Legal Counsel

As a member of a dynamic legal team, the attorney in this position will serve as a business partner and legal adviser, reporting to the Chief Legal Officer. Legal Counsel primarily partners with the Pizza Hut U.S marketing and advertising team on a variety of initiatives. The successful candidate will have a strategic growth mindset and a passion for providing legal support by collaboratively working across business units while consistently modeling Pizza Hut of America, LLC’s cultural values. Legal Counsel will also perform other essential Law Department functions and responsibilities as assigned.  Over time, there could be opportunities to work in additional areas within the legal department and/or business.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Marketing & Advertising Compliance: Responsible for facilitating marketing and advertising initiatives, including establishing, communicating, and implementing advertising review processes and guardrails with business partners. 
  • Ensure onboarding and training of new agencies and business partners to drive value and balance risk management and mitigation.
  • Own legal review of all Pizza Hut U.S. national marketing assets (e.g., TV spots, online videos, paid social, digital, print, etc.) ensuring appropriate claim substantiation, pricing & disclaimer verbiage to mitigate associated legal advertising risk.
  • Review all social media advertising including Pizza Hut U.S. organic social posts as well as influencer marketing to ensure content is in compliance with external (e.g., FTC) requirements and Pizza Hut’s internal guardrails.
  • Coordinate all sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, etc. to ensure brand protection and proper participant interaction appropriately escalating high risk issues to supervisor.  Draft/review rules for sweepstakes, contests and giveaways.
  • Complete initial trademark and IP legal reviews and clearance of advertisements, promotions, licensing, brand partnerships and system communications, escalating to Yum Trademark team as appropriate.
  • Help facilitate in-store and local store marketing programs and complete legal reviews and clearance of the same.  
  • Partner with public relations team on PR activations to facilitate from a legal perspective.
  • Serve as legal lead for menu management and review, including advising on product names, taglines, descriptions claims and nutritional content.

• General Contract Negotiation: Coordinate and own end-to-end contracting process for partnerships, agencies and vendors utilized by marketing, advertising and digital advertising teams:
  • Negotiate and draft Master Agency Agreements, new SOWs, renewals and amendments with marketing and advertising agencies in partnership with franchisee coop.
  • Negotiate and draft co-promotional, sponsorship, licensing, and talent agreements for traditional and digital marketing partnerships.
  • Negotiate and draft performance marketing direct buys with digital partners including aggregators.
  • Assist with any other contractual needs of the marketing and advertising teams.

• Other:
  • Advise clients on legal guardrails around pricing and system participation in price points and deals, including communication review and coordination of the same. 
  • Serve as legal lead for the BookIt! Program to help facilitate their key initiatives and goals from a legal perspective.
  • Serve as legal lead for the Hut Rewards loyalty program to help facilitate their key initiatives and goals from a legal perspective.
  • Serve as key connector to help improve integration between marketing, digital and legal departments.
  • Ensure ongoing alignment with internal teams through regular 1x1 meetings, email communications, training/coaching, and measuring and sharing results.
  • Other assignments and tasks as delegated by the Chief Legal Officer.  

Required Qualifications:

• You will be required to attend the Plano, TX office 3 days a week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
• Education: Juris Doctor Degree from an ABA accredited law school.
• Licensed to practice law in Texas with at least five years of experience in a fast-paced law firm or in-house legal department.
• Strong background in client counseling or other client-facing engagements.
• Solution-oriented and collaborative mindset, including ability to work successfully in a team environment.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills, including the ability to listen and effectively explain legal issues to non-lawyers in one-on-one and large presentation formats.
• Ability to self-start and work proactively to advance business objectives to completion.
• High personal and professional integrity, including the ability to establish personal credibility within the department and Company.
• A team player and relationship builder, with the ability to adapt and respond in a fast paced and rapidly changing environment.

Salary Range: $122,100 to $129,240 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.