In-House Counsel

About Us:

Trilliant Food & Nutrition is a leading, vertically integrated manufacturer of premium coffees and powdered beverages, proudly headquartered in Little Chute, Wisconsin. With a legacy rooted in quality, innovation, and service, Trilliant delivers branded and private label solutions across retail, foodservice, and e-commerce channels.

Horseshoe Beverage Company, based in Neenah, WI, is a leading ready-to-drink beverage manufacturer dedicated to delivering an exceptional beverage experience. By combining industry-leading talent, cutting-edge equipment, and a vertically integrated supply chain, we drive innovation and consistently deliver the highest quality products to our customers-first and fast.

Our brand portfolio includes Victor Allen's, Dutch Bros beverages and Nurri, our better-for-you protein beverage line. We are passionate about beverages - and about building a team that's just as energized. We invite you to explore opportunities at Trilliant or Horseshoe, to see if your talents and career aspirations may fit with our openings.

Diversity and Inclusion at TRILLIANT and HORSESHOE:

We believe talented, great people are the building blocks of our success. We believe in finding the right people, with the right attitude, and providing them with opportunities to excel.

Position Overview:

The In-House Counsel will serve as a critical business partner to Finance, Operations, Sales, Marketing, HR, and Executive Leadership. This role provides broad legal support across the organization, with an immediate focus on contract management and a long-term path toward a General Counsel function. The ideal candidate is proactive, business-minded, highly organized, and eager to build scalable legal processes that strengthen our operational rigor and support our growth.

The successful candidate will demonstrate outstanding interpersonal skills, a team-first mentality, strong business acumen, and a willingness to elevate standards across the organization.

Responsibilities:

Contract Management & Commercial Support

• Draft, review, and facilitate negotiation on a wide range of commercial agreements, including supplier agreements, raw material supply contracts, equipment manufacturer agreements, vendor/distributor agreements, co-manufacturing agreements, professional services contracts, and customer agreements.

• Develop a systematized, standardized approach to contract execution, ensuring consistency, clarity, and alignment with business objectives.
• Implement and manage a contracts database for storage, tracking, renewal management, and compliance monitoring.
• Identify conflicts between Trilliant's standard terms and counterparty terms, escalating business-critical decisions to appropriate leaders.
• Ensure all critical vendors and customers have current, accurate contracts in place; maintain visibility into obligations, renewal cycles, and compliance requirements.
• Communicate contract status, risks, and required actions to internal stakeholders with transparency and timeliness.
• Support cross-functional teams by interpreting contract terms, advising on obligations, and ensuring adherence to contractual requirements.

Legal Advisory & Business Partnership

• Serve as the internal point of contact for legal questions related to commercial operations, risk, compliance, and business strategy.
• Provide practical, business-oriented legal guidance that supports speed-to-market while protecting the company's interests.
• Prepare and organize legal documents, summaries, and notes to support decision-making and documentation of matters.
• Participate in weekly meetings with designated executive committee members to drive the legal and contract agenda.

Outside Counsel Management

• Manage relationships with external counsel, ensuring efficient use of resources and alignment with business priorities.
• Determine which matters can be handled internally versus those requiring specialized external expertise.
• Evaluate and optimize outside counsel partnerships, including opportunities for consolidation, rate negotiation, and improved workflow efficiency.
• Balance cost-effectiveness with risk mitigation to ensure high-quality legal outcomes.

Regulatory, Employment, and Compliance Support

• Support regulatory affairs by coordinating with external experts and ensuring appropriate escalation of specialized matters.
• Partner with HR and the VP of HR to support employment law matters.
• Assist in developing and maintaining compliance programs aligned with food safety, regulatory requirements, and company policies.
• Support corporate efforts related to safety, compliance, and adherence to all company procedures.

Intellectual Property & Corporate Governance

• Maintain oversight of patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property assets, ensuring timely filings, renewals, and documentation.
• Provide insight into IP strategy, competitive advantage, and implications for business decisions.
• Support corporate governance activities as needed, including documentation, filings, and board-related matters.

Continuous Improvement & Professional Development

• Champion continuous improvement efforts to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and standardization across legal processes.
• Continuously develop professionally through formal and informal learning opportunities.
• Build and maintain strong, resilient internal and external relationships.
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school; active license to practice law.
• 3-7+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally including commercial contracting, corporate law, or in-house counsel experience.
• Demonstrated experience drafting, negotiating, and managing a high volume of contracts.
• Experience with contract lifecycle management tools or document management systems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate legal concepts into practical business guidance.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong business acumen and ability to collaborate effectively across functions.
• Proactive, self-motivated, and eager to build scalable legal processes.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining a team-first mindset.
• Working knowledge of corporate, commercial, and employment law; familiarity with regulatory and IP matters preferred.

Hours and Pay:

We offer a competitive base pay rate with commission and a comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees. Hours are typically normal business hours Monday-Friday, yet additional time may be required in the evenings and on weekends pending urgent deadlines.

Physical and Mental Demands:

* While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job are close vision, distant vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

* Mental demands include multi-tasking, decision making, problem solving, comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, and synthesizing data.

Safety Statement:

At Trilliant Food and Nutrition, safety is every employee's first responsibility. We expect all employees to adhere to all safety practices, have the moral courage to stop other individuals from performing unsafe acts, and immediately report unsafe conditions.

Disclosures:

• The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
• Responsible for following food safety/regulatory policies and procedures, executing responsibilities as identified in standard operating procedures, and reporting food safety/regulatory concerns to the Production or Quality Manager.
• Trilliant Food & Nutrition is a Drug Free Workplace. Applicants are subject to a pre-employment drug test as a condition of employment.
• All applicants are subject to a background check as a condition of employment.
• Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage participate in the E-verify process.
• EEO/AA including Vets and Disabled.
• If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at jobs@trilliantfood.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.
• The principles of the OECD and UN have been taken into consideration and used as guidance in our human rights practices and procedures.