Senior Corporate Counsel - M&A Focus

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc.; Oklahoma City (OK); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

401(k) match up to 5%

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance after

Competitive pay

Career development

Job summary

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. in Oklahoma City seeks an experienced Senior Corporate Counsel to lead M&A and corporate development initiatives from our central office. You will serve as lead counsel on acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments, guiding deal structuring and risk management.

The role requires a JD, Oklahoma license or readiness to obtain it, and at least eight years of relevant experience, with strong leadership and collaboration across functions.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor, active Oklahoma license, or willing to pursue Oklahoma licensure.
• 8+ years of practicing law with at least 5 years in M&A.
• Proven lead counsel on M&A transactions with project management experience.
• Experience with antitrust/HSR analysis and filings.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, and risk assessment abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day M&A and corporate development initiatives.
• Manage transactions from intake to post-closing integration.
• Coordinate with CorpDev and outside counsel; allocate work and track progress.
• Provide strategic legal advice to executives and business clients.
• Support governance, compliance, and sustainability programs.

Skills

M&A leadership

Corporate law

Negotiation

Project management

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Online legal research platforms

Job description

Benefits: * Fuel Your Growth with Love's - company funded tuition assistance * Paid Time Off * 401(k) – 100% Match up to 5% * Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance after 30 days * Competitive Pay * Career Development *

Welcome to Love's.The Senior CorporateCounsel position will be basedat our Oklahoma City corporate office.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Development

• Serve as the Legal Department's day-to-day lead attorney aligned with the Corporate Development department (CorpDev), which oversees mergers and acquisitions, key strategic partnership opportunities, and other growth initiatives; act as lead counsel on assigned acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, partnerships, investments, and other transactions.


• Manage assigned transactions from intake through post-closing integration, including structuring, legal due diligence, drafting and negotiating transaction documents, regulatory approvals (including antitrust/HSR), closings, and post-closing obligations; identify legal risks and recommend practical, business-oriented solutions.


• Maintain visibility and status tracking across all open CorpDev projects and legal workstreams; in coordination with the Director and Associate General Counsel, triage incoming matters and help allocate work among the department's transactional attorneys and subject-matter experts to ensure efficient and streamlined delivery of legal services; keep Legal Department leadership apprised of material developments.


• Partner closely with CorpDev leadership on strategic priorities, timelines, and risk tolerance; develop templates, playbooks, and workflows to improve consistency, quality, and speed; manage outside counsel scope, work product, and budgets.

General Transactional and Leadership

• Provide legal advice and counsel to executives, directors, and other business clients, exercising independent judgment across M&A and general corporate and commercial matters; proactively identify potential legal issues.


• Support and participate in enterprise initiatives and programs led by Legal — such as compliance, corporate governance, information governance, and corporate responsibility & sustainability — including serving in program roles as assigned.


• Represent the department on cross-functional task forces and committees.


• Demonstrate leadership through initiative and informal mentoring of other attorneys, paralegals, and legal staff.

Administrative

• Pursue continuing legal education on M&A, industry developments, and company strategies; timely and accurately maintain matter status, contract information, and time logs in the department's legal technology systems; ensure accurate and timely outside counsel billing.


• Perform various other tasks, as assigned.

PROFESSIONALISM

• Exercise independent professional judgment; provide candid, accurate advice to clients and ensure truthful, accurate communications with third parties. Promptly escape ethical concerns, conflicts of interest, or professional responsibility issues through appropriate channels.


• Maintain strict confidentiality of all client communications, legal advice, and sensitive business and personnel information consistent with attorney-client privilege and applicable professional standards.


• Work within the department's established structure, reporting relationships, and matter assignment processes; accept and diligently pursue assigned work, including matters outside preferred practice areas; maintain a full and productive workload; and communicate capacity proactively to the supervising attorney. Work in assigned office space and adhere to department workspace and availability expectations.


• Provide consistent, equitable service to all assigned clients, and demonstrate the organizational skills and collaborative approach needed to manage multiple priorities in a team environment.

LEGAL TECHNOLOGY AND AI ENABLEMENT

• Leverage the department's legal technology platforms — including matter management, contract management, document management, and other systems as adopted — to support efficient delivery of legal services.


• Utilize AI and generative AI tools to enhance legal research, drafting, document review, and other attorney workflows, consistent with applicable professional responsibility rules, company policies, and confidentiality requirements.


• Support evaluation and rollout of new legal technology by participating in piloting and providing substantive feedback to inform adoption decisions across the department.


• Steady current on emerging legal technology and AI trends relevant to legal practice and proactively identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, and client service in day-to-day work.

EDUCATION, LICENSURE, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree and Juris Doctor from an accredited law school; licensed to practice law in Oklahoma in good standing, or licensed in good standing in another state and willing to immediately pursue Oklahoma licensure.


• Minimum of 8 years practicing law at a regional or national law firm and/or as corporate counsel, including at least 5 years of substantial M&A experience and prior mentoring, supervisory, and/or project leadership experience.


• Demonstrated experience as lead counsel on M&A transactions, including a working knowledge of antitrust/HSR analysis and premerger notification filings, with a track record of successful project management — including stakeholder coordination, timeline oversight, and deliverable execution — and the ability to monitor and prioritize a high volume of concurrent matters.


• Sophisticated understanding of deal structuring and acquisition financing, including tax-informed entity and transaction structures, purchase price and consideration mechanics, and debt and equity financing arrangements.


• Experience structuring joint ventures, minority investments, and transactions involving complex private ownership structures — including multi-entity holding companies — with a strong command of governance rights, approval requirements, transfer restrictions, and exit mechanics.


• Deep experience negotiating risk allocation in private transactions, including representations and warranties, indemnification structures, escrows and holdbacks, and representations and warranties insurance.


• Strong judgment, discretion, risk assessment, and contract drafting and negotiation skills; ability to handle highly confidential, market-sensitive information; exceptional communication skills and practical business acumen.


• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and online legal research platforms.

Preferred

• Prior in-house corporate legal department experience, particularly with a large, privately held or family-owned enterprise.


• Experience with capital markets and securities matters, such as debt offerings, private placements, or investor-side representation in connection with portfolio company public offerings.


• Industry legal experience in transportation, logistics, retail, energy, or a related field.


• Demonstrated experience leveraging AI and generative AI tools to improve the quality and efficiency of legal work.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Typical Physical Demands:

• Requires prolonged stationary positions and some positioning of self to access under-desk storage or low filing drawers.


• Occasional moving of equipment and/or lifting (up to 25 pounds).


• Continuous operation of office equipment (e.g., keyboard, copy machine/printer, and calculator).


• Ability to perceive sound at normal speaking levels with or without correction, and visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal, and extensive reading.


• Evening and weekend work as business needs require; extended hours may be frequent during active transactions and periods of high deal volume, consistent with the cyclical nature of M&A practice.


• Possible infrequent overnight travel.

Our Culture:

Fueling customers' journeys since 1964, innovation leads the way for this family-owned and operated business headquartered in Oklahoma City. With nearly 40,000 team members, travel stops are the core business along with products and services that provide value for professional drivers, fleets, traveling public, RVers, alternative energy and wholesale fuel customers. Giving back to communities and an inclusive workplace are hallmarks of the award-winning culture.

Love's is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Veterans encouraged to apply.