General Job SummaryAce Retail Group is seeking a highly capable, business-minded attorney to serve as Director, Legal & Real Estate-a critical leadership role at the center of the Company's growth strategy. This leader will own all legal advising and activity across the enterprise while also driving and executing the Company's real estate strategy and new store growth. Acting as the Company's primary legal advisor and a key strategic partner to the President and executive team, this role blends legal expertise with commercial acumen and deal execution. This is a unique opportunity for an attorney who wants to move beyond traditional legal work and directly shape the growth trajectory of a multi-state retail platform.
Essential Duties & ResponsibilitiesEnterprise Legal Leadership
- Serve as the Company's primary in-house counsel, advising on all legal matters including contracts, real estate, compliance, employment, and corporate governance
- Lead and develop the legal function, including oversight of the Director of Legal Services and internal team
- Draft, negotiate, and structure complex commercial agreements and strategic transactions
- Manage all external counsel relationships, ensuring efficient, high-quality legal support
- Own enterprise risk management, compliance, and legal strategy
Real Estate Strategy & Growth
- Own the Company's real estate function end-to-end, including leadership of the Director of Real Estate
- Lead new store growth strategy, including market prioritization, site selection, and pipeline development
- Structure and negotiate retail leases, acquisitions, renewals, and dispositions
- Partner closely with operations and finance to optimize the real estate portfolio and capital deployment
- Drive a disciplined, data-informed approach to expanding store count across the United States
Executive Leadership & Business Partnership
- Act as a trusted advisor to the President and executive team, influencing key strategic decisions
- Provide clear, practical, and commercially grounded legal guidance that enables the business to move quickly and confidently
- Balance risk management with growth, ensuring legal oversight accelerates-not inhibits-execution
- Play a visible leadership role in shaping Company strategy and performance
Other Essential RequirementsAbility to exhibit and incorporate our Core Values into daily decisions and interactions with others:
- WINNING - In business, money is the score. To win, we must perform, compete, and have fun. At Ace, we win through people- our strength is being helpful.
- EXCELLENCE - Excellence honors God and inspires people. We aspire to be the best, to continuously improve and to inspire others by giving the team our very best.
- LOVE - Love the people, love the work and love the results.
- INTEGRITY - For Ace to win, we need to be able to trust each other. And trust will require us to be honest, reliable, caring, of high character and of unquestioned ethics.
- GRATITUDE - We recognize that we are blessed to be in the business of serving others.
- HUMILITY - We strive for greatness with a humble, modest and respectful attitude.
- TEAMWORK - We will fight the natural tendency for control and credit in favor of collaboration and mutual success, recognizing that...Together, we are Ace.
Minimum Qualifications, Requirements and Skills- Juris Doctor (JD) with active bar admission
- 8-15+ years of legal experience, including a combination of law firm and in-house experience (preferred)
- Demonstrated experience in commercial real estate and multi-location retail environments
- Proven track record advising on broad business risk, including contracts, employment, regulatory, and operational matters
- Elite negotiator with a strong deal-making mindset
- Deep business acumen with the ability to connect legal decisions to financial outcomes
- Ability to operate strategically while executing at a high level day-to-day
- Strong leadership presence with confidence working alongside executive teams
- High ownership mentality-comfortable being accountable for outcomes across legal and real estate
Compensation Details$150,000-$170,000 per year
For a full list of benefits and open positions, please visit us at: https://acehardware.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ARG_External
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