Vice President of Legal

Summary

Balfour Beatty Construction LLC (Company), a member of the Balfour Beatty group of companies in the United States, is an industry leading provider of general contracting, at-risk construction management and design-build services for public and private sector clients across the nation. The Company is seeking a Vice President / Legal to join its Legal Department, reporting to the Senior Vice President & National Chief Legal Officer (CLO). The Vice President / Legal is primarily responsible for the legal affairs of the Company’s Georgia office operations.

General Responsibilities:

The following are areas in which the Vice President / Legal is expected to have direct involvement and an oversight role:

• Business advisor to the Georgia office and Southeast Division leadership team
• Litigation management
• Contract review and negotiations with clients, designers, and other consultants, subcontractors, and suppliers
• Policy and Procedure Development when requested as part of Company’s or National legal team efforts to update or review new or revised policies and procedures
• Internal Investigations and Compliance
• Training
• Labor/Employment Issues
• Antitrust or Competition Law
• Ethics
• Real Estate/Leases
• Privacy/Privilege Issues

While the Vice President / Legal is expected to be apprised of and be involved in these issues, the selected candidate is not intended to be an expert in all areas listed. When external legal expertise is required, the Vice President / Legal will seek assistance from appropriate external law firms in coordination with the CLO and in accordance with Balfour Beatty’s Delegated Levels of Authority.

Specific Duties:

In addition to the foregoing, the Vice President / Legal has the following specific responsibilities:

• Serving as part of and resource to the Company’s Georgia operations management team and providing advice to management on legal issues.
• Identifying proactive solutions to eliminate or mitigate risks.
• Basing your decision-making process and advice on ethics and integrity.
• Reviewing and providing advice regarding legal documents such as owner contracts, design and consulting agreements, subcontracts, purchase orders, and joint venture agreements.
• Performing or providing for the review of contracts and other legal documents.
• Performing or providing for legal assistance from outside counsel in the negotiation of the terms and conditions of contracts and other legal documents.
• Receiving all Service of Process and distributing to appropriate internal personnel, insurers, and approved external lawyers.
• Managing the distribution of work to, provision of services by, and billings of external lawyers.
• Monitoring the business’s compliance with published policies and procedures and legal requirements.
• Conducting internal training sessions on legal issues such as contracting issues, claims mitigation, maintaining and creating proper project documentation, company policies and procedures, understanding company standard contract forms, and the like.
• Ensuring compliance with required reporting to management.

Minimum Requirements

To be considered for this position applicants must have the minimum credentials set forth below. Applications or resumes received from applicants that do not meet these minimum requirements will not be considered.

• A Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with a State Bar, and eligibility to practice as in-house counsel in Georgia. Georgia Bar membership is preferred. 
• 10 years of experience in the practice of law concentrating on the design and construction industry (a combination of private law firm, public agency, and in-house experience is acceptable).
• Extensive knowledge of public procurement requirements, standard construction industry contract forms such as AIA, DBIA and Consensus Docs, and key risk shifting provisions in construction contracts.
• Experience negotiating design and construction contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders and related agreements.
• Experience handling, or managing outside counsel’s handling of, construction disputes, including mediation, arbitration and litigation.

Culture

Balfour Beatty is people-first, collaborative, and accessible. Lawyers are embedded in the business and viewed as business partners rather than as a separate service function.The Company values long-term relationships, direct communication, practical advice, and professionals who are willing to engage personally with operating and project teams. Leaders across the organization have built long tenures, and the culture encourages open communication across organizational levels.

The Vice President / Legal is expected to spend time with the business, develop an understanding of active projects, and build relationships with professionals ranging from senior executives to project and safety personnel. Success will depend not only on legal knowledge, but also on responsiveness, follow-through, sound judgment, and the ability to help the business move forward.