Human Rights Research Assistant Jobs in Virginia

Job Description:

Job Description

We believe the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today, which is the vision at the heart of Mars' Sustainable in a Generation Plan, one where the planet is healthy, people and pets are thriving, and society is inclusive.

The Assistant General Counsel, Sustainability (Human Rights & Supply Chain Due Diligence) will play a senior role on the enterprise-level Sustainability Legal team at Mars, Inc. This role serves as the global legal lead for business and human rights and supply chain due diligence within Mars.

This is a high-visibility role in a small headquarters team. The role acts as a subject-matter lead within the enterprise Sustainability Legal framework, setting legal strategy, guardrails, governance approaches, and escalation protocols for human-rights-related risks and regulations. The successful candidate will be a senior, independent lawyer who can influence without authority, build trust across a complex global organization, and provide clear, practical advice in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

Whatwill beyour key responsibilities?

• Providesenior legal advice on global business and human rights, responsible sourcing, and supply chain due diligence issues affecting Mars across segments, regions, and functions.
• Lead enterprise legal strategy for human-rights and supply-chain-due-diligence-related regulations and legal risks, including enterprise interpretation, legal guardrails, governance frameworks, and escalation protocols.
• Serve as thesubject-matterlead for human rights within Mars' enterprise Sustainability Legal framework and help shape a One-Mars legal approach in this area.
• Lead or support legal workstreams relating to material sustainability regulations in the role's subject-matter area, including the CSRD, CS3D, LkSG, EUDR, FLR and other forced labor and responsible sourcing regulations and related emerging global developments.
• Support high-risk issues, investigations, and escalations relating to business and human rights, responsible sourcing, and supply chain due diligence matters.
• Develop, sponsor, or oversee practical legal guidance, policies, playbooks, templates, training, and governance tools in the role's subject-matter area, working closely with other Sustainability Legal team members to support scalable implementation across segments and regions.
• Partner closely with segment and regional legal teams to align on enterprise legal positions, promote consistent application of human rights legal standards and due diligence requirements, and enable local operationalization without displacing segment or regional ownership.
• Act as a trusted connector among Legal, Sustainability, Procurement, Finance, and Corporate and Public Affairs at the corporate, segment, and regional levels to promote consistent, practical, and risk-balanced legal approaches across Mars.
• Advise Public Affairs and other corporate stakeholders on legal considerations arising from sustainability-related policy development, advocacy positions, external engagement, and participation in industry or multistakeholder forums where human rights or supply chain due diligence issues are implicated.
• Support legal trend analysis and regulatory insights for emerging business and human rights, responsible sourcing, and supply chain due diligence laws, enforcement trends, and stakeholder expectations.
• Develop and deliver training and capacity-building for legal and business stakeholders on human rights and supply chainduediligence legal risk and compliance requirements.

What are we looking for?

• Law degree from an accredited university in the U.S., EU, UK, or another relevantjurisdiction.
• Licensed, admitted, or otherwise qualified to practice law in at least one relevantjurisdiction.
• 12 to 15+ years of relevant legal experience, includingsignificant experienceadvising on business and human rights, responsible sourcing, supply chain due diligence, forced labor, sustainability compliance, or related regulatory matters.
• Deep knowledge of business and human rights frameworks, emerging due diligence regulations, forced labor laws, responsible sourcing programs, and human rights risk management.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively across adjacent sustainability legal topics, for example sustainability claims, deforestation, reporting, packaging, or other emerging regulatory issues, as part of an integrated enterprise sustainability legal model.
• Experience working in-house at a global organization preferred, particularly in a matrixed environment involving corporate, segment, regional, and functional stakeholders.
• Experience handling sensitive, high-risk issues, investigations, or escalations involving human rights, responsible sourcing, or supply chain due diligence matters.
• Familiarity with public policy development, advocacy, or external affairs processes, including experienceadvisingPublic Affairs, Government Relations or similar teams on legal and reputational considerations related to sustainability policy matters.
• Strong judgment, communication, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to provide practical, risk-balanced advice to senior legal and business leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to build alignment across functions and geographies without relying solely on formal authority.
• Ability toestablishand maintain clear role boundaries, clarify ownership across center, segment, and regional teams, and escalate issues appropriately while preserving collaborative relationships.

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with over 180,000 diverse and talented Associates, all guided by Mars' Five Principles.
• Join a purpose-driven company that is striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to Mars University.

The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits.Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.