Deputy General Counsel

Job Purpose

This role provides high quality, proactive commercial & contracts legal services and advice on a timely and cost-effective basis for moderate to highly complex matters to a variety of regional and international Honda Trading companies to help minimize legal risks. More specifically, the mission of this role is to construct and maintain a system of negotiation and contracts management across the HT organizations in North America, proactively protecting HTNA from business and legal risks associated with poor contractual conditions and purchasing decisions, and managing and supervising personnel who negotiate and manage the contractual process. In addition, the Deputy General Counsel will provide proactive and reactive legal advice regarding other matters, as needed.

The Deputy General Counsel will work within the Law department of HTA, contained within the Compliance, Risk, and Law Division, and will provide secondary support to all functions of the Division and its customers, including Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Ethics, Trade Compliance, Logistics, and Sustainability, and Credit.

Key Accountabilities

• General contracts advice and negotiation. Provide high quality commercial contract advice, negotiation, drafting and reviewing contracts in a timely and cost-effective manner, to enable the applicable Honda Trading lines of business to meet legal obligations and reduce risk for moderate to complex contracts. The Deputy General Counsel will be responsible for both building and managing a purchasing / contracting system for all of HTA’s business in the U.S., but also for expanding and managing that system on an international basis, in both Canada (for Honda Trading Canada) and Mexico (for Honda Trading Mexico). Construction, oversight, and management of this contractual system is the key accountability for this role.

• Commercial disputes. Work with and support commercial disputes for applicable Honda Trading entities across North America. Supervise internal personnel and coordinate with lines of business to appropriately position Honda Trading for success in cases where contractual issues are problematic. Manage applicable internal and external personnel (including outside counsel and experts), to reach the best long-term solution for Honda in moderate to highly complex matters.

• Knowledge management. Follow changes in all relevant laws and regulations, and in contracting best practices, and exchange and share knowledge within the applicable Honda Trading entity / business unit / division / department, as well as train Honda associates in legal best practices, to improve the awareness, quality, and effectiveness of the legal function.

• Projects. Participate in the planning and execution of assigned projects with a regional focus

Qualifications, Experience, and Skills

Minimum Educational Qualifications

• Juris Doctorate Degree from an accredited law school in the United States

• Valid license to practice law in a jurisdiction in the United States (Ohio preferred)

Minimum Experience

• 10 – 15 years as an attorney in commercial contracts

• Proven knowledge of contractual, regulatory, and commercial law

Other Job-Specific Skills

• Preferred: 5 – 10 years of experience with Honda’s North American purchasing systems and with North American purchasing personnel (direct and indirect).

• Experience with establishing new systems, processes, or policies within Honda’s North American and global environment.

• Good skills in communication, presentation skills, problem solving, customer satisfaction, building relationships, coaching, decision-making, risk analysis, and flexibility, patience, listening, good writing, risk-taking, focusing on achieving results and supporting others to achieve results, and legal technical knowledge.

Decisions Expected

Transactional matters: the Deputy General Counsel will be responsible for developing and administering a contracts workflow to support all of HTA’s operations, including purchasing from suppliers, selling to customers, and contracting with operational business partners; with respect to such transactional matters, the Deputy General Counsel will develop recommendations regarding matter strategy, risk assessment, and legal compliance with support from the Sr. Manager, Compliance, Risk, and Law.

Advising executives and management team: the Deputy General Counsel will be responsible for advising the HT management team, including executives and senior managers, regarding all manner of legal activities, including the transactional matters for which he or she is primarily responsible.

Training: the Deputy General Counsel will determine and provide necessary proactive training to all level of associates for the law areas he or she supports, with support from the Sr. Manager, Compliance, Risk, and Law.

Honda is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.

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Nearest Major Market: Columbus

Nearest Secondary Market: Dublin