At Dow, we believe in putting people first and we’re passionate about delivering integrity, respect and safety to our customers, our employees and the planet.
Our people are at the heart of our solutions. They reflect the communities we live in and the world where we do business. Their diversity is our strength. We’re a community of relentless problem solvers that offers the daily opportunity to contribute with your perspective, transform industries and shape the future. Our purpose is simple - to deliver a sustainable future for the world through science and collaboration. If you’re looking for a challenge and meaningful role, you’re in the right place.
About you and this role
Dow has an exciting opportunity for a Paralegal Specialist! This position can be located onsite in Midland, MI, Houston, TX, or Lake Jackson, TX. In this role, you will provide complex legal support across legal practice areas, excluding Litigation, as a member of the Core Legal Practices team. You will independently manage varied assignments involving multiple legal entities, stakeholders, and business considerations, applying legal knowledge, sound judgment, discretion, analytical thinking, and attention to detail.
This role offers broad exposure to meaningful legal and business matters that support timely decisions and effective risk management. You will collaborate with lawyers, paralegals, other legal professionals, and business and functional stakeholders; build capabilities across multiple subject areas; and help improve legal-service delivery through technology, standardized workflows, and continuous improvement.
You will receive work direction and substantive guidance from appropriate legal professionals while independently managing assigned matters within established responsibilities and authority.
Most assignments involve contracts, including confidentiality, distribution, formulation, rebate, repack, sales, trademark license, and other goods and services contracts. You must be proficient in contract intake and processing; comprehension and summarization; drafting, reviewing, revising, and redlining; negotiating within authorized parameters; preparing amendments; and applying defined terms. You will also support governance, risk, and compliance matters and legal services related to employees, former employees, and retirees.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage assignments with initiative, accuracy, discretion, and sound judgment under limited supervision.
- Understand the scope and boundaries of the role and recognize when guidance, coordination, or escalation to counsel or another appropriate resource is required.
- Review incoming requests for completeness, ambiguity, process requirements, and potential legal or business risk; obtain missing information and route matters in accordance with established procedures.
- Identify potential legal, financial, operational, or reputational risks and involve counsel or leaders in significant strategic or tactical decisions, as appropriate.
- Meet committed turnaround times and contribute to team, department, and company service and performance measures.
- Communicate clearly, promptly, and professionally with internal and external stakeholders, adapting the approach to the audience and circumstances.
- Interact with external agencies, partners, and counsel within established parameters and with appropriate oversight.
- Contribute as a team member on departmental and cross-functional projects.
Contract and Operational Responsibilities
- Within authorized parameters and established guidance, review, draft, revise, and negotiate contract terms and conditions; identify issues and escalate matters requiring legal advice or additional approval.
- Prepare and process contract extensions, amendments, and terminations; explain contract provisions and coordinate input and approvals from relevant stakeholders.
- Maintain accurate and complete contract records and systems and assist in resolving contract-related process or documentation issues.
- Maintain working knowledge of applicable company policies, guidelines, internal controls, authorization requirements, delegation-of-authority standards, contract approval and signature requirements, and third-party due diligence processes.
- Use legal, company, and vendor systems effectively, including approved artificial intelligence and automation tools; identify opportunities to improve efficiency through technology, data, standardized workflows, and process simplification; and provide input, analysis, and testing support for technology or process changes.
- Help coordinate communication between legal practice areas, business stakeholders, and the immediate team to support consistent and effective service delivery.
- Partner with team members to balance workload, provide backup support, share accountability, and promote continuity and business resilience.
- Participate in knowledge transfer, cross-training, and continuous improvement activities; share best practices and apply experience and institutional knowledge to improve team capability and work processes.
- Contribute to a professional, collaborative, and inclusive work environment that values diverse perspectives, candid communication, learning, and shared success.
Required Qualifications
- A minimum of a bachelor’s degree or relevant military experience at or above a U.S. E5 or Canadian Petty Officer 2nd Class or Sergeant ranking AND a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience; OR A minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience.
- Demonstrated substantive contract experience, including reviewing and interpreting contract language and performing several of the following activities: drafting, revising, redlining, summarizing, negotiating within authorized parameters, preparing amendments, and applying defined terms.
- Experience managing contract intake and processing and identifying issues that require guidance, escalation, or additional approval.
- A minimum requirement for this U.S. based position is the ability to work legally in the United States. No visa sponsorship/support is available for this position, including for any type of U.S. permanent residency (green card) process.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting commercial contracts in a corporate legal department or comparable environment.
- Experience using contract management, legal intake, workflow, and similar systems.
- Familiarity with corporate policies, internal controls, delegated authority, contract approval and signature requirements, and third-party due diligence.
- Experience using automation, artificial intelligence, data, or standardized workflows to improve legal-service delivery.
Skills
- Genuine interest in reading, analyzing, and working closely with detailed written material, combined with strong reading comprehension and the ability to work accurately with complex contract language.
- Strong written and verbal communication, interpersonal, collaboration, and negotiation skills, including the ability to adapt communication for different audiences and work effectively with employees at all organizational levels, customers, and third parties.
- Strong analytical, critical-thinking, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail and the ability to identify errors, inconsistencies, dependencies, and potential risks.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic, complex, client- and team-focused environment with limited supervision.
- Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning, process improvement, teamwork, and effective use of technology.
Additional Notes
Relocation assistance is not available for this position.
Benefits – What Dow offers you
We invest in you.
Dow invests in total rewards programs to help you manage all aspects of you: your pay, your health, your life, your future, and your career. You bring your background, talent, and perspective to work every day. Dow rewards that commitment by investing in your total wellbeing.
Here are just a few highlights of what you would be offered as a Dow employee:
- Equitable and market-competitive base pay and bonus opportunity across our global markets, along with locally relevant incentives.
- Benefits and programs to support your physical, mental, financial, and social well-being, to help you get the care you need...when you need it.
- Competitive retirement program that may include company-provided benefits, savings opportunities, financial planning, and educational resources to help you achieve your long term financial-goals.
- Employee stock purchase programs (availability varies depending on location).
- Student Debt Retirement Savings Match Program (U.S. only).
- Dow will take the value of monthly student debt payments and apply them as if they are contributions to the Employees’ Savings Plan (401(k)), helping employees reach the Company match.
- Robust medical and life insurance packages that offer a variety of coverage options to meet your individual needs. Travel insurance is also available in certain countries/locations.
- Opportunities to learn and grow through training and mentoring, work experiences, community involvement and team building.
- Workplace culture empowering role-based flexibility to maximize personal productivity and balance personal needs.
- Competitive yearly vacation allowance.
- Paid time off for new parents (birthing and non-birthing, including adoptive and foster parents).
- Paid time off to care for family members who are sick or injured.
- Paid time off to support volunteering and Employee Resource Group’s (ERG) participation.
- Wellbeing Portal for all Dow employees, our one-stop shop to promote wellbeing, empowering employees to take ownership of their entire wellbeing journey.
- On-site fitness facilities to help stay healthy and active (availability varies depending on location).
- Employee discounts for online shopping, cinema tickets, gym memberships and more.
- Additionally, some of our locations might offer:
- Transportation allowance (availability varies depending on location)
- Meal subsidiaries/vouchers (availability varies depending on location)
- Carbon-neutral transportation incentives e.g. bike to work (availability varies depending on location)
Join our team, we can make a difference together.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Our global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enable us to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. We operate manufacturing sites in 30 countries and employ approximately 36,000 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $43 billion in 2024. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. Learn more about us and our ambition to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world by visiting www.dow.com.
As part of our dedication to inclusion, Dow is committed to equal opportunities in employment. We encourage every employee to bring their whole self to work each day to not only deliver more value, but also have a more fulfilling career. Further information regarding Dow's equal opportunities is available on www.dow.com.
Dow is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is committed to providing opportunities without regard for race, color, religion, sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity, national origin, age, disability and genetic information, including family medical history. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may call us at 1-833-My Dow HR (833-693-6947) and select option 8.