Counsel - Mergers & Acquisitions

Eaton Corporation; Beachwood (OH); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Eaton Corporation is seeking a Counsel for Mergers & Acquisitions in Beachwood, Ohio, with remote work options and travel as needed. The role supports all M&A activities, advising senior leadership and coordinating with deal teams, finance, and external counsel across jurisdictions.

The candidate will lead due diligence, draft and negotiate key transaction documents, and guide integration from a legal perspective while developing talent within Eaton’s legal organization.

Qualifications

• Experience leading and closing complex M&A transactions.
• Ability to provide strategic legal counsel on acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings.
• Proficient in due diligence, drafting and negotiating transaction documents.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure compliance with legal requirements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate complex transaction agreements including merger and purchase agreements.
• Conduct thorough legal due diligence to identify risks and liabilities.
• Provide legal advice to Strategy and Corporate Development and business/legal teams on M&A matters.
• Oversee integration of acquired businesses from a legal perspective.
• Mentor legal professionals and manage outside counsel on transactions.

Skills

M&A

Negotiation

Due diligence

Strategic counsel

Cross-border transactions

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Active U.S. law license

Job description

Eaton’s legal organization is hiring a Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions. Prefered location will be Beachwood, Ohio at Eaton's US HQ. Will consider remote talent with travel as needed.

What you’ll do:

Job summary

Eaton’s legal organization is seeking a dynamic and passionate individual to serve as Counsel - Mergers & Acquisitions within the Mergers & Acquisitions team. Reporting to the Vice President & Chief Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions, this role is a critical position within the legal organization focused on all mergers and acquisition legal activities. They will be advising and providing strategic counsel on all acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, restructuring transactions, investments and other strategic initiatives. This critical role works broadly across the organization with key functional and operational partners advising and providing strategic counsel which will include on all aspects of transactions, including preliminary reviews and planning, preliminary documents, due diligence, contract drafting and negotiations, transaction closings and integration activities.

Job responsibilities

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including Eaton deal teams, legal, financial advisors, investment bankers, and regulatory authorities, to ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate complex transaction agreements, including preliminary agreements, purchase agreements, merger agreements, subscription and shareholder agreements, and other related documents.
• Conduct thorough legal due diligence to identify and mitigate potential risks and liabilities.
• Provide legal advice, counsel and service to Strategy and Corporate Development, business and legal teams in connection with M&A and corporate development matters.
• Oversee the integration of acquired businesses and joint ventures from a legal perspective, ensuring seamless transitions and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Provide guidance and training within Eaton on M&A topics and on managing joint venture and equity investments.
• Serve as project manager on transactions from the legal perspective, including coordination of advice from other legal team members and outside counsel.
• Manage and supervise outside counsel on transactions as necessary, including monitoring and forecasting external spend.
• Develop and institute standardized processes for transactions and post-transaction requirements and for joint venture and equity investment management.
• Stay current with developments in M&A law and regulations.
• Manage and mentor legal professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture

Qualifications:

Education level required

• Bachelors degree from an accredited college or university. Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.

Years and area of experience required

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive post-law degree experience in mergers & acquisitions or related areas.
• Proven track record of successfully leading and closing complex M&A transactions.
• Must be able to travel up to 10%, some globally.

Preferred qualifications

• Substantive knowledge and experience with cross-border M&A transactions and other corporate transactions and acquisition integration, cash management, tax strategy, transfer pricing and joint venture management.
• Previous law firm experience strongly preferred.
• Expertise in strategic planning and ability to connect objectives and strategy, and to coordinate projects across functions and with team members world-wide.
• Talent development of team members across Eaton’s legal organization and M&A community.
• Demonstrated experience working with legal and non-legal executives, including developing and presenting strategy, advocating and influencing, coaching and advising, and providing direct feedback.

Skills:

Soft skills

• Solid influencing and organization skills.
• Strong executive presence, including demonstrated experience presenting, reporting out, and influencing at the executive level.
• Competitive and business-minded with a practical approach that balances risk management with commercial realities.
• Highly responsive and service-oriented; thrives in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment; able to earn trust with experienced corporate development and M&A professionals.
• Highly developed sense of judgment and risk management skills, with proven ability to think globally.
• Ability to think and act strategically. Good problem solver; able to analyze, evaluate and distill complex qualitative and quantitative data and issues into workable parts and report on same.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication and platform skills; ability to communicate and relate at all levels of the company to enforce standards where necessary in a persuasive manner.

Additional Information:

All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates’ privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.

At Eaton, we strive to provide compensation and benefits that attract, engage, and retain the best talent. This includes competitive pay and a variety of benefit programs for eligible employees. The expected potential annual salary range for this is $220,000 to $260,000 a year. This role is also eligible for a variable incentive program. Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Eaton believes in second chance employment. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction history will be considered regardless of their arrest or conviction history, consistent with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the California Fair Chance Act and other local laws.

You do not need to disclose your conviction history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if Eaton is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report.

To request a disability-related reasonable accommodation to assist you in your job search, application, or interview process, please call us at 1-800-836-6345 to discuss your specific need. Only accommodation requests will be accepted by this phone number.

We know that good benefit programs are important to employees and their families. Eaton provides various Health and Welfare benefits as well as Retirement benefits, and several programs that provide for paid and unpaid time away from work. Please note that specific programs and options available to an employee may depend on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.