Associate Legal Director, Litigation

Johnson Controls, a global leader in thermal management, mission-critical building systems, energy efficiency, and decarbonization, helps customers use energy more productively, reduce carbon emissions, and operate with the precision and resilience required in rapidly expanding industries such as data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, and higher education.

For more than 140 years, Johnson Controls has delivered performance where it really matters. Backed by advanced technology, lifecycle services and an industry-leading field organization, we elevate customer performance, turn goals into real-world results and help move society forward.

What we offer: 

• Competitive salary and bonus plan
• Paid vacation/holidays/sick time 
• Comprehensive benefits package including 401K, medical, dental, and vision care 
• On the job/cross training opportunities 
• Encouraging and collaborative team environment 
• Dedication to safety through our Zero Harm policy 

What you will do:

The Associate Legal Director – Litigation serves as a critical member of JCI’s Global Litigation Team focused on providing proactive, strategic, efficient, and cost effective management of the company’s litigation and pre-litigation with a focus on commercial and insured litigation. 

The Associate Legal Director drives risk management strategy and provides counsel and guidance to the business. The Associate Legal Director also protects JCI’s interests as the ultimate client and strategically guides decisions to this end. 

How you will do it:

• Provide practical, business-savvy legal advice with respect to a wide range of litigation matters, including commercial, environmental, and insured matters affecting JCI’s various business units. 
• Work with the in-house litigation team members to investigate, evaluate, and effectively counter threatened or pending litigation and disputes. 
• Create and deploy litigation and dispute resolution strategy and implement related tools to drive consistent management of litigation across North America. 
• Independently manage litigation matters, driving performance and ensuring efficiency, and being responsible and accountable for the results. 
• Drive adoption of best practices, including lessons learned, affirmative recovery analysis, and other risk mitigation strategies. 
• Assist with selection and management of outside legal service providers, including spend discipline. 
• Closely coordinate and collaborate with JCI’s outside counsel, technical experts, and related third-parties, as well as key internal stakeholders, such as Government Relations, Communications, Compliance, Risk Management, Finance, and individual business units. 
• Propose and develop legal programs to reduce JCI’s legal risk exposure. 
• Conduct litigation due diligence of M&A matters.  
• Manage responses to third-party subpoenas  
• Drive legal strategy and resolution in the company’s prelitigation matters  

What we look for:

Required 

• JD Degree; must be a member in good standing of a U.S. state bar. 
• Minimum 5-8 years of related litigation experience in a major law firm, a publicly-held multi-national corporation, or both. 
• Experience in complex litigation as well as arbitrations and mediations is required. Experience in multi-district litigation, construction, environmental, and/or products liability is preferred. 
• Experience in e-discovery and motion practice is required.    
• Experience managing litigation and arbitrations outside the U.S. is a plus. 
• Experience managing outside counsel is a plus. 
• Experience leveraging AI-enabled legal research and productivity tools to enhance efficiency, insights, and decision-making is a plus. 
• Excellent communication and presentation skills. 
• Ability to make sound judgment calls under pressure. 
• Strong leadership skills. 
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with others in a matrixed management structure. 
• Ability to drive process changes, resource efficiencies, and change management in the provision of legal services. 
• Exceptional and demonstrated project management skills. 
• Ability to build positive relationships with senior management, the business, and other members of the legal team and to influence outcomes positively. Experience providing risk assessments and insightful feedback to stakeholders is preferred.  
• This role requires current U.S. work authorization; employer sponsorship is not available.

This role requires candidates to be located in Washington, D.C. or Milwaukee, WI.

HIRING SALARY RANGE: $160,000 -$200,000 (Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, location and alignment with market data.) This role offers a competitive Bonus plan that will take into account individual, group, and corporate performance. The posted salary range reflects the target compensation for this role. However, we recognize that exceptional candidates may bring unique skills and experiences that exceed the typical profile. If you believe your background warrants consideration beyond the stated range, we encourage you to apply. To support an efficient and fair hiring process, we may use technology assisted tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), to help identify and evaluate candidates. All hiring decisions are ultimately made by human reviewers. This position includes a competitive benefits package. For details, please visit the About Us tab on the Johnson Controls Careers site at https://jobs.johnsoncontrols.com/about-us

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Johnson Controls International plc. is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a qualified individual with a disability or any other characteristic protected by law. To view more information about your equal opportunity and non-discrimination rights as a candidate, visit EEO is the Law. If you are an individual with a disability and you require an accommodation during the application process, please visit here.