Assistant General Counsel - Commercial Law Job at Arkema Inc in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Job Description:

Assistant General Counsel - Commercial Law

Situation in organization

This position is part of the Law Department's Commercial Team and reports to the Deputy General Counsel - Commercial Law.

Job dimensions

• Function as a key member of the in-house commercial attorney team and the overall Arkema law department.


• Support and provide legal guidance to multiple business units within Arkema and its subsidiaries.


• Fast-paced environment, requiring wide range of capabilities, and flexibility.


• Provide legal advice on all commercial needs, including contracting, antitrust, corporate records and policy compliance.Provide advice on laws at both the federal and state level.


• Work independently with business group clients with limited supervision as primary legal advisor to the businesses.


• Draft and review substantially all commercial contracts for businesses and staff group clients.


• Negotiate legal matters on behalf of the company, including with customers, suppliers, third party vendors, and government officials.


• Provide antitrust and other legal guidance and training for business and staff groups.


• Work on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, and other special projects, etc. as needed.

Key Activities and responsibilities

• Counsel multiple business groups on all contractual and commercial issues and antitrust issues. Provide guidance on wide variety of both federal and numerous state laws.Draft and negotiate a wide variety of commercial agreements with customers, suppliers and contractors, with emphasis on product sales, raw material purchases, distribution, toll manufacturing, warehouse, marketing and product swaps. Also, draft and negotiate railroad, broker carrier, warehousing, terminaling and transloading agreements. (Approximate Time 60%)


• Advise clients on legal implications of proposed actions or agreements, on available alternatives, risk mitigation strategy, and pre-litigation counseling. (Approximate Time 20%)


• Other Assigned Duties:Provide training to the businesses to spot certain legal issues themselves to increase their effectiveness.Advise on compliance with various Company policies.Assist with M&A and other special projects. Management of outside counsel and in-house support personnel.(Approximate Time 20%)

Context and environment

• Report directly to Deputy General Counsel - Commercial Law.


• Must be able to work independently.Must have excellent interpersonal skills, and be able to work with diverse client base including CEO, CFO, General Counsel and other senior management


• Some business travel may be required. (Approximate Time 10%)


• Supports the site health, environment, safety (HES) policy and complies with all regulatory and internal requirements


• Participates in HES activities provided by site management and Arkema Inc.(e.g., Behavioral Base Safety, SafeStart, etc.)


• Supports and promotes the reporting of all health, safety, environmental, near-miss, accident or injury incidents

Required Education/Qualifications /Work experience

• Juris Doctorate required.


• Must be admitted in PA


• Minimum 7-10 years experience required.


• Both law firm and in-house experience preferrred, but not required.


• Primary practice areas:commercial law, contracts, and M&A

Demonstrated Competencies

This position exists to provide high quality, cost-effective legal services that minimize the Company's incurrence of liability and ensure that its rights are enforceable by (i) providing advice on the structure and implementation of commercial transactions (purchases and sales of goods and real estate; real estate and equipment leases; software licenses; purchases of services; etc.) and corporate transactions (acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, financings, etc.); (ii) providing advice as to the effect of agreements and rules of law governing such matters; (iii) negotiating and drafting or reviewing such agreements and (iv) assisting with risk mitigation, claim analysis, and pre-litigation advice.

Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema offers a portfolio of first-class technologies to address ever-growing demand for new and sustainable materials. With the ambition to become in 2024 a pure player in Specialty Materials, the Group is structured into three complementary, resilient and highly innovative segments dedicated to Specialty Materials - Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions - accounting for some 80% of Group sales, and a well-positioned and competitive Intermediates segment. Arkema offers cutting-edge technological solutions to meet the challenges of, among other things, new energies, access to water, recycling, urbanization and mobility, and fosters a permanent dialogue with all its stakeholders. The Group reported sales of 8.7 billion ($9.7 billion) in 2019, and operates in 55 countries with 20,500 employees worldwide.

Arkema Inc. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Arkema Inc. complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence.