Sr. Paralegal - Contracts

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. • Franklin, TN

9h • $105,000 - $111,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Paralegal – Contracts and Corporate Governance will manage MMNA’s legal contract workflow that will exist across all internal departments. Under the direction of counsel, you will help to reduce risk across our business transactions while also driving the vision needed to manage an entire contract workflow from start to finish. You will work on other high level legal projects, such as compliance audits, intellectual property matters, marketing matters, and more. In addition, you will manage the MMNA Executive Committee as its Secretary, and work on governance and compliance projects related to regulatory adherence, policies, and internal controls. If you are a Legal professional with contract and project management skills seeking a role that will give you the opportunity to work on a broad variety of types of matters, and with teams across an organization, you may be the right person!

Requirements

• 7+ years of relevant legal experience.
• Exceptional organization, attention to detail, and ability to work collaboratively and cross functionally, conduct research, and communicate and write in a manner appropriate for executive and director-level communications.
• Seasoned operational and professional judgment; strong decision-making skills, analytical and interpersonal skills.
• Strong knowledge of a variety of contractual and insurance related obligations, standards and practices.
• Experience managing contract workflow through a contracts management software system (MMNA currently uses Evisort).
• Ability to improvise and respond to contractual language questions, provide creative solutions to operational issues, and balancing working on multiple projects at one time while successfully meeting tight deadlines.
• Working knowledge of general corporate operations, i.e. governance matters, boards, committees, and internal controls, and ability to manage committees and associated documentation in a highly organized and professional manner.
• Comfortable communicating with all levels of employees; must have the ability to obtain information from others and effectively communicate and deliver information to others.
• Willingness to learn new things, work in new areas, and thrive in an environment of ambiguity is ideal for this position; must be comfortable assessing Company needs and making recommendations for their own projects and goals.
• A sense of humor is required.

Nice To Haves

• 2+ years of college, with BA/BS completion preferred but not required.
• Licensed attorney with the ability to independently conduct basic contract reviews (highly preferred and considered a strong differentiator). Alternatively, paralegal certification combined with 10+ years of relevant experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support across MMNA by, under the direction of counsel, assisting in the development, preparation, and review of agreements, amendments, and addenda, in furtherance of supporting strategic business plans while maintaining appropriate risk tolerance.
• Serve as the first point of contact for legal review on contract matters, inbound contract-related requests, and non-standard contract term requests.
• Support the management of forms, playbooks, and procedures. Manage and maintain MMNA’s form contract and template repositories.
• Analyze contract requirements to ensure compliance with insurance, corporate governance, regulatory, and legal requirements, as well as the Company’s data privacy and information governance requirements.
• Collaborate and work cross-functionally with all departments, including Sales Operations, Aftersales, Finance, and IT. Educate and advise business partners with respect to contract risks.
• Implement and own MMNA’s contract workflow that will exist across all departments. Strategically reduce risk across our business transactions while maintaining the vision to bring a contract workflow process to completion from start to finish.
• Manage, track, and organize contract flow, amendments, addenda, exhibits, etc. Manage the contract administration lifecycle, including responding to and tracking inbound requests, routing requests to other departments for response, and maintaining the confidentiality of all work product. Create and maintain procedural documentation for supported processes and initiatives.
• Assist in the RFP process, analyzing potential contracting issues with participating vendors.
• Conduct formal and informal training to business partners on contracting negotiation and management best practices.
• Serve as the Secretary of the Executive Committee, which meets (almost) weekly and on an ad hoc basis as needed. Ensure the timely collection and distribution of proposals, keep the meetings on schedule, and take/retain meeting minutes. Assist the Corporate Secretary with Board of Directors meetings from time to time.
• Work cross-functionally with the Legal team, the Human Resources team, the Internal Audit team, and other departments to drive large-scale compliance activities and improvements. Provide compliance support for Marketing, Intellectual Property, Finance, and other projects on the corporate/business transactions side of the Legal Department.
• Work closely with the North America Department at our parent company, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, and the executive team, to ensure appropriate approvals under the Company’s Delegation of Authority are obtained. Assist in the creation of Executive Committee materials for contract approvals.

Benefits

• Ongoing employee development programs
• Impactful Community Relations initiatives
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage, including medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Discounted Employee Lease Car program, covering insurance, maintenance, and registration fees, with no down payment or credit check required.
• Monthly car allowance, contingent upon a satisfactory driving record.
• 401(k) with Company match and annual contributions based on years of service.
• Professional development opportunities, including training, tuition reimbursement, and employee resource groups.
• Up to 30 days of paid time off, including holidays, vacation, and other leave options.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree