Senior Counsel, Employment Law - Mars Veterinary Health

As part of Mars—a family-owned business with 90 years of experience in pet care—Mars Veterinary Health is a globally-connected pet healthcare network that's united by purpose, powered by data, and driven by people. With 3,000 veterinary clinics made possible by 70,000+ Associates who care for 10M+ pets across 30 countries each year, we're creating seamless access to quality care at scale—from preventive and wellness to specialty and emergency—and at every stage of a pet's life. Together, we're advancing our Purpose—A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS—and supporting a thriving future for the veterinary professionals who make pet healthcare possible.

This role requires Associate to work out of a MVH Hub location in Vancouver, WA.

Why This Role Matters:

The Senior Counsel, Employment Law supports Mars Veterinary Health's (MVH) business units in North America. including Banfield, BluePearl, and VCA. This role is part of the MVH Legal function's regional Employment Law Center of Excellence & Deployment (CoE&D), a collaborative pool of legal resources designed to flexibly support business needs, balance workload across the team, and provide responsive, high-impact employment law guidance across multiple business lines and jurisdictions, including outside the United States with the assistance of local counsel.

The Senior Counsel, Employment Law advises on a wide range of employment and labor-related issues and strategic workforce matters, including employment agreements, restrictive covenants, policy development, administrative claims, litigation (single party and class action), and other dispute management, associate relations, and professional licensing and liability matters.

You Will:

• Provide proactive legal counsel to P&O and business leaders to support day-to-day decision-making and workforce strategy development across Banfield, BluePearl, and VCA, covering a broad spectrum of employment and labor law issues including performance management, investigations, terminations, discrimination, wage & hour compliance, accommodations, leaves, I&D, and professional licensing and liability matters (e.g., overseeing license defense).
• Advise on employment litigation and pre-litigation matters, including responding to agency charges, internal complaints, and managing outside counsel.
• Contribute to the development, implementation, and maintenance of employment policies, handbooks, and training materials tailored to the North American workforce as well as conduct trainings with the P&O teams.
• Draft and advise on Employment Agreements for veterinarians as well as other Associates throughout MVH.
• Stay current with and communicate changes in federal, state, provincial, and local employment laws across North America; assess potential impacts and coordinate responsive actions.
• Collaborate with global Legal colleagues across MVH and greater Mars to align North American practices with global employment law strategies and policies.
• Provide legal guidance in connection with workforce changes, including restructuring/severance, acquisitions, divestitures, and related integration activities.
• Partner with P&O on immigration matters. Supervise outside attorney preparation of employment-based immigration petitions, prepare, review and file PERM applications and provide support to P&O in preparing PERM recruitment documentation.
• Participate in and/or lead cross-functional projects, sharing knowledge and insights with peers across Legal (including risk and regulatory compliance), P&O, and operational teams.
• Mentor more junior attorneys or Legal staff as needed.
• Live and exemplify the Five Principles of Mars, Inc. within self and team.
• Other job duties as assigned.

Your Experience Should Include:

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to practice law in the United States.
• 8+ years of experience practicing employment law preferred, with a significant portion spent as in-house counsel in a large, matrixed, or multi-unit organization.
• Deep understanding of U.S. federal and state employment laws; labor law and Canadian employment law experience strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex legal issues simultaneously while maintaining responsiveness in a dynamic business environment.
• Experience in employment litigation management, investigations, and proactive risk mitigation.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to partner effectively across MVH functions (e.g. P&O, Legal, and Operations) and greater Mars.
• Demonstrated success working within a shared services or Center of Excellence model is a strong plus.
• Comfortable working in an environment of shifting priorities and shared resource allocation.
• High integrity, sound judgment, and a practical, solutions-oriented mindset.

Salary Range: $162,162 – $253,378

Compensation is determined based on education, experience, and other relevant credentials. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, location, and market competitiveness.

What We Offer You:

• Competitive salary with paid time off & holidays so you can spend time with the people you love.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your loved ones.
• Fertility and family-building assistance.
• Paid Parental leave.
• Practice Paid Basic Life Insurance.
• Practice Paid Short- and Long-Term Disability.
• Automatic enrollment 401(k) Savings Plan after 60 days of employment with generous company match.
• Commuter Benefits.
• Legal Plan.
• Health Savings Account & Flexible Spending Account.
• Mental health support and resources.
• Student Debt Relief (for full-time DVMs).
• A Variety of discounts including Mars, PetSmart, Royal Canin, fitness, cellular and so much more.

Special Working Considerations:

• Ability to work at a computer for long periods of time.
• Project timelines and work volume/deadlines may often require more than 40 hours per week to complete essential duties of this job.
• Must have mental processes for reasoning, remembering, mathematics and language ability (reading, writing, and speaking the English language) to perform the duties proficiently.
• Ability to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form and to solve problems involving several variables.
• Ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as well as manipulate (lift, carry, move) up to 50 pounds.
• Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm-hand-finger dexterity with the ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate necessary equipment.
• The noise level in the work environment is normally moderate.
• Environment where pets are present.

WE ARE A DRUG-FREE, SMOKE-FREE, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

Mars Veterinary Health (MVH)® strongly supports and values the uniqueness of all individuals and promotes a work environment where diversity is embraced. MVH is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetic information, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability. MVH complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every MVH location.