Job Description

General Motors Europe is seeking an exceptional lawyer with strategic business acumen and proven collaborative skills to join the legal team in Zurich as Senior Legal Counsel of GM Europe*. The successful candidate will report to the Regional General Counsel of EMEA, ANZ, and India - and indirectly to the Managing Director of GM Europe and will be a key business partner providing proactive, solution-oriented legal support across a broad range of commercial, regulatory, and strategic initiatives in a fast-paced, international environment.

This is an individual contributor role for a senior lawyer who is comfortable operating autonomously in a fast-paced, international environment, overseeing a broad range of commercial, regulatory, and strategic matters, managing external counsel, and serving as a proactive, solution-oriented business partner to GM Europe and the broader enterprise.

RESPONSIBILITIES

In alignment with company objectives, specific responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee and manage GM Europe's legal affairs under the supervision of the Regional General Counsel.
• Execute the proactive provision of legal services pertaining to corporate/commercial matters, distribution, sales and marketing, transactions, product safety, employment and labour, litigation management, competition, connected services, privacy, ESG/environment, real estate, and IT.

• Direct external legal counsel and collaborate with other legal counsel as part of GM’s regional and global legal staff of more than 200 lawyers.
• Communicate and manage effectively across internal and external functions and businesses.
• Contribute to GM Europe’s success by combining both legal and strategic business acumen with a strong understanding of the company’s goals and operation as a key business partner.

REQUIREMENTS

• Consistent with GM’s core value of “Winning with Integrity”, this position will require a proven track record of integrity and at least 15 years of top-tier private practice or in-house experience with a significant portion of the experience gained in the manufacturing, consumer products, or technology sector – with preference for candidates with extensive automotive experience.

• Strategic management team experience and a business-minded, solution-oriented lawyer who can provide a top-down perspective while maintaining a sleeves-rolled-up willingness to take on a significant working role in the company.

• Superior personal and professional integrity, exceptional communication skills, humility, self-awareness, the ability to manage multiple large-scale projects simultaneously, and past success forging relationships with business units.
• Ability to take ownership and manage multiple large-scale projects to deliver results and past success forging collaborative relationships with business units in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience leading and motivating a high-performance and high-integrity cross-functional team to support GM’s multi-faceted operations throughout Europe.
• Proven ability to apply strong business acumen and problem-solving skills to issues that materially impact business and functional objectives.
• Support multiple projects simultaneously and collaborate effectively with GM Legal Staff, other GM functions, and external legal counsel.
• A law degree (J.D. or equivalent) from an accredited college or university.
• Admitted to practice law in Europe or North America.
• In addition to fluency in English, proficiency in German and French would be an asset.

GM’s legal department’s objective is to deliver timely, best-in-class business advisory and legal services in close collaboration with business partners to accomplish their objectives while simultaneously protecting GM’s high standards of legal, ethical, and financial integrity.  Each member of the legal department is expected to adhere to these standards.

*This position may be re-classified depending on the candidate’s level of experience.

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need gm immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}. This job may be eligible for relocation benefits.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us 

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

Accommodations

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