Director, Senior Legal Counsel

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

About the Role

The Senior Counsel I is responsible for providing legal and/or business support to the Digital Transformation Solutions strategic business unit (“DTS SBU”).  This position will report directly to a member of the Legal and Compliance Leadership Team such as the Associate General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel.  The Senior Counsel I will also work closely and strategically with the Legal and Compliance leadership to support  operational, functional and/or business clients on significant matters impacting the global enterprise.  The successful candidate must be able to handle complex negotiations and successfully and timely complete assignments assigned by legal leadership with little supervision.  The Senior Counsel I must also have a broad understanding of Harman's business objectives and the impact of external factors on the DTS SBU and on Harman’s corporate function including, but not limited to corporate tax and/or treasury, engineering, marketing, human resources, finance, and information technology.

Advanced level contract review, drafting, and negotiation experience related to multi-million dollar agreements is required.  Additionally, the successful candidate will have strong communication skills for purposes of interfacing with key customers, suppliers and external stakeholders in collaboration with Legal and Compliance leadership in support of the Harman’s business leaders.  This role will also support operational managers by providing strategic, practical advice and counsel on key business issues; as well as manage litigation and corresponding outside counsel law firms and legal service providers.  A basic understanding of budgets, accruals, forecasting, and financial statements is also needed.  Finally, this role requires an intermediate level in project management of strategic enterprise, divisional, or functional projects or initiatives and advanced, cross-functional communication and collaboration skills, powers of persuasion, and influence.

Your Team

This position will manage (i) 1 or more direct reports, including junior attorney(s) and/or contract managers.  

What You Will Do

Managing Legal and Business Risk

• Reviewing, drafting, and negotiating a wide variety of technology services and other technology-related agreements, including master services, licensing, professional services, marketing, joint venture, and vendor agreements.

• Identifying legal and regulatory issues in product initiatives and customer agreements, including awareness of artificial intelligence, privacy and data security issues, and working cross-functionally with the appropriate teams to create solutions and minimize risk.

• Engaging strategically in risk assessment/mitigation and developing innovative approaches to legal issues in support of business objectives.

• Providing practical, creative legal advice in a fast-paced, high growth environment.

• Working closely with Legal and Compliance leadership to support the teams charged with generating business and proactively establishing relationships across the legal team and with other departments including operations, marketing, finance, product, and engineering, among others.

• Applies strong analytical legal skills and demonstrates risk and compliance awareness when supporting complex projects or making strategic decisions.

• Promptly and effectively addresses unforeseen legal risks if they arise and communicates to Legal and Compliance leadership within the legal department and/or to the DTS SBU leaders within the business in a timely manner; process complex, uncertain, or incomplete information quickly to identify potential implications for the business.

• Works with business teams and helps them understand, assess, and appropriately address business risks and implications and helps to influence business decisions.

• Directs and/or collaborates with other Legal and Compliance staff and organizational partners to develop, update and maintain templates, negotiation resources and playbooks.

• Supports with the development and implementation of innovative ways to scale commercial legal processes.

• Other duties as assigned.

What You Need

• The candidate should have Juris Doctor and Bar admission (or equivalent in jurisdiction).

• Roles at this level are experienced professionals providing strategic legal counsel to at le