General Counsel and Vice President, Legal

Job Title: General Counsel and Vice President, Legal

Job Level: Senior-Level

Job Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Job Location: Eligible for remote work in California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington or Wyoming.

Job Compensation: $200-250k plus annual bonus potential.

About Cotopaxi:

Cotopaxi is a carbon neutral certified B Corporation that creates sustainably made outdoor gear designed to fight extreme poverty, inspire adventure, and move people to Do Good. Our Gear for GoodⓇ promise is to make gear that lasts and to have a positive social, environmental, and economic impact. By 2025, we’re committed to using repurposed, recycled, or responsible materials in all of our gear. We also allocate at least 1% of our annual revenue to the Cotopaxi Foundation, which awards grants to nonprofit partners with proven track records of alleviating poverty. Through our Foundation to date, we have reached an estimated 3.5 million individuals living in extreme poverty.

Cotopaxi is a company that values people, innovation, and adventure and our work environment reflects just that. Whether you are working from one of our retail stores, our headquarters, your couch at home, or even your van in the woods, you’ll feel the camaraderie of our amazing team of visionaries, builders and go-getters. We are a team of adventurous, mission-driven people looking to prove that business CAN be a force for good.

Job Overview (What You’ll Do):

Cotopaxi is seeking a General Counsel and Vice President to be a member of the Senior Leadership Team (“SLT”) and responsible for overseeing legal affairs within Cotopaxi. This role also serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of Global Uprising, PBC (“Cotopaxi”).

As a values-driven organization, we are looking for an authentic leader who is passionate about positively impacting people, the planet, and communities. This leader must be service-minded and have the experience and expertise to serve as an invaluable partner to our leadership team. This role will report directly to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, who is deeply passionate about social impact, culture, people, and creating a movement brand.

Job Responsibilities (How You’ll Do It):

• Legal Compliance: Ensuring that Cotopaxi complies with all applicable laws and regulations, and may have the authority to make independent decisions regarding compliance issues.
• Risk Management: Identifying, assessing, and mitigating legal risks associated with Cotopaxi’s operations and activities.
• Contract Management: Overseeing the negotiation, drafting, and review of all contracts and agreements entered into by Cotopaxi.
• Corporate Governance: Ensuring that Cotopaxi’s governance structure follows legal and regulatory requirements.
• Litigation Management: Managing all legal disputes and litigation matters involving Cotopaxi.
• Intellectual Property: Overseeing the protection and management of Cotopaxi’s intellectual property.
• Litigation Management: Managing the organization's litigation strategy.
• Ethics and Compliance: Developing and implementing ethics and compliance programs with partners on the SLT, notably People Operations and Impact Teams, to promote ethical behavior and prevent violations of laws and regulations.
• Claims Expertise: Working with cross-functional teams to ensure compliance with claims regarding Cotopaxi’s business and general product performance.
• Legal Operations: Directing and implementing the organization's legal strategy, including setting priorities and managing risk. Legal Advice: Providing legal advice and guidance on legal matters affecting Cotopaxi.
• Legal Team Management: Leading and managing the legal department and outside counsel, including hiring, training, and performance management.
• Risk management: Identifying and managing legal and regulatory risks.
• Ethics and compliance: Developing and implementing the organization's ethics and compliance program, including policies and procedures, training, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

The Ideal Candidate (What You Need to Succeed):

• A Juris Doctor Degree or equivalent from an accredited law school.
• A license to practice law in relevant jurisdiction, and/or admission to practice in the state of Utah.
• 15+ years of legal experience, ideally serving as General Counsel at a similarly sized or larger consumer goods corporate organization.
• Experience serving as primary legal counsel to Board of Directors/Trustees, CEO, VPs, keeping them abreast of legal, fiduciary/trust, tax and compliance trends and challenges, recommending appropriate action as required.
• Ability to operate independently while developing and maintaining strong and trusted relationships with leaders of other departments.
• Ideally, experience managing other attorneys and paralegals.
• Strong analytical and problem-resolution skills; outstanding business judgment, strategic thinking and ability to provide practical advice by balancing business needs with legal risks.

Job Benefits (The Perks):

We deeply care about our employees and are proud of our commitment and investment in our team. We prioritize wages and benefits and always keep the employee experience in mind as we work to create a quality work-life balance for everyone.

Here is a snapshot of the benefits we provide:

• Medical, dental and vision benefits.
• Company paid basic life insurance.
• Company paid short-term disability coverage.
• Company paid life assistance program, with the election of medical coverage.
• Company paid mental health benefits.
• Company paid volunteer time.
• 401(k) plan with employer match.
• Unlimited responsible PTO.
• In The Wild Time: Dedicated paid time out of your work week to spend outdoors.
• Remote work stipend (for remote employees only).
• 60% off Cotopaxi products.
• Additional outdoor/adventure/lifestyle brand discounts.
• $1,000 stipend after 18 months for bucket list adventure.
• $5,000 stipend after 5 years for bucket list adventure.
• Annual company-wide outings and regular virtual/in-person celebrations.
• A fun, people-first company culture!

As a mission-driven brand, Cotopaxi is not only hyper aware of but also deeply invested in putting people first and paving the way as a humanitarian brand. We welcome, embrace and celebrate all people regardless of gender, age, race, disability, nationality, ethnicity, faith, or sexual orientation. We believe in Doing Good, and how we’re involved with that has no limits.

No matter what experience you have within the outdoor industry we encourage you to apply. At Cotopaxi we believe that experience comes from a variety of places. We look for individuals who thrive on challenges, are passionate about doing good, and believe that collaboration and radical candor are necessary for success. Show us how your experiences have shaped you and how you can contribute to Cotopaxi in our mission to Do Good. We can’t wait for you to share with us your personal story!

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