Legal Counsel, Transactions

Job Description

Pizza Hut, LLC (U.S.) has an immediate need for a transactional attorney who has a passion for pizza, drafting and reviewing legal contracts, and creative legal problem solving to support critical business initiatives. This attorney should be an experienced transactional legal professional who will coordinate with and advise various business clients at Pizza Hut. In addition, this attorney should have experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating legal contracts, among other transactional based skills. Over time, there could be opportunities to work in additional areas within the legal department as well. The successful candidate will have a growth mindset and a passion for providing world-class legal support by collaboratively working across business units while consistently modeling Pizza Hut, LLC’s culture.

Primary Job Functions:

General Transaction Support: Provide broad legal transactional support for all of Pizza Hut’s corporate departments, including a focus on executing third-party vendor and services agreements and corporate communications.

Responsibilities include:

• Ensuring all contracts are aligned with Pizza Hut’s goals and protecting its legal and financial interests.
• Managing contract workflow and lifecycle – facilitate contract intake process, select appropriate contract forms and templates for each client engagement, draft contract amendments and routine termination documents, and maintain contract repository for the Pizza Hut U.S. brand.
• Providing legal partnership, guidance, and proactive risk reduction strategies to the Pizza Hut business team.
• Reviewing and approving corporate communications for the Pizza Hut U.S. system.
  
  

Franchising and Licensing Support: Assist legal franchise administration team with preparation and negotiation of contracts with franchise and license partners.

Responsibilities include:

• Preparing and supporting negotiation of agreements with franchisees and licensees including franchise agreements, licensee agreements, development agreements, incentive agreements, asset upgrade agreements and other strategic agreements supporting Pizza Hut’s overall franchising and licensing efforts.
• Drafting ancillary documentation under franchise and license agreements, including side letters, consents, and releases.
• Supporting Pizza Hut franchise finance team in review of franchisee ownership restructures and documentation of the same.
• Providing legal advice to Pizza Hut operations, development and franchise finance teams regarding terms of franchisee and licensee agreements.
• Developing expertise in relevant legal regimes, including those governing domestic franchising and licensing relationships.
• Reviewing and negotiating lease agreements and managing real estate summaries.
  
  

Minimum Requirements:

• EDUCATION: Juris Doctor Degree from an ABA accredited law school
• QUALIFICATION: Admitted to the Texas state bar
• EXPERIENCE:
• At Least 1 year at reputable law firm
• In-depth knowledge of several of the following areas (with proficiency in all): corporate and commercial/contract; franchise experience preferred but not required
• Ability to provide practical, strategic legal advice aligned with business objectives
• Strong background in client counseling or other client-facing engagements
  
  

Preferred Requirements:

• 3+ years' experience in transactional legal roles
• Ability to work efficiently and independently, but also collaborative with colleagues across the organization, and solve problems and/or propose creative solutions, while managing and mitigating associated legal risk(s)
• Detail and results oriented with excellent communication, organization, interpersonal, and analytical skills
• Strong leadership skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with teams across the Pizza Hut organization
• Ability to be a team player and relationship builder, with the ability to adapt in a fast paced and rapidly changing environment
  
  

Salary Range: $­­140,000 to $150,000 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.

About Us

Who We Are

Founded in 1958, Pizza Hut - a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. - now operates more than 18,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Pizza Hut is leading the way in providing customers with great experiences, innovating with technology and new products, as well as delivering exceptional service.

Our People & Culture

We're looking for people who LOVE pizza and thrive in a fun, past paced, and customer-centric environment. At our corporate campuses, Pizza Hut has created the perfect place for you to grow your career. Every day, you’ll work to support our franchisees and teams across the U.S., continuously challenging yourself to feed more possibilities. In return, we’ll provide professional development and career growth opportunities so that you can become your best and achieve your goals. And we’ll sweeten the deal by immersing you in our world-class recognition culture and providing a robust array of benefits, some highlights include:

• Hybrid work schedule and year-round half day Fridays
• Onsite childcare through Bright Horizons
• Onsite dining center
• Onsite gym with fitness classes and personal trainer sessions
• 4 weeks of vacation per year plus holidays and time off for volunteering
• Tuition reimbursement and education benefits
• Generous parental leave for all new parents and adoption assistance program
• 401(k) with a 6% matching contribution from Yum!
• Comprehensive medical & dental including prescription drug benefits and 100% preventive care
  
  

Giving Back

As a global company, Pizza Hut aims to make the world better by acting responsibly with respect to food, planet and people. Whether it’s donating food through the Harvest Program or supporting literacy with the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program – the company, our franchisees and our team members are committed to improving the communities we serve.

Pizza Hut is an equal opportunity workplace and committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse culture . All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability and genetic information (including family medical history).