising on antitrust and competition law matters including merger review, distribution practices, pricing issues, joint ventures, and compliance programs.
Prior in-house experience.
10+ years of legal experience.

Responsibilities

Serve as initial US legal commercial counsel for assigned industrial business units.
Develop a deep understanding of business strategy, commercial objectives, products, customers, and operating risks.
Provide proactive, practical, and business-focused legal advice to business leaders.
Participate in business planning initiatives and strategic projects.
Identify legal risks and develop solutions that enable business growth while protecting company interests.
Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements.
Develop contracting strategies that balance business objectives and legal risk.
Advise management regarding contractual disputes and pre-litigation claims.
Drive continuous improvement of contracting processes, playbooks, templates, legal technologies, and other legal operations initiatives.
Identify emerging legal, regulatory, and operational risks affecting supported businesses.
Provide guidance regarding antitrust laws affecting commercial operations and acquisition activities.
Assist with development and implementation of antitrust compliance programs and training initiatives.
Conduct legal research and develop practical solutions to manage legal and business issues.
Support Corporate Strategy and Development on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, and other strategic transactions.
Draft, negotiate, and review confidentiality agreements, letters of intent, purchase agreements, disclosure schedules, transition services agreements, and related transaction documents.
Manage and coordinate legal due diligence activities.
Support business leaders, finance, tax, environmental, employment, compliance, intellectual property, treasury, and other subject matter experts throughout transactions.
Assist with transaction structuring, signing, closing, integration planning, and post-closing matters.
Assist support on merger control and antitrust regulatory review processes, including Hart-Scott-Rodino filings, foreign competition law filings, agency inquiries, second requests and responses to regulatory authorities.
Manage external legal transaction counsel.
Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership teams of assigned business units.
Provide timely legal guidance regarding corporate planning, strategic initiatives and operational decisions.
Communicate complex legal concepts in a practical and understandable manner.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support business objectives and promote efficient decision making.
Develop an in-depth understanding of supported businesses’ markets, competitive dynamics, products, sales channels, customers and strategic objectives.
Manage outside counsel in an effective and cost-conscious manner.
Lead or support legal department operational excellence projects.
Mentor junior attorneys, law clerks, paralegals, and legal staff as appropriate.
Promote a culture of integrity, compliance, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Stay abreast of relevant legal developments.
Drive continuous improvement in contract lifecycle management, legal technology utilization, automation, knowledge management and legal service delivery processes.