Luxury bathroom and kitchen business Kohler Co. has appointed Megan Belcher as its new chief legal officer, ending its long search for a new legal head following the departure of former general counsel Natalie Maciolek last year.

Belcher joins from agricultural supply chain business Scoular, where she was CLO and external affairs head. At Kohler, Belcher will be responsible for all legal, compliance, assurance, advisory and security matters. She will report directly to chair and CEO David Kohler.

Wisconsin-based Kohler makes luxury bathroom and kitchen fittings and owns brands including Mira Showers, Kallista and Ann Sacks. It also owns luxury golf and resort destinations, including the Hamilton Grand in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Kohler said: “Megan is a proven, trusted advisor to C-suite and board executives with deep experience in cross-functional leadership of global legal and compliance teams, M&A and change management. She brings a skilful acumen in fostering inter-team collaboration including successful organisational design, culture building and mentoring.”

Belcher spent just over seven years at Scoular, initially joining as GC. She was previously a partner at Husch Blackwell, having briefly returned to private practice after nine years at consumer packaged goods business ConAgra Foods, the latter two of them as chief counsel for employment law and compliance. She also had an earlier spell at Husch Blackwell where she worked for almost six years before moving in-house.

She said: “I have deep experience working with private, family-led companies, as well as broad industry experience in the consumer goods space, and am eager to contribute to Kohler’s continued growth as an inspiring leader and role model for our associates and stakeholders.”

Maciolek, meantime, left Kohler in August last year to join Carling-maker Molson Coors Beverage Company as CLO. She had been with Kohler for a decade, having originally joined as a senior staff attorney from US national firm Quarles & Brady, where she was a partner.

Speaking at the time, Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley said: “Natalie’s breadth of experience providing trusted and strategic counsel will be a tremendous asset to Molson Coors and our legal team across the globe.”

In other recent consumer goods-related in-house moves, SPAM-owner Hormel Foods in May hired Colleen Batcheler as GC, replacing Lori Marco who left late last year. While in April, consumer healthcare giant Haleon lined up Tesco legal head Adrian Morris as its next GC following the departure of Bjarne Philip Tellmann to Saudi Aramco.