Senior Counsel, Commercial & Joint Ventures
HybridHouston, Texas, United States
Job Summary
Draft and negotiate joint venture agreements, LLC operating agreements, and lease terms with partners, translating commercial deal points into structures compatible with financing and offtake contracts. Lead a two-person legal team, managing a Corporate Counsel and Contract Specialist while first-chairing complex negotiations and delegating routine diligence work. Negotiate liability, indemnity, and environmental risk provisions, maintaining waste-stream-specific contract standards and managing outside counsel on specialist matters. Support diligence for financings and equity raises, building template libraries to increase deal velocity. Reports to VP of Finance in Houston, TX, with periodic travel to partner meetings and operating sites.
Required Qualifications
- J.D. from an accredited law school
- Licensed and in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction
- Texas admission or ability to register as in-house counsel
- 8–12 years of transactional experience in energy, infrastructure, environmental/waste, or project development
- Experience at a major law firm, in-house at a sponsor/developer, or both
- Demonstrated first-chair experience drafting and negotiating JV agreements or comparable complex commercial arrangements without outside counsel support
- Fluency in commercial risk allocation: indemnities, limitations of liability, insurance requirements, force majeure, default and termination mechanics
- Comfort negotiating against large, sophisticated counterparties and their Big Law counsel
- Experience managing and reviewing the work of junior attorneys and/or paralegals
- Judgment to delegate effectively
- Willingness to remain hands-on in documents
- Ability to operate independently in a lean, fast-moving company
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with waste management, environmental services, or adjacent industries
- Familiarity with environmental liability frameworks (RCRA, CERCLA, state waste regulation) and how they drive contract terms
- Exposure to project finance structures (SPVs, lender consent rights, collateral assignment of material contracts)
- Experience at a venture-backed or growth-stage company
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