In-House Counsel

Zanskar • Salt Lake City, UT

63d • $170,000 - $250,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Zanskar is seeking an In-House Counsel to be a trusted legal partner to the Co-founders and leadership team, translating legal and regulatory risk into practical decisions. As the first in-house legal leader, this role will manage day-to-day legal work across corporate governance, financing, project development, commercial contracting, public policy, employment, intellectual property, compliance, and real property. The position aims to make projects financeable, strengthen decision-making and risk management, and establish a scalable legal function. The role is expected to grow with the company.

Requirements

• Attorney in good standing and eligible for admission or registration in Utah.
• Meaningful experience in an in-house role or as outside counsel with direct accountability to business clients.
• Experience at a high-growth company, energy or infrastructure business, independent power producer, project developer, or similarly complex organization.
• Strong judgment to distinguish real risk from noise.
• Ability to provide clear, practical advice, including when the answer is 'no', and knowing when to escalate.
• Thoughtful use of legal technology, data, and automation to improve speed, consistency, and insight without compromising confidentiality, privilege, or professional judgment.
• Comfort starting from scratch or building on existing processes.
• Ability to move between higher-level advice and detailed execution.
• Creation of fit-for-stage structures and controls.
• Energy and enthusiasm for Zanskar's mission and a high-volume, first-of-kind environment.
• Sound judgment, curiosity, and resilience.
• Commercial instinct to translate legal risk into clear options and help teams reach durable decisions.
• Knowledge of when to move quickly, when to escalate, and when an unambiguous 'no' is needed.

Nice To Haves

• Exposure to project finance, bankability, or energy development.
• Strong generalist skills with readiness to grow into the energy development space.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a responsive, practical legal resource to the Co-founders and leadership team on day-to-day decisions.
• Flag enterprise-level risk and coordinate with outside counsel or the leadership team on high-stakes matters.
• Support the structuring and negotiation of project development, construction, financing, tax, offtake, interconnection, and other critical agreements to meet lender and investor diligence standards.
• Manage legal aspects of project development, including mineral and surface rights, site control, land use, permitting, environmental review (NEPA and CEQA), and federal, state, and local regulatory matters.
• Anticipate issues and help development teams maintain momentum.
• Design and build a forward-thinking legal department, leveraging AI and automation for high-volume workflows to maintain a lean and high-leverage internal team.
• Manage outside counsel strategy, selection, scope, budgets, performance, and knowledge transfer.
• Ensure work is matched to the appropriate provider, hold firms accountable for commercial advice and cost, and bring repeatable work in-house when it creates leverage.

Benefits

• Direct access to the Co-founders and leadership team.
• Influence over the shaping and growth of the legal function.
• Clear growth path as the company and its legal needs scale.
• Equity upside in an early-stage company in a large market.
• Opportunity to shape the legal function's processes, systems, external partnerships, and team.
• Work that matters in the clean energy sector.
• A team that takes the mission seriously without taking itself too seriously.
• $170,000–$250,000 base salary + equity.
• Relocation support.

What This Job Offers

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