VP Legal Transmission

American Electric Power•Austin, TX

3d•$221,489 - $287,935

About The Position

The Vice President Legal, Transmission serves as the principal legal advisor to the President of Transmission and the Transmission leadership team, reporting directly to the President. The role provides strategic, practical, and business-focused legal counsel for Transmission operations, investments, growth initiatives, and business objectives. The Vice President leads legal strategy for commercial transactions, procurement and contracting, real estate matters, and other significant legal and business issues. The position partners with executive leadership to structure and negotiate complex transactions, assess business opportunities, manage legal and commercial risk, and support informed decision-making. The role leads a small, specialized legal team expected to include two direct reports focused primarily on real estate, easements, rights-of-way, and procurement contracting. It also works with the broader legal organization and manages outside counsel as needed to provide efficient, high-quality legal support aligned with enterprise legal standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Juris Doctor or equivalent law degree from an accredited law school.
Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
Ability to obtain any additional licenses or authorizations required for the role.
Minimum of 14 years of legal experience in private practice, corporate, government, or regulatory environments.
Significant experience advising senior leaders on complex commercial, transactional, and business matters.
Strong background negotiating commercial agreements and supporting strategic transactions.
Experience supporting procurement, construction, infrastructure, real estate, energy, or other capital-intensive operations.
Proven leadership experience managing legal professionals and outside counsel.
Ability to assess and communicate legal risk to support sound business decisions.
Experience working effectively across legal, operational, financial, and commercial functions.
Strategic legal and business judgment.
Ability to assess complex issues and deliver practical business solutions.
Executive presence with strong communication and influencing skills.
Proven leadership and team development capabilities.
Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, outside counsel, and legal resources.
Commitment to ethics, governance, compliance, and safety.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting utilities, energy, infrastructure, or other capital-intensive industries.
Experience with transmission, major projects, or regulated operations.
Experience with strategic transactions, procurement, construction, and real estate matters.
Experience serving as lead counsel to a business unit and partnering with enterprise legal teams.
Experience managing complex, cross-functional legal matters.
Advanced degree in business, finance, public policy, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Serve as principal legal advisor to the President of Transmission and the Transmission leadership team.
Provide strategic counsel on business priorities, investments, risk, and organizational matters; translate legal issues into practical business solutions and recommend proactive strategies for emerging risks and opportunities.
Lead legal support for complex transactions, partnerships, investments, and commercial initiatives; structure, negotiate, and draft key commercial agreements; advise throughout due diligence, negotiation, and closing.
Advise on contract disputes, interpretation, and risk allocation.
Advise on procurement strategies, sourcing activities, and commercial risk; draft, review, and negotiate vendor, construction, supply, technology, and service agreements.
Partner with business teams on contract performance and risk management, and establish contracting standards and best practices.
Oversee legal matters involving acquisitions, easements, rights-of-way, title, and land use; advise on real estate issues related to projects, operations, and asset strategy.
Lead resolution of significant property disputes and risks, and direct legal resources supporting real estate activities.
Lead legal risk identification, assessment, and mitigation; advise on regulatory, governance, compliance, and policy matters.
Support executive decision-making, approvals, and risk acceptance processes, and promote ethical conduct and sound business judgment.
Advise on significant commercial, procurement, and real estate disputes; develop dispute resolution strategies aligned with business objectives.
Manage outside counsel, legal budgets, and specialized legal resources; coordinate litigation and complex legal matters as needed.
Lead and develop a small legal team, establish priorities, allocate resources, ensure responsive legal support, coach and mentor team members, and foster collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Partner with enterprise legal teams to align strategy, policies, and standards; collaborate with internal subject matter experts and leverage enterprise resources while supporting Transmission priorities.
Escalate matters with broader enterprise impact as appropriate.