Sr. Director - REPL

RWE Americas, LLC
To start as soon as possible, full time, permanent

Functional area: Legal / Compliance
Remuneration: Exempt

 

The Senior Director, Real Estate & Permitting Law (REPL), serves as a senior legal leader responsible for leading a REPL sub-function or portfolio across development, construction, and/or operational assets within RWE Clean Energy’s U.S. business.
Reporting to the Vice President of REPL or the General Counsel, the Senior Director partners with enterprise stakeholders to design and deploy legal frameworks, governance structures, and risk-management strategies that enable predictable project delivery across multiple business units within their area of responsibility.

 

This role manages a team of regional real estate attorneys and para-professionals as a player-coach.  The Senior Director anticipates and resolves complex risks that span projects, technologies, and development portfolios, and ensures alignment of legal processes, decision standards, and risk tolerance across cross-functional teams. 

 

The role sits at the core of cross-functional leadership forums and partners closely with Development, Government Affairs, Compliance, Structured Finance, and Legal leadership to align REPL legal strategy with enterprise growth objectives.

 

Role Responsibilities:

• Management Responsibilities
  • Sub-Function Leadership: Lead legal support for a designated REPL portfolio or functional area across development, construction, and/or operating projects
  • Risk Management Frameworks: Design and implement risk-identification and mitigation frameworks addressing land and permitting risks impacting multiple projects or business units
  • Governance & Policy: Oversee legal program design, governance models, and policy development within assigned REPL scope; coordinate implementation with REPL Operations
  • Enterprise Alignment: Champion alignment across Business Units and Legal sub-functions regarding legal risk tolerance, escalation pathways, and decision-making standards; Implement and maintain standardized documentation and risk thresholds
  • Strategic Partnership: Partner with the VP of REPL and the General Counsel in strategic planning and OKR development related to development pipeline execution and permitting strategy
  • Cross-Functional Integration: Collaborate with Development, Environmental, Regulatory, Tax, and Finance teams to integrate legal considerations into project planning and structured finance initiatives
  • Portfolio Oversight: Own legal support for one or more development portfolios, ensuring scalable, business-aligned delivery of REPL legal services
  • External Counsel Management: Oversee engagement of outside counsel for major transactions, litigation, or precedent-setting permitting matters
  • Enterprise Initiatives: Represent REPL Legal in enterprise-wide initiatives, including structured finance transactions, permitting innovation programs, and portfolio-level governance reviews
  • Talent Development:
    • Manage and develop a team of attorneys and/or legal professionals
    • Conduct regular performance reviews, provide coaching, and support career development for team members
  • Organizational Capability:
    • Build leadership bench strength and foster collaboration across Legal and Land Administration (LAT)
  • Continuous Improvement/Efficiencies:
    • Align legal processes and tools across projects or regions to improve efficiency, transparency, and delivery predictability
    • Establish consistent legal standards, workflows, and best practices across regions while allowing flexibility for local market nuances; Allocate resources and balance workloads across regions to support development timelines and priorities.
  • Meetings:  Organize and lead recurring monthly meetings to discuss hot topics, emerging risks, lessons learned, and best practices across regions to ensure alignment and continuous improvement
• Project Management and Oversight:  
  • Proactively manage a portfolio of large scale energy projects
  • Resolve real estate and permitting cha