Director of Legal Affairs

Endurance Energy•Seattle, WA

3d•$290,000 - $325,000•Onsite

About The Position

Endurance is developing modular subsea geothermal power plants to generate baseload power from ocean thermal resources. The company is backed by Founders Fund, Felicis, First Round Capital, and Point72 Ventures, and its founding team includes professionals from SpaceX, Helion, Blue Origin, and Apple. Endurance has completed multiple deep-ocean deployments and is launching a long-term demonstration project. The Director of Legal Affairs will be Endurance’s first in-house lawyer, reporting to the COO and working with the executive team. The role will bring legal work in-house, handle much of it directly, and determine when specialist outside counsel is needed. The position spans commercial agreements, procurement, corporate governance, financings, offshore leasing, international projects, compliance, employment, intellectual property, real estate, and insurance. The role is expected to help the company move efficiently while managing legal risk and outside-counsel costs. This is an onsite role at the Seattle headquarters, with occasional travel to project sites and counterparties.

Requirements

Active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state and eligibility to register as in-house counsel in Washington.
At least 8 years of directly applicable experience.
Extensive experience drafting and directly negotiating complex commercial agreements.
Experience in energy, infrastructure, industrial, or hardware businesses.
Proven ability to manage outside counsel to a budget, including scoping matters and negotiating fees.
Generalist capability across commercial, corporate, employment, and compliance work.
Clear communication that engineers and executives can act on.
High-ownership mindset and comfort working without support staff such as a paralegal.
Track record of working effectively in fast-paced environments where business needs change quickly.
Ability to work onsite at the Seattle headquarters and travel occasionally to project sites and counterparties.

Nice To Haves

Experience with power purchase agreements, offtake, or project development, particularly in offshore wind, geothermal, or other first-of-a-kind energy.
Project-finance experience for energy or major industrial projects.
Experience in both a law firm and an operating company as its first or second in-house lawyer.
International commercial experience, especially in Asia-Pacific or with development finance institutions.
Experience establishing export-control (EAR/ITAR), sanctions, or FCPA compliance programs.
Venture-backed corporate experience, including equity financings, venture debt, board governance, and equity administration.
Experience with maritime and offshore agreements, such as vessel charters, equipment purchases, and marine insurance.
Federal offshore leasing (BOEM) or government-contracting experience.
Experience building contract-management systems and self-service templates for a growing team.

Responsibilities

Draft, negotiate, and manage commercial agreements, including NDAs, MOUs, LOIs, term sheets, and power purchase and offtake agreements.
Ensure non-binding documents remain non-binding and agreements do not commit the company to terms it cannot deliver.
Own supply-chain and procurement contracts, including supply agreements, statements of work, major equipment purchases, and standard purchase terms.
Develop contract templates, negotiation playbooks, signature-authority rules, and a single system of record for company agreements.
Manage outside counsel across corporate, energy, regulatory, tax, intellectual property, and trade matters; scope work, set budgets and fee structures, and consolidate firms where appropriate.
Support equity and debt financings with corporate counsel, including data-room and diligence responses, board consents, and equity grants.
Manage corporate governance and entity administration for the parent company and project companies in the United States and abroad.
Work with External Affairs and outside counsel on federal offshore leasing, project-company formation, and international project agreements.
Establish compliance programs for export controls (EAR/ITAR), sanctions screening, and anti-corruption (FCPA).
Advise the People team on employment matters, including offer letters, contractor and consulting agreements, handbooks and policies, separations, and multistate and international hiring.
Manage the intellectual-property portfolio with outside counsel, including trademarks, patent strategy, and IP provisions in commercial and supply agreements.
Review real-estate leases, insurance programs, and vendor agreements as the company grows its facilities.
Train employees on signing authority, when to involve Legal, and how to identify issues early.

Benefits

Competitive base salary and generous equity packages for full-time employees.
Equity grants for every full-time employee as a meaningful ownership stake.
Health insurance coverage.
Dental insurance coverage.
Vision insurance coverage.
Flexible PTO.
12 paid company holidays.
Travel to deployment sites in locations including the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and the Azores.
Opportunity to participate in sea trials and deployment operations with oceanographic institutions.
Company-sponsored recreational dive certification.
Access to the company boat.
Free meals and snacks.