Senior Legal Counsel, Corporate & Commercial

Empower Pharmacy•Houston, TX

9h•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Legal Counsel, Corporate & Commercial serves as a strategic legal advisor responsible for building scalable commercial and corporate legal infrastructure supporting Empower’s hyper-growth 503A and 503B environment. This role owns complex commercial agreements, corporate governance activities, strategic transactions, and enterprise legal operations while protecting contractual economics, mitigating risk, and enabling disciplined organizational growth. Leveraging AI as a force multiplier, the position improves contract execution speed, legal analysis quality, operational efficiency, and decision-making through automation, structured workflows, and advanced contract intelligence tools. The role partners closely with Executive Leadership, Finance, Operations, Procurement, and Compliance to strengthen enterprise governance, accelerate business execution, and support scalable growth without compromising regulatory obligations or enterprise value. Success requires P80–P90 talent demonstrating strategic thinking, execution rigor, learning agility, enterprise ownership, and sound legal judgment.

Requirements

Advanced expertise in commercial contracting, corporate governance, and transaction support.
Strong knowledge of contract law and applicable regulatory frameworks.
Experience with AI-enabled contract lifecycle management and workflow automation tools.
Strong analytical judgment and ability to translate legal risk into business impact.
Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Experience leading contract lifecycle management processes and driving process improvements.
Minimum of 7 years of legal experience, with a focus on contract drafting, negotiation, and management, preferably in pharmaceutical, healthcare, or life sciences industries.
Combination of law firm and in-house experience preferred.
Demonstrated success negotiating complex agreements with vendors, customers, and strategic partners.
Experience implementing or leveraging AI-enabled legal tools and contract automation platforms.
Supervisory experience managing and mentoring Contract Counsel.
Experience with mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and real estate agreements.

Nice To Haves

Customer Focus: Builds trust through customer-centric solutions.
Strategic AI: Guides responsible AI adoption and adaptation.
Optimizes Work Processes: Drives efficiency with continuous improvement.
Collaborates: Partners effectively to achieve shared goals.
Resourcefulness: Secures and deploys resources efficiently.
Manages Complexity: Simplifies and solves complex challenges.
Ensures Accountability: Delivers on commitments with integrity.
Situational Adaptability: Adjusts approach to shifting conditions.
Communicates Effectively: Tailors messages to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

Lead the structuring, drafting, review, and negotiation of complex vendor, customer, licensing, real estate, and strategic partnership agreements supporting enterprise growth objectives and operational scalability.
Develop business-aligned legal solutions balancing commercial opportunity, contractual protections, operational realities, and regulatory obligations while leveraging AI-enabled contract intelligence tools to improve negotiation efficiency, execution speed, and enterprise risk visibility across highly complex commercial relationships.
Develop scalable contract templates, clause libraries, governance standards, and approval workflows that improve legal consistency, reduce deviation rates, and accelerate contract cycle times across enterprise operations.
Implement AI-supported review processes, automated validation workflows, and standardized negotiation frameworks that strengthen operational discipline, improve legal execution quality, and support efficient management of high-volume commercial contracting activities.
Evaluate contractual financial exposure, operational risks, indemnification structures, and liability allocation while providing clear, business-aligned legal guidance supporting executive decision-making and enterprise growth objectives.
Partner closely with Finance, Procurement, Operations, and Executive Leadership to negotiate practical legal solutions that strengthen commercial relationships, protect organizational interests, and maintain scalable legal governance within a highly regulated environment.
Support mergers, acquisitions, strategic investments, and capital projects through legal diligence, contract analysis, governance reviews, and enterprise risk assessment activities.
Provide strategic legal guidance throughout transaction lifecycles while identifying legal exposure, strengthening contractual protections, and supporting scalable business integration strategies aligned with operational, financial, and organizational objectives.
Maintain enterprise entity management records, governance documentation, board approvals, and corporate compliance activities with exceptional accuracy, confidentiality, and operational discipline.
Develop scalable governance processes, standardized documentation controls, and centralized legal tracking systems that strengthen organizational visibility, improve governance efficiency, and support enterprise readiness for audits, transactions, and regulatory reviews.
Structure strategic agreements with clear allocation of legal risk, indemnification obligations, operational responsibilities, and financial protections supporting sustainable enterprise growth.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Executive Leadership, Finance, Compliance, and Operational stakeholders to negotiate agreements balancing commercial objectives, regulatory requirements, and long-term organizational value while minimizing legal and financial exposure.
Implement AI-enabled legal technologies supporting automated contract drafting, document review, obligation tracking, and legal workflow management across enterprise legal operations.
Lead modernization initiatives improving operational efficiency, execution consistency, legal scalability, and response times while ensuring legal processes remain compliant, auditable, and aligned with evolving organizational growth requirements.
Analyze contract data, negotiation trends, risk patterns, and operational metrics to strengthen legal strategy, improve negotiation outcomes, and reduce enterprise risk exposure.
Utilize AI-supported analytical capabilities and legal intelligence tools to identify process inefficiencies, optimize contractual protections, and provide leadership with actionable insights supporting strategic business decisions and operational scalability.
Design repeatable legal workflows incorporating validation controls, confidentiality safeguards, approval governance, and operational accountability standards supporting scalable enterprise legal operations.
Develop structured intake processes, automated routing capabilities, and standardized legal frameworks that improve execution quality, reduce administrative burden, and strengthen visibility into legal operations, contract performance, and enterprise risk management activities.
Operate with full ownership and accountability across assigned legal domains while delivering high-quality outcomes with minimal oversight in a fast-paced and highly regulated environment.
Balance strategic legal judgment, operational responsiveness, and execution discipline while managing competing priorities, enterprise risks, and complex stakeholder relationships supporting scalable organizational growth and operational continuity.
Establish legal intake systems, prioritization methodologies, tracking mechanisms, and performance measurement frameworks supporting operational efficiency and enterprise transparency.
Implement scalable governance standards, workflow reporting tools, and AI-supported operational metrics that improve visibility into legal workloads, execution timelines, contract cycle performance, and organizational service delivery effectiveness.
Serve as enterprise subject matter expert supporting mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, capital projects, and complex commercial transactions across the organization.
Provide strategic legal guidance, mentorship, and decision support to internal stakeholders while strengthening organizational legal capabilities, operational alignment, and enterprise readiness for growth, transformation, and evolving regulatory requirements.
Supervise and mentor Contract Counsel while providing guidance, quality oversight, and strategic direction across contract-related matters and enterprise legal operations.
Foster a high-performance legal culture emphasizing operational discipline, analytical rigor, business partnership, and continuous learning while strengthening team capabilities supporting scalable organizational growth and legal execution excellence.
Partner cross-functionally with Executive Leadership, Finance, Operations, Procurement, Compliance, HR, and external stakeholders to align legal strategies with enterprise priorities and operational objectives.
Translate complex legal concepts into practical business guidance supporting informed decision-making, operational scalability, and effective management of legal, contractual, and organizational risk.
Lead highly complex legal initiatives supporting operational transformation, enterprise governance, and scalable commercial growth across multiple organizational functions.
Establish execution frameworks, governance standards, and operational processes improving legal responsiveness, business alignment, and enterprise-wide consistency while positioning Legal as a strategic partner enabling organizational agility and long-term business success.