Associate Legal Counsel - Procurement

Equinix is one of the fastest growing data center companies, growing connectivity between clients worldwide. That’s why we're always looking for creative and forward thinking people who can help us achieve our goal of global interconnection. With 200 data centers in over 24 countries spanning across 5 continents, we are home to the Cloud, supporting over 1000 Cloud and IT services companies that are directly engaged in technological innovation and development. We are passionate about further evolving the specific areas of software development, software and network architecture, network operations and complex cloud and application solutions.

At Equinix, we make the internet work faster, better, and more reliably. We hire hardworking people who thrive on solving hard problems and give them opportunities to hone new skills, try new approaches, and grow in new directions. Our culture is at the heart of our success and it’s our authentic, humble, gritty people who create The Magic of Equinix. We share a real passion for winning and put the customer at the center of everything we do.

Responsibilities

• Manage a set of template agreements for the purchase of good and services for support of Equinix’s business, including preparation of updated and new template forms, and ensure that these agreements are an integrated part of the overall procurement processes and procedures
• Review of various forms of vendor contracts to be entered into by Equinix for the support of Equinix’s business in North America and globally across a number of different business functions, including Operations, IT, Marketing, HR, Construction, Procurement and others
• Provide negotiation and drafting support of vendor contracts, both on Equinix and vendor paper, including overall support and management of non-standard contractual/legal matters in vendor contracts, working in conjunction with Procurement and/or business function personnel
• Perform contract research and interpretation, providing contract guidance on day-to-day issues raising under vendor contracts, including transactional and non-transactional vendor related matters
• Support for legal and contractual aspects of the ancillary vendor contract documentation, including RFPs/tenders, supplier questionnaires, vendor selection processes, compliance documentation, etc.
• Act as a point of contact in Legal for our Purchase Order (PO) forms, policies, processes and procedures
• Assist in the on-going support for APTTUS, Legal’s vendor contract management system for vendor contracts, and any other related systems used by business and Legal teams relating to vendor contracts, such as Sharepoint, etc.
• Support for work done by ONE Legal in support of global procurement initiatives within Equinix
• Identifies and advises on intellectual property related issues affecting Equinix’s business to ensure proper protection of Equinix intellectual property
• Assist in relation to our Compliance efforts in Legal with regard to ensuring various Equinix compliance policies such as FCPA (anti-bribery), OFAC, data privacy and REIT reflected in our vendor contracts
• Assist in training those in our Global Procurement function and others in purchasing roles in North America in relation to Equinix’s risk profile and the legal terms and conditions relevant for our vendor contracts, including those “must have” legal clauses
• Oversee litigation holds
• Advises on, facilitates, manages resolution of any legal threats to Equinix’s business interests
• Manages external legal counsel when necessary or local law input is required to provide legal support for the various activities referred to above
• Participates in and contributes to global Legal initiatives and project working groups to scale and maximize the effectiveness of Legal
• Support for vendor contract review and vendor management issues arising out of Equinix M&A activity in North America
• Support for disputes and any subsequent litigation and/or settlements that may arise with regard to our vendor relationships
• Liaise with other colleagues working in the ONE Legal team at Equinix on vendor contracts; and
• General administrative support in the area of North America vendor contracts, liaising with the Global Procurement teams in this regard

Qualifications

• 1+ years of relevant law firm experience preferred
• 1-3 years work experience in a Contracts or Legal department preferred, as well as being a self-starter and a team player
• Juris doctorate degree is required

• Current active member of a state bar association or legal association applicable to jurisdiction of hire required

  Some level of knowledge or awareness of intellectual property rights (IPR) issues is desired but not essential
• Ability to research and coordinate various business-related contract issues, and think through issues and communicate clearly
• Demonstrates ability to learn quickly, work independently and multi-tasking
• Ability to work with tight deadlines
• Exercises skills of good judgment in identifying issues that require escalation
• Good people skills to work closely with individuals at all levels and in all areas of the organization, including external vendors in a fast-paced environment
• Supporting a Sales or Procurement team in the past is preferred
• Good organizational skills, and a very strong attention to detail is required, as is strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sharepoint/Apttus and other database management)

Equinix is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.