Assistant General Counsel

RWE Clean Energy, LLC
To start as soon as possible, full time, permanent

Functional area: Legal / Compliance
Remuneration: Exempt

 

The Assistant General Counsel provides legal support to the U.S. renewable energy business team with a focus on certain areas of the United States, as determined by management. 

 

Work will be dedicated to the provision of legal advice associated with real estate topics in connection with the preparation and negotiation of a wide variety of real estate documents required for the development and construction of renewable energy projects, e.g., lease agreements, easements, purchase options, co-tenancy agreements, shared facilities agreements, and crossing agreements.

 

Work will include review of title documents, resolution of title issues, negotiation of title insurance policies, and related topics, together with the ability to work with support staff and other business partners, collaboratively, to support the Company’s real estate developers in the acquisition of land & development rights for prospective renewable energy projects.

 

Work will also include significant support and assistance in the discretionary local and state zoning processes and permitting requirements for renewable development project.

 

Position requires (a) close alignment and cooperation with the Company’s Legal Department’s teams in Austin, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois (which may include travel 5% of the time), (b) close alignment with the business partners that the Legal Department supports, and (c) demonstrated ability to apply a practical, rather than theoretical, focus to legal issues with a view to finding viable business solutions to those legal issues.

 

 

Role Responsibilities:

• Provide legal support for the North American renewable energy business team (BESS, wind & solar) in connection with the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy projects in the United States
• Work will be dedicated to the provision of legal advice associated with land use, permitting, and real estate topics in connection with the development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects.  Work will include:
  • (a) drafting and negotiating lease agreements, purchase agreements, co-tenancy agreements, shared facilities agreements, and crossing agreements;
  • (b) review of title documents, resolution of title issues, negotiation of title insurance policies;
  • (c) review of ALTA project surveys;
  • (d) working with development and other Company departments and local, state and federal agencies on topics related to permitting, land use, and zoning
• The position will require the ability to work with support staff and developers, collaboratively, utilizing a land management data base software, including interface and provide support to the Company’s developers in the acquisition of land rights for the development and construction of renewable energy projects
• Partner with legal leadership during project transition to construction, assessing risks and advising on project readiness for construction approval
• Collaborate with and delegate to paralegals, real estate specialists, and administrative staff to ensure efficient workflow and task distribution
• Support tax equity financing efforts by preparing diligence materials, managing datarooms, and contributing to transaction documents and disclosure schedules in coordination with the structured finance team
• Manage and oversee outside counsel for overflow work, ensuring cost-effective and timely legal support
• Paramount is the ability to see the big picture as to how real estate and permitting risks fit into the overall project lifecycle and risk review, thus an understanding of interconnection, energy marketing, environmental, regulatory, and procurement topics are all necessary to be successful in this role
• Position requires:
  • (a) close alignment and cooperation with the Company’s Legal Department’s teams in Austin, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois
  • (b) close alignment with the business partners that the Legal Department supports
  • (c) demonstrated ability to apply a practical rather than theoretical focus to legal issues with a view to finding viable business solutions to those legal issues

 

Job Requirements and Experiences: