Assistant General Counsel- Construction Claims & Project Execution

Tallgrass•Houston, TX

19d

About The Position

The Assistant General Counsel–Construction Claims & Project Execution will serve as the Owner’s lead legal resource for managing contractor claims, change orders, and disputes arising from major construction projects. The role works closely with Project Management, Project Controls, Engineering, Procurement, Commercial, Finance, and outside counsel. The successful candidate combines sophisticated construction-law experience with a practical understanding of major construction agreements, including EPC project execution and major equipment supply agreements, and protects the Owner’s contractual and commercial position from initial claim identification through negotiation and final resolution. The position requires an attorney who can operate autonomously at the intersection of law, project execution, project controls, and commercial strategy, and who addresses claims proactively. The Assistant General Counsel leads legal evaluation and management of contractor and vendor claims, assesses contractual entitlement and claimed costs, and works with project controls and scheduling experts to assess schedule impacts. The role also develops affirmative Owner claims, negotiates and documents resolutions, manages outside counsel and technical experts, advises senior and executive leadership, and trains project personnel on claims avoidance and preservation of the Owner’s rights. Material commitments and risks must be advanced through appropriate Company approval and governance channels, including Delegation of Authority requirements.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school.
Active membership in at least one U.S. state bar and a license to practice law in at least one U.S. state.
At least 10 years of construction/EPC legal experience.
Significant experience representing owners, developers, utilities, or project sponsors in contractor claims and disputes.
Demonstrated experience with EPC change orders, delay and disruption claims, schedule analysis, requests for equitable adjustment, and construction damages.
Working knowledge of CPM scheduling, project controls, cost reporting, and construction claims methodology.
Experience negotiating with major EPC contractors and managing construction counsel, scheduling experts, and damages consultants.
A valid driver’s license and a driving record satisfactory to the company and its insurers for travel.
Strong legal judgment, risk assessment, analytical skills, and claims and litigation strategy.
Ability to balance legal risk with operational and business realities.
High integrity and discretion, with clear, concise, practical communication and executive presence.
Ability to collaborate across functions, manage projects and matters, and handle multiple urgent, confidential, and high-risk matters simultaneously.

Nice To Haves

Experience with major power, energy, infrastructure, industrial, or similar capital projects.
Experience with large lump-sum or lump-sum-turnkey EPC projects.
In-house experience managing construction claims.
Experience in an operations-heavy, project-based, industrial, construction, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, or similar business environment.
Background in litigation, safety, environmental issues, contractor disputes, or project claims.
Experience with union contractors and federal Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship requirements.
Prior law firm experience in litigation, employment, regulatory, compliance, investigations, or construction disputes.
Experience reporting to or supporting senior leadership, project lenders, insurers, compliance committees, audit committees, special committees, or boards.
Experience managing outside counsel budgets, legal spend, matter reporting, and litigation reserves.

Responsibilities

Lead legal evaluation and management of contractor and vendor claims, change orders, requests for equitable adjustment, and disputes involving EPC, construction, and large equipment contracts.
Assess contractual entitlement, notice compliance, causation, critical-path impact, compensability, concurrency, mitigation, and quantum.
Evaluate delay, disruption, acceleration, productivity, differing-site-condition, force majeure, escalation, and scope-change claims.
Work with Project Controls and scheduling experts to evaluate CPM schedules, critical-path impacts, schedule logic, float, concurrent delay, and extension-of-time requests.
Review claimed labor, equipment, subcontractor, extended general conditions, productivity loss, acceleration, escalation, overhead, and contractual markup costs.
Determine whether work is base scope, changed work, contractor means and methods, correction of defective work, contractor-caused impact, or a compensable Owner-directed change.
Ensure compliance with contractual notice, change-management, documentation, approval, and time-bar requirements.
Draft and negotiate change orders, amendments, releases, waivers, settlements, and reservation-of-rights communications.
Develop strategies to identify and address potential claims before they become significant disputes.
Help ensure project communications, directives, payments, and field decisions do not inadvertently create constructive changes, waive contractual requirements, or establish unintended entitlement.
Develop affirmative Owner claims, including liquidated damages, back charges, defective-work and warranty claims, performance-guarantee claims, indemnification rights, and recovery of increased Owner costs.
Lead or support negotiations with EPC contractors, claims consultants, and counsel, and manage outside construction counsel and technical experts as appropriate.
Provide senior management with concise assessments of material claims, including amount claimed, Owner exposure, contractual position, factual strengths and weaknesses, schedule implications, settlement strategy, and recommended action.
Train and advise project personnel on claims avoidance, contemporaneous documentation, privilege, contractual notices, and preservation of Owner rights.
Ensure material claims, change orders, settlements, waivers, and other contractual or commercial commitments are evaluated and advanced through appropriate Company approval and governance channels, including applicable Delegation of Authority requirements and executive-level approvals where required.
Identify and timely escalate material legal, commercial, financial, schedule, execution, and precedent risks to executive leadership, with decision-oriented advice on exposure, alternatives, contractual leverage, and mitigation.
Advise executive leadership on significant contractor claims and proposed resolutions in light of the Company’s risk profile, risk tolerance, project objectives, and commercial strategy.
Coordinate with Project, Commercial, Finance, and other stakeholders to ensure proposed resolutions are documented, supported by the project record, and approved at the appropriate organizational level before commitments are made.
Ensure significant departures from contractual rights, established project positions, or approved commercial parameters are identified, escalated, and authorized under Company Delegation of Authority and governance requirements.