Junior Legal Counsel

Fall Creek is creating a world with better blueberries through its friendly, collaborative team spread across the globe. To help us accomplish this, we are seeking a qualified Junior** **Legal Counsel for LATAM. This position will be located in Tala - Jalisco, Mexico, or Santiago, Chile. Occasional travel within LATAM, and to the United States, will be required.

The Fall Creek Junior** **Legal Counsel - LATAM (the "JLCL") will report to the Legal Counsel - LATAM. The JLCL will also have “dotted line” accountability to other members of the Fall Creek legal function, including (i) the Corporate Counsel (Plant Protection) and (ii) the Legal Operations Manager, depending on the task, and other members of Fall Creek’s international legal team. The JLCL will collaborate extensively with senior management, internal and external stakeholders, and outside legal counsel.

**What you'll do at Fall Creek**:

- Support Fall Creek global group in all aspect of their legal affairs arising in the Territory, including commercial operations, import/export requirements, protection of intellectual property rights, the administration of royalties and other reporting requirements, labor and employment issues, and the compliance with corporate requirements, including entity formation, annual compliance, matters of public registry, managing powers of attorney and other corporate matters.
- Coordinating with outside counsel responsible for filing and maintenance of plant breeders’ rights registrations.
- Strategic and business-oriented support of Fall Creek’s intellectual-property-based business, including drafting, negotiation, and administration of licenses and sublicenses; royalty administration; counseling, and supporting contractual negotiations.
- Worldwide support of clearance, prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of Fall Creek’s intellectual property portfolio.
- Supporting dispute resolution and litigation pertaining to intellectual property.
- Support the contract administration lifecycle of corporate and commercial agreements including contract generation and execution. Maintain systems for effective tracking, filing, and storage of contracts, as well as contract templates.
- Implement improvements to systems and processes as appropriate.
- Respond and track inbound requests, basic review and contract interpretation, routing request to team members for response archiving and maintaining confidentiality of all contracts.
- Assist the Company in modification, amendment, and agreement terminations in accordance with company processes.
- Proofread, edit and fact-check legal documents for accuracy and consistency according to department and company SOPs.
- Other duties as assigned by the Legal Counsel -LATAM or General Counsel.

**What you bring to Fall Creek**:

- Law degree and license to practice law in applicable jurisdiction(s) within the Territory.
- Bilingual oral and written fluency in Spanish and English.
- At least 1-2 years of legal practice experience, in a position that includes exposure to the drafting of legal documents and contract negotiations.
- Basic knowledge of business law, intellectual property law, and/or other relevant areas of law.
- Creative mind and collaborative spirit, a generalist’s mindset, and the ability to provide guidance that is sensitive both to legal and business requirements.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to partner with colleagues at all levels throughout Fall Creek and coordinate cross-functional projects across multiple teams.
- Skills in Microsoft Office, SharePoint and Adobe Acrobat. Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies.
- Willingness to work independently with mínimal supervision.
- Ability to take initiative, prioritize tasks, and to adjust performance to adapt to varying time-zones; excellent time management, organizational, problem-prevention, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to collaborate with other team members, develop strong relationships, and maintain a positive attitude. Must be able to exercise good judgment in recognizing scope of authority.
- Exercise exceptionally high ethical standards and personal discretion.

**DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS**
- Experience working in an international law firm and/or matrixed multinational company.
- Experience with, or interest in, agriculture, horticulture, or fruit.
- A high degree of emotional intelligence; a flexible and growth-oriented mindset; a sense of humor.
- Fluency in additional languages besides English and Spanish.

Position requires an executed confidentiality and non-solicitation agreement, and an assignment of inventions agreement.

**Who is Fall Creek?**

We’re a US-based company with a keen focus on blueberry genetics, plants, and grower support delivered to the world’s premier blueberry growers. From our humble beginnings in Lowell, Oregon more than 40 years ago, we now also have wholly-owned nurseries in Mexico, Peru, Spain, South Africa, Netherlands, Chile, China, and