General Counsel – North America at JCB North America in 13210 Palo Alto Rd, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA

Job description

• Posted Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 4:00 AM | Expires Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 3:59 AM
• The General Counsel serves as the Company's chief legal advisor and strategic business partner, providing practical, commercially focused counsel that supports growth while protecting the organization from legal, regulatory, and operational risk. This role will establish and lead the legal function, oversee corporate governance and compliance, support complex commercial matters, and guide the Company's response to recalls, investigations, regulatory actions, litigation, and reputational risk events. The General Counsel will also drive legal operations excellence through the implementation of scalable processes, legal technology, and contract lifecycle management solutions that enable business growth and operational efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Establish, lead, and continuously enhance the North America legal function, ensuring alignment with business objectives, corporate governance standards, and global legal strategy.
• Serve as the primary legal advisor to the President, Executive Leadership Team, and business stakeholders, providing strategic, risk-based, and commercially focused legal counsel.
• Partner closely with the UK Group General Counsel to align legal strategy, governance, compliance, and risk management initiatives across the organization.
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of commercial agreements, including dealer, distributor, supplier, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, financing, leasing, technology, software, and customer contracts.
• Provide legal oversight and strategic guidance for dealer and distributor networks, including appointments, performance management, territory rights, sponsored dealer arrangements, equity transfers, and termination matters.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and international laws and regulations, including product liability, product safety, warranty, import/export, trade compliance, anti-corruption, environmental, and commercial regulations.
• Advise the business on regulatory matters involving agencies and programs including EPA, CARB, ECCC, and other relevant governmental authorities.
• Support the Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team on governance matters, including corporate policies, governance frameworks, board resolutions, and corporate records management.
• Lead the management of litigation, claims, investigations, disputes, and regulatory matters, including the selection and oversight of external counsel and management of legal budgets.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate legal, regulatory, operational, and reputational risks through the development of effective controls, policies, and risk management practices.
• Provide legal counsel on real estate, property, leasing, land holdings, and dealer facility matters across North America.
• Oversee legal and compliance requirements associated with government and defense contracting, including DFARS compliance, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), DIBCAC audit readiness, and contractual obligations.
• Advise and support Human Resources on employment law matters, executive employment agreements, restrictive covenants, workplace investigations, labor relations, employee disputes, and employment litigation.
• Partner with the UK Group General Counsel on intellectual property matters, supporting brand protection, trademark enforcement, and intellectual property risk management.
• Lead legal support for mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, business integrations, and other corporate transactions.
• Provide legal oversight and support for JCB Finance operations and related commercial financing activities throughout North America.
• Direct enterprise ethics, compliance, and internal investigation programs, promoting a culture of integrity, accountability, and regulatory adherence.
• Lead the Company's response to product recalls, regulatory investigations, government inquiries, compliance incidents, and other crisis or reputational risk events.
• Drive legal operations excellence through the implementation of legal technology, contract lifecycle management systems, process improvements, knowledge management, and outside counsel governance to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Monitor changes in legal and regulatory requirements, proactively advising leadership on emerging risks, obligations, and business impacts.
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, with the ability to practice or obtain admission in Georgia and/or Texas.
• Minimum of 15 years of progressive legal experience, including significant experience in both private practice and in-house legal environments.
• Extensive experience drafting, negotiating, and managing complex commercial agreements.
• Demonstrated experience advising executive leadership teams on legal, regulatory, governance, and business matters.
• Proven experience managing litigation, external counsel, and legal budgets.
• Strong knowledge of commercial law, contract law, corporate governance, employment law, litigation management, and regulatory compliance.
• Ability to operate independently as the senior legal leader while effectively partnering with executives and business stakeholders.
• Must pass any drug screens, background checks, and any pre-employment tests, which will be conducted in accordance with applicable law.
• Comprehensive knowledge of commercial law, contract law, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, employment law, litigation management, intellectual property, dealer/distribution networks, product liability, and international trade regulations.
• Ability to provide practical, business-focused legal counsel while balancing legal risk with commercial objectives.
• Strong contract drafting, negotiation, dispute resolution, and strategic transaction management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence executive leadership, build trusted stakeholder relationships, and develop scalable legal and compliance frameworks.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, communication, and presentation abilities.
• Proven capability to manage multiple priorities, lead crisis response efforts, and operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• High integrity, sound judgment, strong business acumen, and a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset.
• Collaborative, resilient, and adaptable leader with a hands-on approach, strong accountability, and the ability to build credibility across all levels of the organization.
• Additional qualifications or certifications in business, finance, compliance, risk management, or corporate governance.
• Experience within manufacturing, industrial, construction equipment, automotive, engineering, agriculture equipment, or other heavy equipment industries.
• Experience supporting dealer, distributor, franchise, or independent channel networks.
• Experience with product liability, product safety, warranty, and regulatory compliance matters.
• Experience supporting imported products, international supply chains, and global operations.
• Experience with government contracting, defense contracting, DFARS compliance, CUI requirements, and DIBCAC audit readiness.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, and post-acquisition integration.
• Experience establishing, building, or transforming an in-house legal function.
• Experience implementing legal technology solutions, contract lifecycle management systems, and legal operations best practices.

Skills

Required

• Legal technology solutions
• Contract lifecycle management systems
• DFARS compliance
• CUI requirements
• DIBCAC audit readiness

Benefits

• JCB offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401 (k) retirement plan; paid time off and paid holidays.