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Legal Director Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Johnson Controls

Associate Legal Director

Milwaukee, WI · On-site

$145K - $195K/yr

The Associate Director serves as a member of JCI's Global Law & Policy Team focused on providing ... Provide practical, business-savvy legal advice with respect to a wide range of labor and employment ...

Johnson Controls

Associate Legal Director

Milwaukee, WI · On-site +1

$145K - $195K/yr

The Associate Director serves as a member of JCI's Global Law & Policy Team focused on providing ... Provide practical, business-savvy legal advice with respect to a wide range of labor and employment ...

Laticrete International

Director, Legal

Bethany, CT · On-site

$150 - $230/hr

Position Summary The Director, Legal will serve as the sole in‑house legal advisor for Laticrete International and its affiliates, reporting directly to the CFO. This position oversees the company ...

NetApp

Director, Legal

Morrisville, NC

Job Summary NetApp is seeking an experienced Director, Legal to serve as the senior legal business partner for our GotoMarket, Public Cloud, Marketing, and Customer Success organizations. In this ...

NetApp, Inc.

Director, Legal

Morrisville, NC · On-site

$227.80 - $338.80/hr

Job Summary NetApp is seeking an experienced Director, Legal to serve as the senior legal business partner for our Go‑to‑Market, Public Cloud, Marketing, and Customer Success organizations. In ...

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$76.5K

$139.4K

$225K

How much do legal director jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 20, 2026, the average yearly pay for legal director in the United States is $139,444.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $109,000.00 and $160,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What Is a Legal Director?

A legal director is the head of a company’s legal team. In this management role, you handle strategic leadership and work closely with legal staff, the board of directors, and company executives. Your job duties may include working on license agreements, advising company management on legal issues, supervising department employees, and managing legal affairs. You may also work with outside lawyers and regulatory agencies if your employer is in a regulated industry. The career typically requires a law degree and extensive experience in corporate, financial, or business law. Additional qualifications include excellent managerial, analytical, and interpersonal skills.

What is a Legal Director?

A Legal Director is a senior legal professional responsible for overseeing a company’s legal department and ensuring that its operations comply with laws and regulations. They provide strategic legal advice to the executive team, manage major legal risks, and supervise a team of lawyers and legal staff. Legal Directors also handle complex legal matters such as mergers, acquisitions, contracts, and litigation, and often serve as the primary point of contact for external counsel. Their role is crucial in helping organizations navigate regulatory challenges and protect their interests.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Legal Director, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Legal Director, you need an in-depth understanding of legal principles, extensive experience in legal practice, and typically a law degree with bar admission. Familiarity with contract management software, compliance systems, and legal research tools is essential. Exceptional leadership, negotiation, and strategic communication skills make a Legal Director stand out in managing teams and advising executives. These abilities are crucial for mitigating risk, ensuring regulatory compliance, and guiding organizational decision-making at the highest level.

What is the difference between Legal Director vs Legal Counsel?

AspectLegal DirectorLegal Counsel
CredentialsJD degree, bar admission, extensive legal experienceJD degree, bar admission, typically less senior experience
Work EnvironmentSenior leadership, strategic decision-making, oversees legal teamsAdvises on legal matters, drafts contracts, supports business units
Employer & Industry UsageLarge corporations, multinational companiesVariety of organizations, including corporations, startups, law firms

The main difference between a Legal Director and Legal Counsel lies in their level of seniority and scope. Legal Directors hold senior leadership roles, overseeing legal strategies and teams, while Legal Counsels focus on providing legal advice and support to specific departments or projects. Both roles require a JD and bar admission, but Legal Directors typically have more extensive experience and responsibilities.

How does a Legal Director typically interact with executive leadership and other departments within an organization?

A Legal Director frequently collaborates with executive leadership to provide strategic legal guidance on business decisions and ensure compliance with relevant laws. They act as a bridge between the legal team and other departments, such as HR, finance, and operations, to address legal risks, draft or review contracts, and support organizational objectives. Effective communication and strong relationship-building skills are essential, as Legal Directors often participate in cross-functional meetings and help translate complex legal concepts into actionable business advice.
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Legal Director jobs near you
Legal Director, Global Ethics & Compliance

Legal Director, Global Ethics & Compliance

Kohler Co.

Kohler, WI • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 11 days ago

Job description

Legal Director, Global Ethics & Compliance
Work Mode: Onsite
Location:Onsite 4 days per week - Kohler, WI
Opportunity
The Legal Director, Global Ethics and Compliance is a key member of the Employment and Compliance team, reporting directly to the Assistant General Counsel - VP, Employment and Compliance. This role is responsible for supporting and managing critical components of the company's compliance and ethics program, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory obligations as well as internal policies and standards. This role will be instrumental to enhancing and maintaining a proactive framework that supports the company's global operations, enabling innovation while mitigating risk.
The Legal Director, Global Ethics and Compliance, will provide advice and counsel to management and human resources professionals on a broad range of nuanced compliance and ethics related matters, collaborate with other internal stakeholders on complex cross-functional projects, and provide meaningful input to and management of the company's compliance and ethics program.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Policy and procedure development and enhancement
  • Draft, maintain, and/or review policies and procedures related to global legal and regulatory compliance and best practices
  • Identify and communicate potential gaps or opportunities for improvement with business processes.
  • Develop and implement improvements to strengthen or enhance program elements that align with company policies and global regulations
  • Strengthen root-cause analysis methodologies as part of continuous improvement and identification of risk mitigation activities.
  • Investigations and crisis management
  • Conduct investigations into potential policy and/or legal violations or misconduct.
  • Advance a speak-up culture and good faith reporting while ensuring the confidentiality of hotline complaints and protecting reporters from retaliation.
  • Lead or support incident and crisis response teams, navigating complex subject matter, and coordinating appropriately with cross functional colleagues that arise from the company's global operations.
  • Monitor and support reporting systems to proactively identify and address potential compliance issues.

Training and education
  • Develop and deliver high quality training programs for employees, human resources, and management on critical compliance and ethics topics including anti-corruption, anti-trust, conflicts of interest, sanctions, and ESG compliance.
  • Nurture and protect an open-reporting culture and help oversee compliance hotline.
  • Develop and deliver high quality awareness campaigns in collaboration with compliance colleagues to continuously strengthen employee understanding of the hotline program.
  • Advice and counsel
  • Provide subject matter expertise related to global laws and regulations addressing anti-bribery and anti-corruption, anti-trust, conflicts of interest, OFAC and other sanctions laws, trade compliance, third party management, product compliance, ESG regulations, etc.
  • Support M&A on global compliance and ethics due diligence and integration matters.
  • Work with cross-functional teams to scale programs and support continued growth, while mitigating risk.
  • Collaborate closely with internal partners (internal audit, finance, sustainability, business teams, and human resources) to proactively improve and enhance the compliance program. Serve as an ambassador to foster a culture of accountability, integrity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Reporting, metrics, and risk assessments
  • Support the development and evolution of the company's compliance and ethics program metrics, including appropriate use of AI.
  • Create routine reports and analytics on investigation, trends, activities, and outcomes for the VP, Employment and Compliance, senior management, and other internal stakeholders.
  • Provide support to VP Employment and Compliance on assessment of compliance risks and mitigation strategies

Skills/Requirements
  • Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited laws school and current member in good standing of a state bar.
  • Licensed to practice law in the State of Wisconsin or licensed in another state bar with ability to obtain In-house counsel status in Wisconsin.
  • 7+ years' experience as a practicing lawyer focusing on compliance and ethics matters either in private practice or with a corporate legal department.
  • Deep substantive knowledge and demonstrated expertise in multiple regulatory areas relevant to US multinational manufacturing companies with global operations, including but not limited to: bribery and anti-corruption (FCPA, UKBA and other anti-bribery /anti-corruption laws); export controls and trade compliance (OFAC, ITAR, customs, sanctions laws; conflicts of interest matters, modern slavery and other ESG related regulations; whistleblowing and anti-retaliation laws; global labor and employment regulations, and data privacy and cybersecurity.
  • 2+ years' experience supporting a global organization, preferably in the manufacturing setting.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders in varying levels throughout the company.
  • Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and maintain the highest standards of confidentiality.
  • Ability to lead cross-functional teams, and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
  • Strong analytical and communication skills.
  • Demonstrated experience with global hotline investigations and whistleblower programs.
  • Demonstrated experience in crisis management.
  • Unquestionable integrity.
  • Ability to travel (domestic and international) up to 20% of the time.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the US without requiring sponsorship now or in the future.
We believe in supporting you from the moment you join us, which is why Kohler offers day 1 benefits. This means you'll have access to your applicable benefit programs from your first day on the job, with no waiting period. The salary range for this position is $188,200 - $302,200. The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including the candidate's experience, their education, and the work location. In addition, this position is eligible for a performance bonus/variable incentive compensation.
Why Choose Kohler?
We empower each associate to #BecomeMoreAtKohler with a competitive total rewards package to support your health and wellbeing, access to career growth and development opportunities, a diverse and inclusive workplace, and a strong culture of innovation. With more than 30,000 bold leaders across the globe, we're driving meaningful change in our mission to help people live gracious, healthy, and sustainable lives.
About Us
It is Kohler's policy to recruit, hire, and promote qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. If, as an individual with a disability, you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact kohlerjobs@kohler.com. Kohler Co. is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

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