Head of Legal, North America

Hello potential future Oatly employee. It’s us, the original oatmilk company that started in Sweden back 25 or so years ago and has since expanded to the U.S. where we’ve continued growing at a rate such that we need more brilliant minds to come work with us to keep the momentum going and the oatmilk flowing.

Sustainability, health, and transparency are the core values that guide everything we do. Basically, we exist to make it easy for people to eat better and live healthier lives without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process. If any of this resonates with you, then maybe you’d like work for Oatly, too. Now onto the formal stuff.

We are seeking a Head of Legal, North America to join our team! Your mission will be to lead Oatly North America’s legal function and provide practical, timely, and high-quality legal advice to the North America team on a broad range of matters. This position is US-based, remote, and will report to the Global General Counsel, with a dotted-line report to the President, North America.

Qualified candidates residing in Eastern Standard Time preferred. 

Here are the things we want to hire you to do:

• Lead the Oatly North America Legal team and support all functions across the North America business, including Commercial, Sustainable Operations, Product Development, Finance, Sustainability, Creative, and HR
• Advise on a wide range of matters including regulatory, compliance, intellectual property, employment, corporate governance, data privacy, litigation, and contracts
• Primary focus on advising the business on food law and regulatory matters including FDA, CFIA, and FTC compliance, packaging regulations, and claim substantiation
• Coordinate and interface with other Oatly regions and the Global General Counsel
• Develop, implement, and improve department policies, procedures, and workflows
• Assign and manage work performed by outside counsel in a cost-effective manner

Here are the things we think you need:

• Approximately 10 years as a practicing attorney, with CPG/food & beverage experience, particularly on matters such as labeling, quality, safety, and other regulatory topics
• J.D. from an accredited law school, strong academic credentials, licensed and in good standing in at least one US state
• In-house experience preferred but not required
• Excellent ability to manage and track multiple project workflows and inbound requests for legal services
• Strong management, communication, and organizational skills and ability to work closely with multiple different parts of the company
• Improvement-driven with a hands-on approach, unafraid to take initiative within a collaborative, innovative environment of change and fast growth

And here’s another list of qualities we think make a good Oatly team member:

• You feel connected to our mission of encouraging health, sustainability, and transparency
• You are a self-starter who doesn’t need direct supervision to motivate you for success – we believe strongly in building a culture of individual accountability and ownership and need partners that can embrace that mentality
• You are ready to make your mark in a smaller, growing brand leveraging your experience to deliver amazing results and build an outstanding company
• You have an entrepreneurial spirit in that you’re comfortable with ambiguity and are energized by the process of building something lasting from the ground up
• You enjoy sharing your quirkiness and talents with your coworkers

Another bulleted list felt redundant, so we wrote this long sentence with all the ways we sweeten the deal to work with us, like providing flexible vacation for starters, really great benefits, genuinely great coworkers who want to see the company and each other succeed, and a start-up vibe with an established company history.

The salary for this role will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to geographic location, internal equity, experience, education, specialty, and training. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific location. Compensation may also include bonus, commission, or equity as applicable. Our good faith estimate for base salary is $190,000.

Our team is available to support you through the hiring process with reasonable accommodations to enable a barrier-free interview experience. We will maintain candidate privacy and confidentiality to enable an unbiased and equitable experience. If you need assistance applying for a role due to a disability or special need, please contact talent.management@oatly.com.

Oatly is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.