Assistant General Counsel Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• At least 10 years of construction/EPC legal experience, preferably involving major power, energy, infrastructure, industrial, or similar capital projects.
• Significant experience representing owners, developers, utilities, or project sponsors in contractor claims and disputes.
• Demonstrated experience with EPC change orders, delay and disruption claims, schedule analysis, requests for equitable adjustment, and construction damages.
• Working knowledge of CPM scheduling, project controls, cost reporting, and construction claims methodology.
• Experience negotiating with major EPC contractors and managing construction counsel, scheduling experts, and damages consultants.
• Must be licensed to practice law in at least one U.S. state.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license and a driving record satisfactory to the company and its insurers for travel.
• Strong legal judgment and risk assessment; litigation and claims strategy; external counsel management; sound analytical skills; ability to balance legal risk with operational and business realities; high integrity and discretion; clear, concise, practical communication; executive presence and credibility with senior leaders; cross-functional collaboration; strong project and matter management; and ability to manage multiple urgent, confidential, and high-risk matters simultaneously.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with large lump-sum or lump-sum-turnkey EPC projects.
• In-house experience managing construction claims.
• Experience in an operations-heavy, project-based, industrial, construction, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, or similar business environment.
• Background in litigation, safety, environmental issues, contractor disputes, or project claims.
• Experience with union contractors and federal Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship requirements.
• Prior law firm experience in litigation, employment, regulatory, compliance, investigations, or construction disputes.
• Experience reporting to or supporting senior leadership, project lenders, insurers, compliance committees, audit committees, special committees, or boards.
• Experience managing outside counsel budgets, legal spend, matter reporting, and litigation reserves.

Responsibilities

• Lead legal evaluation and management of contractor and vendor claims, change orders, requests for equitable adjustment, and disputes involving EPC, construction, and other large equipment contracts.
• Assess contractual entitlement, notice compliance, causation, critical-path impact, compensability, concurrency, mitigation, and quantum.
• Evaluate delay, disruption, acceleration, productivity, differing-site-condition, force majeure, escalation, and scope-change claims.
• Work with Project Controls and scheduling experts to evaluate CPM schedules, critical-path impacts, schedule logic, float, concurrent delay, and extension-of-time requests.
• Review claimed labor, equipment, subcontractor, extended general-condition, productivity-loss, acceleration, escalation, overhead, and markup costs.
• Determine whether claimed work is base scope, changed work, contractor means and methods, defective-work correction, contractor-caused impact, or a compensable Owner-directed change.
• Ensure compliance with contractual notice, change-management, documentation, approval, and time-bar requirements.
• Draft and negotiate change orders, amendments, releases, waivers, settlements, and reservation-of-rights communications.
• Develop strategies to identify and address potential claims before they become significant disputes.
• Help ensure project communications, directives, payments, and field decisions do not inadvertently create constructive changes, waive contractual requirements, or establish unintended entitlement.
• Develop affirmative Owner claims, including liquidated damages, back charges, defective-work, warranty, performance-guarantee, indemnification, and increased-Owner-cost recovery claims.
• Lead or support negotiations with EPC contractors, claims consultants, and counsel, and manage outside construction counsel and technical experts as appropriate.
• Provide senior management with concise assessments of material claims, including claimed amount, Owner exposure, contractual position, factual strengths and weaknesses, schedule implications, settlement strategy, and recommended action.
• Train and advise project personnel on claims avoidance, contemporaneous documentation, privilege, contractual notices, and preservation of Owner rights.
• Ensure material claims, change orders, settlements, waivers, and other contractual or commercial commitments are evaluated and advanced through appropriate Company approval and governance channels, including Delegation of Authority requirements and executive-level approval where required.
• Identify and timely escalate material legal, commercial, financial, schedule, execution, and precedent risks to executive leadership, with decision-oriented advice on exposure, alternatives, contractual leverage, and mitigation.
• Advise executive leadership on significant contractor claims and proposed resolutions in light of the Company’s risk profile, risk tolerance, project objectives, and commercial strategy.
• Coordinate with Project, Commercial, Finance, and other stakeholders so proposed resolutions are documented, supported by the project record, and approved at the appropriate organizational level before Company commitments are made.
• Ensure significant departures from contractual rights, established project positions, or approved commercial parameters are identified, escalated, and authorized under Company Delegation of Authority and governance requirements.

Benefits

• Industry-competitive pay.
• Health insurance package options, including Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts.
• Infertility coverage.
• Parental leave.
• 401(k) with up to a 6% match that vests immediately, plus an employer discretionary contribution of up to 4%.
• Wellness programs and mental health resources.
• Employer-paid life insurance and short-term and long-term disability coverage.
• Critical illness and accident insurance.
• Vacation, sick days, paid caregiver leave, and paid volunteer and bereavement time off.
• Identity theft protection.
• Annual discretionary bonus.
• Tuition reimbursement program.
• Company-paid holidays and floating holidays.
• Company vehicle, if applicable.
• Employee discounts on vehicles, tires, cellular plans, and more.
• Networking and employee engagement events.
• Personal development to support career growth based on employees’ strengths and interests.