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 will provide 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.

• Provide real estate and permitting 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
• Provide 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) reviewing, 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 business teams and other functional teams and local, state and federal agencies on topics related to permitting, land use, and zoning
• Advise legal leadership and other stakeholders during operations, identifying site control obligations and timing elements related to project operations, including advising on the impact of third-party request, ownership changes, requests to release land, etc.
• Provide real estate and permitting support on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions from inception through closing, including the review of transaction documents, purchase agreements, disclosure schedules, and other ancillary contracts Develop and maintain templates and processes to streamline transaction execution and improve efficiency
• Conduct legal due diligence, identify risks and liabilities, and provide practical recommendations to mitigate those risks, including legal advice associated with land use, permitting, and real estate topics in connection with the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy projects
• Mentor junior attorneys and other legal staff in the real estate and permitting department
• 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
• Ability to work with legal support staff, collaboratively, utilizing a land management software to support the business teams in the acquisition of land rights for the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy projects
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (finance, tax, HR, compliance, operations, and business leadership) to ensure projects are…