Commercial Counsel - Supply Chain Sourcing

Nextpower•Fremont, CA

19h•$175,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Nextpower is seeking a Commercial Counsel to join their Legal Team in Fremont, CA. This hybrid role, requiring 4 days per week in the office, focuses on driving supplier-side contract review, negotiating contracts with suppliers, managing claims, and ensuring alignment between customer commitments and direct material supplier agreements. The ideal candidate will possess strong commercial contracting experience, sound legal judgment, and the ability to balance legal risk with business priorities. Experience can be a mix of law firm and in-house roles. While direct experience in renewable energy, manufacturing, hardware, technology, or supply chain contracting is preferred, attorneys with strong experience in other industries are encouraged to apply.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school.
6+ years of relevant legal experience, which may include a combination of law firm and in-house experience.
Strong experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial contracts.
Experience with supply chain, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, hardware, technology, energy, infrastructure, or other operationally complex commercial agreements.
Ability to identify and clearly communicate legal, commercial, and operational risks to business stakeholders.
Strong business judgment and ability to provide practical, solution-oriented legal advice in a fast-paced environment.
Self motivated, organized, and comfortable operating within a global environment, coordinating with colleagues and stakeholders across time zones.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting direct material sourcing, supplier contracts, manufacturing, renewable energy, solar, battery storage, hardware, semiconductor, automotive, aerospace, or industrial supply chains.
Prior in-house experience supporting procurement, sourcing, operations, or supply chain teams.
Experience at a top-tier law firm or strong commercial transactions practice.
Experience negotiating global supply agreements, purchase terms, quality agreements, logistics terms, Incoterms, warranty provisions, liquidated damages, and supplier dispute provisions. Familiarity with contract management systems, contract lifecycle processes, templates, playbooks, and approval workflows.
Experience advising on compliance issues affecting global supply chains.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Global Sourcing team to draft, review, and negotiate direct material supplier contracts globally (e.g. NDAs, supply agreements, purchase order terms, amendments, and change orders), structuring transactions, ensuring compliance with regulation and company guidelines—especially in areas impacting Operations such as delivery schedules, change control, quality requirements, packaging/logistics, Incoterms, title/risk of loss, warranties, and liquidated damages.
Manage disputes and claims—including drafting notices for late delivery, shortages, nonconformances, serial defects, field failures, and any related pass through costs. Support disputes, claims, and contract interpretation issues arising from supplier or operational relationships.
Coordinate with the Contract Management team – assist in managing contract lifecycle processes, approvals and documentation standards, and work with Contract Managers to minimize gaps between Nextpower’s customer facing contracts and supplier facing contracts.
Work cross functionally with Sourcing, Operations, Quality, Logistics, Project Management, and Legal to align supplier terms with project needs and obtain approvals for non standard terms. Identify legal, commercial, and operational risks in contracts and recommend balanced solutions aligned with company policies and business priorities.
Contribute to continuous improvement – Develop and maintain contract templates, fallback positions, clause libraries, playbooks and guidance notes for supply chain agreements; share best practices and provide training to Sourcing teams.
General advisory and legal guidance to Executive/Leadership and functional leads on legal and regulatory issues affecting global supply chain contracts.