Vice President & Area General Counsel

PulteGroup•Pleasanton, CA

About The Position

Welcome to PulteGroup where we believe in building more than just homes—we believe in building inspired employees, meaningful careers, and a legacy of excellence. If you're looking for work that moves you, a team that values your ideas, and a company that brings you pride, you’ve come to the right place. As one of the nation’s largest and most respected homebuilders, PulteGroup offers opportunities to grow within a Fortune 500 company that’s consistently recognized as a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For and a certified Great Place to Work. We’re driven by the bold purpose of Building Incredible Places for People to Live Their Dreams. For over 70 years, we’ve been building more than homes—we’ve been building trust, innovation, and a culture where every team member is empowered to thrive. Join a company that champions inclusion, celebrates diversity, and supports your personal and professional journey. Headquartered in vibrant Atlanta, Georgia, and operating in over 45 markets nationwide, we’re proud to build homes through our trusted family of brands—including Innovative Construction Group, Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, Pulte Mortgage, PGP Title, Pulte Insurance Agency —all united under the PulteGroup name. Apply now and discover a career where your contributions are valued, your growth is supported, and your work makes a lasting impact PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: Primary legal counsel to supported company Divisions regarding land acquisitions and dispositions, home sales and development, including drafting, negotiating, and providing advice with respect to transactional documents (letters of intent, confidentiality agreements, contracts, purchase agreements, venture agreements, loan agreements, title commitments, surveys, licenses, easements, development agreements, closing documents, etc.). Area General Counsel will be expected to combine knowledge of real estate and other transactional law with sound business acumen and knowledge of company business objectives to resolve legal concerns. Area General Counsel will personally handle majority of transactions and matters to the extent time permits, and use outside legal counsel as necessary. Pulte uses outside counsel for special expertise and to handle work overflow, but Area General Counsel will be a doer of work, not simply a supervisor of outside counsel doing the work. Area General Counsel must possess good drafting and negotiation skills and be capable of working with clients to balance risks and rewards, often under time and competitive pressure. Area General Counsel will: Provide legal counsel to company officers and managers regarding land matters, including acquisition, disposition, entitlements, permitting, zoning, environmental, natural resources and land development. Perform title/survey review and other legal due diligence with respect to potential land acquisitions. Such review may involve coordination with paralegal. Provide legal support for community development and opening, including forming homeowners' associations, preparation of HOA CC&Rs and other governing documents, and preparation of appropriate home sales disclosures and other sales forms using Pulte’s master templates. Ensure legal, regulatory, environmental and risk management compliance for transactions and operations in supported Divisions. Negotiate, and provide legal counsel with respect to, agreements between company and trade contractors (horizontal and vertical), suppliers, engineers and other professionals using Pulte’s master templates. Provide assistance and counsel to Divisions in responding to customer, contractor and supplier disputes, customer warranty claims, and governmental actions or other complaints to mitigate risk and avoid litigation, including preparing and negotiating appropriate releases and settlement agreements. Assist company litigation attorneys and litigation managers in defending against litigation and claims. Establish and maintain effective relationships with outside counsel, manage and provide direction to outside counsel, and promote efficient use of outside counsel services. Build strong rapport (“partner”) with Area and Division officers and managers regarding legal matters impacting Division operations. Monitor proposed legislation and, often working with state or local homebuilding associations, advance helpful legislation and mitigate or defeat harmful legislation. Assist Home Office in the development and/or review of policies, procedures, and forms in light of knowledge gained from managing legal matters, or due to changes in laws, regulations or other outside factors. Provide or coordinate training and communications to Divisions on significant legal issues impacting Division operations. MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES Area General Counsel will be expected to: Recruit, hire, onboard and train paralegal or admin to help serve Divisions’ legal needs. Manage and review employee’s work. Delegate work according to employee’s abilities and skills. Evaluate employee’s performance and plans for compensation actions in accordance with that performance. Provide developmental opportunities for employees through identification of internal and external training opportunities.

Requirements

Minimum Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in related field
Juris Doctorate
Admission to State Bar and in compliance with continuing education requirements
Minimum of 10 years of post-bar experience in a law firm and/or corporate settings.
Must have at least 7years of broad real estate transactional experience with a recognized law firm.
Specialist in real estate, land acquisition, land development and construction law, with significant and direct involvement in a broad range of commercial real estate transactions.
Sound knowledge of state and federal laws relating to real estate transactions.
Superior communication, negotiation and drafting skills.
Superior problem-solving skills and business judgment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Strong interpersonal skills with ability to interact with individuals at all levels of organization.
Highly organized, detail-oriented and efficient; able to work without administrative assistance.
Strong work ethic and self-motivated, with ability to work independently and prioritize and meet deadlines.
Ability to work well under pressure.
Trustworthy and professional lawyer with high integrity.
Ability to partner with business clients and outside counsel to drive projects to successful conclusion.
Flexibility in responding to changing priorities and uneven workflow.
Strong team and culture builder.
Puts team before self.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel and Adobe Acrobat.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Power Point is a plus.

Responsibilities

Primary legal counsel to supported company Divisions regarding land acquisitions and dispositions, home sales and development, including drafting, negotiating, and providing advice with respect to transactional documents (letters of intent, confidentiality agreements, contracts, purchase agreements, venture agreements, loan agreements, title commitments, surveys, licenses, easements, development agreements, closing documents, etc.).
Provide legal counsel to company officers and managers regarding land matters, including acquisition, disposition, entitlements, permitting, zoning, environmental, natural resources and land development.
Perform title/survey review and other legal due diligence with respect to potential land acquisitions.
Provide legal support for community development and opening, including forming homeowners' associations, preparation of HOA CC&Rs and other governing documents, and preparation of appropriate home sales disclosures and other sales forms using Pulte’s master templates.
Ensure legal, regulatory, environmental and risk management compliance for transactions and operations in supported Divisions.
Negotiate, and provide legal counsel with respect to, agreements between company and trade contractors (horizontal and vertical), suppliers, engineers and other professionals using Pulte’s master templates.
Provide assistance and counsel to Divisions in responding to customer, contractor and supplier disputes, customer warranty claims, and governmental actions or other complaints to mitigate risk and avoid litigation, including preparing and negotiating appropriate releases and settlement agreements.
Assist company litigation attorneys and litigation managers in defending against litigation and claims.
Establish and maintain effective relationships with outside counsel, manage and provide direction to outside counsel, and promote efficient use of outside counsel services.
Build strong rapport (“partner”) with Area and Division officers and managers regarding legal matters impacting Division operations.
Monitor proposed legislation and, often working with state or local homebuilding associations, advance helpful legislation and mitigate or defeat harmful legislation.
Assist Home Office in the development and/or review of policies, procedures, and forms in light of knowledge gained from managing legal matters, or due to changes in laws, regulations or other outside factors.
Provide or coordinate training and communications to Divisions on significant legal issues impacting Division operations.
Recruit, hire, onboard and train paralegal or admin to help serve Divisions’ legal needs.
Manage and review employee’s work.
Delegate work according to employee’s abilities and skills.
Evaluate employee’s performance and plans for compensation actions in accordance with that performance.
Provide developmental opportunities for employees through identification of internal and external training opportunities.