Head of Legal & Compliance – North America

Zenobē • Chicago, IL

11d • $280,000 - $300,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

This is a senior, legal leadership role supporting Zenobē's North American business across EV fleet electrification and battery storage. The North American business operates as a high-growth business within a global organization, requiring a legal leader who is comfortable working in an environment where processes, priorities and business models continue to evolve. This is fundamentally a hands-on legal role. While the successful candidate will manage outside counsel and help shape legal processes, they will also be expected to personally draft, negotiate and deliver a substantial volume of legal work. The position is best suited to someone who enjoys being close to the work, can move seamlessly between strategy and execution, and takes pride in producing high-quality work product under demanding timelines. The role reports to the General Counsel in London and works closely with the global legal team, while serving as a senior legal partner to the North American leadership and commercial teams. This is a high-responsibility role in a lean, growing business with a significant pipeline of transactions, projects and commercial opportunities. The successful candidate must be comfortable making decisions and providing advice in a fast-moving environment where information may be incomplete and priorities can change quickly. Success requires thoughtful prioritization, effective use of outside counsel, leveraging the internal legal team and clear communication regarding trade-offs, timing and resource constraints. Legal, regulatory and compliance issues will not always be clearly identified by the business, requiring proactive issue spotting and intellectual curiosity. While the role offers substantial autonomy and influence, it also carries meaningful accountability for helping the business scale responsibly.

Requirements

• Attorney admitted and in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, with approximately 10+ years of relevant legal experience.
• Demonstrated experience as a broad commercial or transactional generalist, with the judgment and adaptability to cover unfamiliar issues and engage specialist counsel when needed.
• Significant experience negotiating complex commercial contracts and advising senior business stakeholders.
• Significant experience with public procurement and/or government contracting.
• Experience with federal, state or utility grants, incentives or other public funding and the compliance obligations that accompany that funding.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to translate legal and compliance issues into clear business decisions.
• A low-ego, collaborative working style paired with the confidence to exercise independent judgment and respectfully hold a different view.

Nice To Haves

• 5+ years with a sophisticated international law firm paired with meaningful in-house experience.
• M&A, corporate transaction and/or strategic investment experience.
• Asset finance, project finance, or structured finance experience.
• Construction, infrastructure, EPC/design-build or major project contracting experience.
• Energy, infrastructure, clean technology or other regulated-industry experience is helpful but not required if the candidate demonstrates strong learning agility.
• Located in Chicago or New York.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior legal lead for the North American business, providing practical, risk-based advice across a broad and changing portfolio of matters.
• Partner closely with business leaders while maintaining independent legal judgment; respectfully challenge proposals, assumptions or risk positions where appropriate and provide clear recommendations and escalation paths.
• Support public-sector opportunities, including federal, state and local public procurement, RFPs and unsolicited proposals, and advise on procurement requirements, contracting constraints and associated compliance obligations.
• Advise on federal, state, local and utility grants, incentives and other public funding programs, including eligibility, award requirements, flow-downs, recordkeeping, audit readiness and ongoing compliance.
• Lead or support M&A, strategic investments, joint ventures and other corporate transactions, coordinating internal stakeholders and external counsel as appropriate.
• Advise on asset finance, project finance and other financing arrangements, including structuring, diligence, negotiation and execution of financing-related documentation.
• Support construction, infrastructure development and project delivery matters, including EPC/design-build, equipment supply, installation, O&M and related commercial arrangements.
• Personally draft, negotiate and execute a wide range of complex commercial agreements, often on demanding timelines and with limited precedent, while maintaining a high standard of legal analysis, drafting quality and commercial practicality.
• Advise on corporate governance, regulatory, compliance, data/privacy and other legal issues affecting the North American business.
• Help create scalable legal and compliance processes for a growing business, recognizing that not every issue will have an existing playbook, template or established internal owner.
• Manage and prioritize outside counsel strategically, using external expertise where it adds value while retaining ownership of the business-facing advice.
• Operate comfortably across multiple workstreams and business functions, shifting between strategic and tactical work as business needs require.
• Actively contribute to Zenobe's commitment to health and safety, wellbeing and sustainability by; integrating these principles into daily responsibilities, ensuring a safe and supportive work environment, promoting both the physical and mental health of self and colleagues, and adopting sustainable and energy-efficient practices to minimize environmental impact.

Benefits

• 20 days holiday which increases after 5 years’ service
• 401k Scheme – Up to 4% matching
• Excellent opportunities for personal growth and responsibility plus a training budget
• Up to 33% performance related bonus
• Health, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance (We offer 3 Robust medical plans including one that’s 100% employer-paid coverage for employees and 75% paid for the dependents/spouse)
• Refer a friend bonus scheme
• Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits
• Flex commuter programme
• Fertility leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed