Senior Legal Counsel - Americas

ABB•Cary, NC

1d•Remote

About The Position

At ABB, we help industries run leaner and cleaner—and every person here makes that happen. You’ll be empowered to lead, supported to grow, and proud of the impact we create together. Join us and help run what runs the world. This position reports to: Division General Counsel ELSE __ In this role, you’ll help run what runs the world, by taking on meaningful work that drives real impact. As Senior Legal Counsel, Americas for ABB Electrification Service (ELSE), you will do more than manage legal risk. You will anticipate business needs, identify emerging issues, and serve as a trusted business partner to senior leaders and cross-functional teams. Working in ABB’s highly collaborative regional and global Legal & Integrity environment, you will advise on complex commercial contracts, compliance and integrity, disputes, employment matters, and strategic transactions, translating legal risk into clear options and practical solutions that support sustainable growth across jurisdictions. ELSE will be the role’s primary divisional responsibility, but the role may also support other ABB divisions as business needs require. The role is not the sole legal resource for ELSE or other supported divisions; effective coordination, allocation of work, and shared matter ownership with other ABB lawyers are essential. The work model for the role is: remote (#Li-Remote), however the operating time zone will align closest with Eastern Time zone.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) with active bar admission in at least one relevant jurisdiction
Minimum 10 years of in-house or law firm experience supporting industrial, engineering, technology, construction, or services businesses across multiple legal disciplines and jurisdictions in a multinational company.
Ability to succeed in a highly collaborative environment while operating with appropriate autonomy; partner effectively with divisional, business area, regional, country, and specialist counsel; manage competing priorities across ABB; clarify ownership and scope; and advise senior stakeholders under time pressure.
Strong commercial judgment and substantial experience in commercial contracts, disputes, strategic transactions, and cross-border matters, with the ability to identify material risks, develop practical options, support timely business decisions, and engage specialists when needed.
Candidates must already have work authorization that would permit them to work for ABB in the US.

Nice To Haves

Experience with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, or Harvey, preferred; if not experienced, demonstrated willingness to learn and quickly build AI fluency.
Strong knowledge of anti-bribery and anti-corruption requirements relevant across the Americas, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and experience supporting internal investigations.
Knowledge of professional, contractor, electrical licensing, and related regulatory requirements in one or more Americas jurisdictions, with the ability to coordinate local advice where needed.
Working knowledge of employment and human resources law in one or more Americas jurisdictions preferred, with the ability to identify when local specialist advice is required.

Responsibilities

Advise business leaders across the Americas on legal risk, decision-making, and execution of strategic priorities, in coordination with relevant country, business area, and specialist counsel.
Lead or support, as agreed within the regional legal team, the drafting, review, and negotiation of complex customer, supplier, service, subcontractor, channel partner, technology, and other commercial agreements across the Americas.
Design scalable contract management processes, including playbooks, templates, and workflows, to improve efficiency and manage legal risk across high-volume transactions.
Advise on tenders, contract risk reviews, claims, change orders, project execution, and dispute avoidance across service-intensive markets, including industrial services, utilities, data centers, infrastructure, and renewables.
Manage litigation, arbitration, pre-litigation claims, settlements, and external counsel, including matter strategy, budgets, reporting, and quality assurance.
Advise on employment and human resources matters, including performance management, investigations, terminations, reorganizations, immigration, and cross-border workforce issues, coordinating with specialists where appropriate.
Provide strategic legal counsel on mergers and acquisitions, minority investments, divestitures, joint ventures, and restructuring activities globally, including deal structuring, due diligence, and post-closing integration support.
Support other ABB divisions, business areas, and corporate functions as business needs require, with priorities and matter ownership coordinated through the relevant Legal & Integrity leadership and existing coverage teams.
Collaborate actively with ABB lawyers across divisions, countries, specialist teams, and regions under agreed coverage models, matter-allocation principles, and escalation paths. Existing counsel remain accountable for matters within their assigned businesses, countries, or specialist areas unless responsibility is expressly reassigned; this role strengthens shared legal capacity and is not the default recipient for all ELSE or other divisional legal work.

Benefits

Choice between two medical plan options: A PPO plan called the Copay Plan OR a High Deductible Health Plan (with a Health Savings Account) called the High Deductible Plan.
Choice between two dental plan options: Core and Core Plus
Vision benefit
Company paid life insurance (2X base pay)
Company paid AD&D (1X base pay)
Voluntary life and AD&D – 100% employee paid up to maximums
Short Term Disability – up to 26 weeks – Company paid
Long Term Disability – 60% of pay – Company paid. Ability to “buy-up” to 66 2/3% of pay.
Supplemental benefits – 100% employee paid (Accident insurance, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance
Paid Parental Leave
Employee Assistance Program
Health Advocate support resources for mental/behavioral health, general health navigation and virtual health, and infertility/adoption
Employee discount program
401k Savings Plan with Company Contributions
Employee Stock Acquisition Plan (ESAP)
ABB provides 11 paid holidays.
Salaried exempt positions are provided vacation under a permissive time away policy.