Vice President, International Counsel

Role Overview

Stanley Black & Decker is seeking an accomplished legal executive to serve as Vice President, International Counsel, providing strategic legal leadership across the Company’s international businesses. Reporting to the Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, this role serves as the senior legal advisor for international operations, partnering with executive leadership to enable business growth, manage legal and regulatory risk, and support the Company’s global strategy.

The Vice President, International Counsel will lead a geographically dispersed team of legal professionals, oversee complex cross-border legal matters, and serve as a member of the Global Legal Leadership Team. This role is responsible for delivering practical, business-focused legal counsel while driving consistency, collaboration, and operational excellence across international markets.

This position will be based in London, England (Maidenhead), though Brussels, Belgium (Mechelen) and Frankfurt, Germany (Idstein or Giessen) are also suitable locations. Remote hub locations throughout Europe will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Lead International Legal Strategy

• Develop and execute the international legal strategy aligned with enterprise priorities and business objectives.
• Partner with executive leadership to proactively identify legal risks and opportunities across international markets.
• Balance legal, commercial, and operational considerations in strategic decision-making.
• Promote consistency in legal support while recognizing regional regulatory and business requirements.

Strategic Business Partnership

• Serve as the senior legal advisor to international business leadership.
• Support commercial growth, acquisitions, strategic initiatives, and business transformations.
• Advise on complex legal, regulatory, compliance, and governance matters impacting international operations.
• Deliver practical, business-focused legal counsel that enables informed decision-making.

Lead the International Legal Organization

• Lead, develop, and coach a high-performing international legal team.
• Drive organizational capability, succession planning, and talent development.
• Allocate legal resources effectively across multiple regions and jurisdictions.
• Foster collaboration across Legal, Compliance, Trade Compliance, Privacy, Corporate Affairs, and enterprise functions.

Manage Legal Risk & Regulatory Compliance

• Oversee significant litigation, investigations, regulatory matters, and material legal issues across international markets.
• Ensure compliance with applicable international laws and regulations.
• Coordinate external counsel and legal resources across multiple jurisdictions.
• Escalate material legal and business risks to executive leadership, as appropriate.

Drive Operational Excellence

• Promote efficient, scalable legal service delivery across international markets.
• Partner with Legal Operations to improve technology adoption, reporting, and operational effectiveness.
• Champion continuous improvement, process simplification, and standardization where appropriate.
• Establish operating rhythms, performance expectations, and accountability across the international legal organization.

Serve as a Strategic Member of the Global Legal Leadership Team

• Serve as an active member of the Global Legal Leadership Team.
• Collaborate with Regional Counsel leaders and Centers of Excellence to drive consistency across the legal function.
• Support organizational design, legal transformation initiatives, and enterprise priorities.
• Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives on behalf of the Chief Legal Officer.

Candidate Profile

Experience

• Juris Doctor (or equivalent legal qualification) with the ability to practice law in a relevant jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of progressive legal leadership experience supporting multinational organizations.
• Significant experience advising executive leadership on complex international legal and commercial matters.
• Demonstrated success leading geographically dispersed legal teams across multiple countries and cultures.
• Experience managing cross-border transactions, regulatory matters, litigation, and external counsel.
• Proven ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives in a global business environment.

Leadership Profile

• Strategic, enterprise-minded leader with exceptional business acumen.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders and build trusted partnerships.
• Proven ability to lead through complexity, ambiguity, and organizational change.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and talent development skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to building an inclusive, high-performing global legal organization.

We Don’t Just Build The World, We Build Innovative Technology Too.

Joining the Stanley Black & Decker team means working in an innovative, tech-driven and highly collaborative team environment supported by over 43,500 professionals in 60 countries across the globe. Here, you’ll get the unique chance to impact some of the world’s most iconic brands including STANLEY TOOLS, DEWALT, CRAFTSMAN, MAC TOOLS and Black + Decker. Your ideas and solutions have the potential to reach millions of customers as we work together to write the next chapter in our history. Come build with us and take your career to new heights.

Who We Are 

We’re the World’s largest tool company. We’re industry visionaries. We’re solving problems and advancing the manufacturing trade through innovative technology and our Industry 4.0 Initiative. We are committed to ensuring our state-of-the-art “smart factory” products and services provide greater quality to our customers & greater environmental and social value to our planet. We are unique in that we have a rich and storied history dating back to 1843, but that hasn't stopped us from evolving into a vibrant, diverse, global growth company.

Global Benefits & Perks
You’ll be rewarded with a competitive salary plus receive entitlements and benefits unique to your country of hire. 

What You’ll Also Get

Career Opportunity: Career paths aren’t linear here. Being part of our global company with 60+ brands gives you the chance to grow and develop your skills along multiple career paths.

Learning & Development: 
Our lifelong learning philosophy means you’ll have access to a wealth of state-of-the-art learning resources, including our Lean Academy and online university (where you can get certificates and specializations from renowned colleges and universities).

Diverse & Inclusive Culture:
We pride ourselves on being an awesome place to work. We respect and embrace differences because that’s how the best work gets done. You’ll find we like to have fun here, too.

Purpose-Driven Company:
You’ll help us continue to make positive changes in the local communities where we work and live as well as in the broader world through volunteerism, giving back and sustainable business practices.