Associate Legal Counsel

Welcome to the future of energy
We are both an electricity retailer and a tech platform and we think there is no better way to address our greatest challenge, climate change, than with the combination of those two.
Through our proprietary tech platform, Kraken, we are changing the way people interact with their energy company - by making it approachable, low cost, easy-to-understand, and most importantly, 100% renewable.  We’ve distinguished ourselves by being named 2020’s Energy Provider of the Year, which highlights our commitment to exceptional customer service. In many markets we are a leading employer on Glassdoor for best places to work.
We have an opportunity for an attorney to join our team in Houston. The attorney will provide local counsel around corporate initiates. This role will work in partnership with our legal team in the UK as well as our business leaders in the US. The role offers a challenging and exciting opportunity to work on a wide range of legal matters, from employment matters, marketing initiatives, new energy product compliance, vendor agreements – and everything else in-between. No two days are the same at Octopus Energy. Legal Counsel will be required to report to the Houston downtown office during the week with some work from home days allowed as necessary. 

What you'll do

• You’ll lead the review, drafting and negotiation of various types of contracts and documentation to support our business. 
• You’ll support our affiliate entitles and handle relationship with outside counsel.
• It’s hard to write a definitive list because as Octopus Energy evolves, so does the type of work we support. We’re looking for someone who is smart, versatile, and up for the challenge of working on a wide variety of different transactions. Some examples of the types of documents we often work with include:


• vendor agreements, 
• partnership and energy sales agreements, 
• licensing arrangements, 
• financing documents,
• energy supply contracts,
• manage the employee handbook,
• contracts to support our electric vehicles business, 
• goods and services, innovative trials, and collaboration agreements, 
• support with our energy supply license obligations, 
• all the usual day-to-day advice and queries that an in-house legal team can expect to support on, such as data protection, marketing terms and conditions, employment advice and intellectual property matters.


• We try and do as much work as we can in-house – it’s more fun that way. But for some of our larger transactions (such as acquisitions and investments) we use our panel of external law firms. The Legal team will always be closely involved in these transactions and you would help us to select, liaise with and manage our external counsel, building our relationships to ensure successful delivery & cost effectiveness. 
• You’ll help monitor, manage, and mitigate legal risks associated with all areas of the Octopus Energy business. You’ll need to make sure that you stay on top of changing relevant legislation to support the business operating in a compliant way. 
• You’ll provide counsel to business leaders so we can quickly understand legal risks and trade offs as we grow quickly and support customers to the best of our ability.  You’ll need to interact well with staff at PUCs across the country.
• We have a very flat, open structure at Octopus Energy. You’ll be reporting to our US CEO and will work closely with various members of the US team across all levels. You’ll be expected to be independent and run with your own projects with relatively light supervision.

What you'll need

• You don’t have to be an energy lawyer - we are primarily a technology company in the energy industry, so we cover lots of different areas beyond just energy! Some experience of having worked in-house, or even experience in a business role would be a real benefit so that you’re familiar with the variety and fast paced nature of an in-house role at a rapidly expanding global business like Octopus Energy. Experience drafting contracts is preferred. 
• To be a fully qualified US lawyer. We expect that you’ll have at least 2-3 years of experience and be capable of managing your own workload
• Be comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with direct exposure to senior management and stakeholders
• Be excellent at prioritization and working proactively and efficiently. Happy to multi-task and manage a variety of transactions at any given time
• A friendly approach with great organizational skills and attention to detail
• A desire to be part of a tight and ambitious team, willing to work hard and ‘muck in’ to help out other members of the team
• Comfortable asking the “stupid question” or challenging the status quo
• To think outside the box and come up w