Corporate Employment Counsel

NewCold; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 145,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

NewCold, based at its North American headquarters in Chicago, IL, seeks a dynamic Legal Counsel to join the North America legal team. You will report to the VP of Legal, NA, and advise across commercial contracts, M&A, labor & employment, compliance, and corporate governance.

You will support financing, workplace safety, and regulatory matters for a fast‑growing, global organization building automated, temperature‑controlled logistics facilities across North America.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years post‑JD legal experience, ideally with in‑house and law firm experience.
• Hands‑on experience advising on labor and employment issues, with exposure to workplace safety and OSHA compliance.
• Strong business acumen with ability to translate legal concepts for non‑legal stakeholders.
• Proactive ownership mentality with ability to drive matters end‑to‑end.
• Excellent communication and project management to handle multiple priorities.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal partnership to North American leadership and operations.
• Advise on labor & employment matters, investigations, and wage/hour issues; modernize policies.
• Lead workplace safety initiatives and OSHA compliance discussions.
• Draft, review, and negotiate broad commercial contracts including warehousing, vendor and SaaS agreements.
• Support M&A activities, due diligence, deal structuring, and post‑closing integration, plus financing matters.

Skills

Labor & Employment

Mergers & Acquisitions

Commercial Contracts

Financing

Corporate Governance

OSHA Compliance

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

At NewCold, we're shaping the future of the food supply chain. Our warehouses and transport network connect the world's major food manufacturers with retailers and food service providers. Join a collaborative team of doers, innovators, and engineers who are dedicated to making a real impact. Together with advanced robotics and cutting-edge technology, we're not just keeping up with the times - we're pioneering smarter, more sustainable operations to keep the world's food fresh and safe. To support our rapid growth, we're constantly looking for talented people to join our team. Want to be a part of a dynamic, forward-thinking environment? Join us!

Position Overview

NewCold is seeking a dynamic and highly motivated Legal Counsel to join its North American legal team at the company’s regional headquarters in Chicago, IL. This role offers a rare and exciting opportunity for an attorney to gain broad, hands‑on experience across a wide range of legal disciplines within a fast‑paced, high‑growth, and global organization. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Legal, North America, the Legal Counsel will serve as a strategic legal partner to the business, supporting the development and expansion of NewCold’s state‑of‑the‑art, automated, temperature‑controlled logistics facilities across North America.

This role will provide critical legal support for the company’s North American operations, with responsibilities spanning commercial contracts, M&A, labor & employment, compliance, workplace safety, finance, and corporate governance. This is a high‑impact position for an attorney eager to play a central role in the continued growth of an innovative and mission‑driven organization.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Strategic Legal Partnership. Serve as a trusted legal advisor to NewCold’s North American leadership and operational teams, delivering practical, business‑oriented legal guidance across a wide range of matters and disciplines.
• Labor & Employment. Partner with HR and business leaders on the full spectrum of employment matters, including hiring, wage and hour compliance, terminations, accommodations, leaves, restrictive covenants, and internal investigations. Modernize policies, resolve disputes efficiently, and help shape a workplace culture that supports NewCold's rapid North American growth.
• Workplace Safety. Serve as legal lead on workplace safety matters across NewCold’s automated cold storage network, advising on federal and state OSHA compliance, incident response, root cause investigations, citation defense, and regulator interactions. Collaborate with QESH leadership, operations, and outside counsel to strengthen safety programs.
• Commercial Contracts. Draft, review, and negotiate a broad portfolio of commercial agreements that power NewCold's daily operations and growth, including customer warehousing and logistics contracts, vendor and supplier arrangements, technology and SaaS agreements, equipment leases, and services agreements. Partner directly with business stakeholders to balance legal risk with commercial objectives, streamline contracting processes, and build practical playbooks that scale with the business.
• Mergers & Acquisitions. Support execution of corporate M&A transactions from initial evaluation through closing, including due diligence, deal structuring, drafting and negotiating purchase agreements and ancillary documents, and managing post‑closing integration matters.
• Financing. Support the financing that fuels NewCold's expansion, including construction loans, term facilities, refinancings, and equipment leases, along with state and local economic incentives such as tax abatements and grants. Provide day‑to‑day legal support to treasury, accounting, and the controller's office on financing compliance, reporting, and related corporate matters.

Requirements

• Business Savvy & Pragmatism. Strong commercial awareness and the ability to provide practical, solutions oriented legal advice that aligns with business goals and operational realities.
• Ownership Mentality. A proactive, self‑starting mindset with the confidence to take initiative, own workstreams end‑to‑end, and drive matters forward with limited oversight.
• Effective Communication. Clear and confident communicator, capable of translating complex legal concepts into accessible guidance for non‑legal stakeholders at all levels.
• Project Management & Organization. Proven ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously, track key deadlines, and work efficiently under pressure in a fast‑paced, evolving environment.
• Client‑Service Orientation. Internal client‑focused with a strong desire to build trust, anticipate needs, and deliver timely, actionable legal guidance tailored to the audience.
• Attention to Detail with Commercial Focus. Strong drafting skills with the ability to simplify, clarify, and negotiate contractual terms in a way that safeguards the business without over‑lawyering.
• 5–7 years of post‑JD legal experience, ideally with a combination of in‑house and law firm experience.
• Hands‑on experience advising on labor and employment issues, with exposure to workplace safety and OSHA compliance.

Pay range and compensation package

The typical pay range for this role is: $145,000 - $170,000.

This position is eligible for a bonus in addition to the base pay range listed above.

This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full‑time salary for all positions in the salary band within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors.

NewCold also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a full range of competitive benefit programs, generally including health insurance, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance programs, and programs that provide for both paid and unpaid time away from work. In addition, we offer employees 4 weeks of accrued Paid Time Off as well as paid holidays throughout the calendar year. The specific programs and options available to any given employee may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, and date of hire.

Equal Opportunity Statement

NewCold provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), or service in the military. Equal employment opportunity applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training. NewCold expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment or discrimination based on any of the characteristics mentioned above. Improper interference with the ability of other employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated.