Associate General Counsel Real Estate and Development
As the Associate General Counsel for Real Estate and Development, you will serve as the lead lawyer for real estate development, construction, financing and operations related to data center portfolio. You will own assigned powered-land development sites from early-stage selection through commercialization and delivery of a fully operational data center. You will partner daily with development, operations, asset management and strategic finance teams to drive legal strategy across all development phases with a balanced focus on speed, risk management, and execution certainty. You will lead high-stakes negotiations for site acquisition, complex construction and development agreements, data center leasing agreements, joint venture agreements and sophisticated financing.
Responsibilities
- Drive legal strategy and maintain ownership of legal matters across all data center development phases, serving as the central legal point for the deal team.
- Work closely with internal stakeholders, including development, operations, asset management and strategic finance teams, to align legal strategies with the company’s business goals and project timelines.
- Draft, review, and negotiate complex real estate agreements, including purchase and sale agreements, leases, joint venture agreements, loan documents, construction contracts, purchase options, easements, and access agreements.
- Supervise site diligence workstreams across title, survey, environmental, geotech, and zoning, coordinating directly with the development team and internal/external legal team members.
- Lead and support all legal matters related to project financing and debt raises.
- Provide legal counsel across all phases of data center construction, including design, execution, construction, construction management and commissioning.
- Draft, review, and negotiate complex construction contracts including design build agreements and guaranteed maximum price contracts.
- Manage legal matters related to construction claims, liens, delays, defects, and site safety compliance.
- Direct outside counsel and manage project legal budgets
- Invest in training, mentoring, and scaling of the legal counsel and paralegal support resources.
Requirements
- Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. State and a member in good standing of one U.S. Bar.
- Minimum of 10 years of legal experience, with a significant portion in commercial real estate development, construction, and/or data center industries. In-house experience strongly preferred.
- Expertise in complex commercial real estate development transactions including joint ventures, sophisticated project finance transactions, leasing and construction.
- Excellent negotiation, drafting, and communication (written and verbal) skills.
- Familiarity with data center specific legal issues, including triple net data center leases, colocation agreements and SLAs, is highly desirable.
- Strategic thinker with a practical, business-oriented approach to legal issues.
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Life insurance
- Short-term disability insurance
- Long-term disability insurance
- Paid time off