Associate General Counsel

Blommer has been providing delicious, high-quality chocolate and cocoa products to customers since 1939. Built as a family business, we are continuing to grow and are looking for motivated and reliable associates to help in our mission of Bringing Chocolate to Life!

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

 Corporate Governance and Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with corporate governance standards, including maintaining proper documentation of board meetings, shareholder resolutions, and regulatory filings.
• Assist the company’s leadership in understanding and adhering to best practices in governance, particularly when expanding or restructuring operations.
• Manage any mergers, acquisitions, or joint ventures from a legal perspective, ensuring that all due diligence and legal compliance is in order.

Contract Negotiation and Management:

• Oversee and provide guidance on contract negotiations with suppliers, distributors, customers, and other third-party vendors, ensuring all agreements protect the company’s legal interests.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of contracts, including manufacturing agreements, licensing agreements, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and supply chain agreements.
• Create standardized contract templates, negotiation playbooks, and approval workflows to support rapid scaling.
• Ensure that contract management processes are streamlined, and legal documentation is accurate and legally sound, while meeting the company’s business objectives.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Lead the legal team, ensuring that legal counsel is available to support all aspects of the business, including contracts, litigation, and IP.
• Develop and mentor in-house legal talent, ensuring that team members are growing in their roles and staying current on industry regulations and trends.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration, ensuring the legal department works closely with operations, finance, HR, and engineering to address legal concerns and support the business.

 Intellectual Property (IP) Protection:

• Lead efforts to protect the company’s intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, especially when developing new products or manufacturing processes.
• Ensure that the company adheres to relevant IP laws and defends its proprietary technologies and processes from infringement or misuse by competitors or third parties.
• Collaborate with R&D and engineering teams to ensure that new innovations are properly patented or protected.

Dispute Resolution:

• Oversea and manage dispute and litigation matters, working with external counsel as necessary.
• Engage in negotiations to settle disputes before they escalate to litigation and arbitration, ensuring favorable terms for the organization.
• Evaluate the risks associated with disputes and develop strategies to mitigate potential impacts.
• Maintain records of disputes and resolutions, and report on the status and outcomes to senior management.

 Note: The employer reserves the right to change or assign other duties to this position

Physical Requirements:

• General office environment with majority of time using computer siting for prolonged periods of time.
• Manual & Visual Requirements-Keyboard and mouse usage. Visual acuity and clear hearing ability.
• Must follow all requirements when working in the plant.

Safety, Quality and Hygiene Requirements:

• Maintain compliance with all company policies, procedures and code of conduct
• Comply with workplace uniform requirements and safety gear, when on the plant floor v. office

Performance Expectations:

• Provide expert legal advice and counsel to the executive team and senior management on a broad range of corporate, commercial, and compliance matters.
• Ensure corporate compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts, agreements, and other legal documents, ensuring the company’s interests are protected.
• Develop and maintain corporate policies and procedures that align with legal requirements and best practices.
• Manage litigation matters, disputes, and potential legal actions, representing the company’s interests.
• Oversee corporate governance matters, including board meetings, minutes, resolutions, and filings.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the company’s legal framework supports its business strategy and growth objectives.
• Stay up to date on evolving legal environments, ensuring the company’s operations remain compliant.
• Operate within the core values of respect and care for others.

Skills and Experience Requirements:

• 10 plus years of corporate legal role in manufacturing and or supply chain, experience in food and beverage preferred.
• Strong experience in corporate law, contract negotiation, mergers and acquisitions and litigation.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior management and provide strategic legal counsel.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and analytical skills.
• Strong leadership and team management experience.
• Japanese business experience a plus

Education:

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active bar membership in good standing.
• Licensed in Illinois

Career Progression: 

 

• Employees are encouraged to express interest in internal career opportunities throughout Blommer
• Expectations for promotion or job role change are driven by proficiency and performance in current role
• Career progression would align to other plant leadership roles within Blommer

A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range at the time of posting is below. The base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits. The actual base salary within the specified range is based on several factors, including but not limited to applicant's skills, prior relevant experience, education, certifications, job responsibilities, market considerations and, if applicable, the location of the position. 

This role is eligible for either a discretionary annual bonus (based on company, business unit and individual performance) and/or commission-based incentives. 

Salary Range $250K-$270K 

Benefits: Blommer understands that our employees are our biggest assets. With this in mind we offer a generous benefits package.  

 

• Health, Dental & Vision- eligibility begins day 1 of hire!
• 401(K)
• Pet insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• 10 pounds of free chocolate for your birthday

Blommer Chocolate Company provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

Note to External Recruiters / Search Firms: Blommer Chocolate Company does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not pay for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Any unsolicited resumes received will not be considered as a valid submission. 

 

 

 

 

Salary

• $250,000 - $270,000