Senior Legal Counsel

AccuWeather  

Position: Senior Director, Legal 

Location: State College, PA / NYC w/ frequent travel to the State College facility

Reporting directly to the CEO and Chairman of AccuWeather, the Senior Legal Counsel will be AccuWeather’s senior legal advisor. This position requires significant expertise in digital and compliance/privacy as well as contract drafting, review and negotiation.  The Senior Director will interact will all the senior leaders as well as have exposure to the Advisory Board.  Skills in fiscal management, negotiation, and ability to manage a lean experienced department are critical.  AccuWeather requires a candidate with strong initiative, ability to be a strong individual contributor as well as manager, demonstrated collaborative style   as well as strong business acumen. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Responsible for formulating and implementing the overall legal strategy in coordination with other leaders in the area of digital and compliance.  
• Reviewing, drafting and negotiation of all levels of l contracts. 
•  Provides advice and counsel to the CEO and Chairman as well as the most senior executives of AccuWeather on material legal and business matters with potential impact to the organization.
• Applies both seasoned business and legal judgement while serving as a senior member of the executive leadership team.  
• Provide oversight to the organization on matters of organizational governance and compliance.
• Protection of intellectual property including trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets
•  Develop and lead corporate legal strategy to promote and protect company matters
• Act as AccuWeather’s senior legal counsel and lead in-house legal team
•  Responsible for the organization's data privacy to ensure compliance with various regulations and best practices in the U.S. and internationally
• Responsible for leadership and development of legal functions in the most effective way to ensure the legal goals and objectives are obtained.  
• Defines and manages the overall budget for the legal department balancing the use and deployment of internal and external legal resources. 
• Advise executives within the company and work alongside employees in Strategic Business Units, Marketing, Brand Communication, Sales, Human Resources, Corporate Alliances, and International Divisions.
• Participates in the definition and development of corporate policies, procedures and programs 
• Serves as key lawyer/legal advisor on all major business transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures.
• Judges the merits of major court cases filed against or on behalf of the company, works with the appropriate executive(s) and inhouse counsel   to define a strategic defense and approves settlements of disputes where warranted.
• Assumes ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the company conducts its business in compliance laws and regulations.
• Developing and leading internal audits and corporate compliance initiatives
• Advises on legal aspects of the company’s financing, including assessing and advising on current and future business structures and legal entities.
• Maintaining proper corporate interactions with the relevant local, state, and federal governmental bodies, legislatures and the community 
• Preparing legal forms such as nondisclosure agreements or proprietary information agreements 
• Other duties as business needs require 

REQUIREMENTS: 

• Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association accredited law school and at least 10-15 years of related experience as general counsel in a corporate environment and/or training, or equivalent combinations of education and experience.
• An applicable state license to practice law
• Current hands-on experience in the  areas of digital, compliance and contract administration.
• Overview experience in Intellectual Property law, including patent law, licensing of IP rights and IP due diligence.
• Experience with, and strong understanding of corporate law, contracts and associated laws
• Experience working in the Digital Media industry is helpful.
• Familiarity of employment law
• Experience with, and strong understanding of corporate law, contracts and associated laws
• Ability to quickly process, analyze and interpret, revise contract documents from various origins of intent.
• Ability to draft and understand contract documents, write reports and business correspondence
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from executive board members, managers, and partners
• General knowledge of and experience with tax laws and standards
• Ability to understand and explain various contract documents, including international translations and interpretations
• Ability to define problems, establish facts and draw valid conclusions related to contract documents.
• Experience in directing strategy and managing complex IP Litigation.
• Experience managing team of experienced attorneys and supervising legal support team; experience with cost-effective management of outside legal resources is helpful.
• Knowledge and experience working on matters of corporate governance with a private board of directors.

Pay Transparency: $250,000 annual base + $50,000 bonus 

Excellent benefits package provided 

AccuWeather’s CEO, Founder & Chairman – Dr. Joel N. Myers

Dr. Joel N. Myers, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of AccuWeather, has been recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs book as one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history. He is a proven visionary leader, founding AccuWeather in 1962  and successfully establishing it as the largest and fastest-growing weather media company as well as a global leader in weather-related data, business, and predictive analytics.

Dr. Myers is considered the “father of modern commercial meteorology” and the nation’s most respected authority on the business of meteorology, having been named “the most accurate man in weather” by The New York Times. He received the American Meteorological Society’s 2018 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Applied Meteorology and the National Weather Association’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to numerous other accolades, and he has published papers in numerous leading scientific journals, including Scientific American and The Journal of Applied Meteorology as well as in the American Academy of Engineers, The Bridge. He has made hundreds of TV appearances, including on CNBC, FOX and FOX Business News. His comments and quotes have been included on the pages of TIME, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and thousands of other publications and he has appeared in a TEDx Talk.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

AccuWeather is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEO is the Law poster here and its supplement here. The pay transparency policy is available here. 

AccuWeather is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.