Associate General Counsel - Employment, Labor and Benefits, Americas

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our, collaborative, and flexible working environment. Our organizational ambition centers around creating workplaces that foster equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging across all aspects of our business. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

The Employment Legal function sits within the Corporate Centre and provides employment law support to enable Unilever to deliver their business objectives while appropriately managing risk. They are looking to hire an expert Senior Employment Counsel – Americas who can lead the provision legal support for the full range of employment law issues which impact Unilever’s business across the Americas.

This is an exciting new role in which the successful candidate will be expected to establish strong relationships with Human Resources colleagues and support them across the full range of contentious and non-contentious work. The individual will be expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy and work with minimal supervision. The leader will also have the opportunity to help shape the future of the Employment Law team.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

Lead employment law legal support across the Americas

• Partner with HR teams and other stakeholders to provide support for all contentious and non-contentious labor and employment law work;
• Work with the IR/ER team to provide advice on employee relations matters, including issues related to trade unions;
• Provide expert advice and input in relation to global projects, policies, and other initiatives;
• Support the Business Integrity team in relation to employment-related investigations and other compliance issues;
• Be accountable for the engagement and use of outside counsel across the region, inclusive of managing a budget;
• Proactively identify, address, and manage legal risk issues related to employment law;
• Keep up to date on employment law developments and provide thought leadership as to the impact on Unilever;
• Conduct training and build know-how as required for both HR and non-HR colleagues.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

• JD from an accredited law school and admission to the bar in at least one US state;
• 10+ years of relevant experience in a corporate legal department and/or law firm with in house experience preferred.
• Current member in good standing of the New Jersey bar or ability to register as in-house counsel
• Significant experience advising organizations on employment law issues across the Americas;
• Deep experience advising in relation to the full range of employment issues, including trade union and other collective issues, on a cross-border basis;
• Experience working in a complex multinational organization, either directly or on a secondment basis;
• Demonstrable experience driving change;
• Ability to operate and exercise judgement independently;
• Ability to influence and manage multiple internal and external stakeholders;
• Ability to deliver through others and with limited resources;
• Ability to engage in technical topics and communicate them in a clear and easy-to-understand manner;
• Experience preparing executive briefings and presentations;
• Ability to translate global strategies locally;
• Comfort with uncertainty; ability to exercise judgement in a fast-moving environment;
• Fluency in English with some proficiency in Spanish an advantage.

Leadership

• You are energized by delivering fantastic results. You are an example to others – both your results and your resilience. You are constantly on the lookout for better ways to do things, engaging and collaborating with others along the way.
• As an individual you are the one responsible for your own wellbeing and delivering high standards of work. You must also focus on the Consumer and what they need. You are humble and have your head up, looking around to interpret evidence and data smartly, spot iss