Legal Counsel - Project Attorney at CrossBoundary

Job Description

• CrossBoundary is recruiting a full-time project lawyer with experience in the energy and telecoms sectors to support the legal team in proactively servicing internal business units and engaging with external stakeholders, in the pursuit of expanding renewable energy markets with a focus on the telecoms sector across Africa and shaping the future of distributed energy deployment on the continent and beyond.
• The successful candidate will work closely with senior counsel to structure, draft, negotiate and close project documentation for CBE and CB Access’s distributed energy projects, and advise on general corporate matters pertaining to the CrossBoundary Group, CBE and CB Access.
• The successful candidate will engage directly with the business development, project development, and commercial teams in her/his day-to-day functions.

Who You Are

• Self-starter who is passionate about creating lasting change in developing markets
• A practical thinker known for choosing the simple, robust solutions where more complicated approaches would deliver the same results
• Legal expert within a commercially minded, solution-oriented team
• Adept at identifying and mitigating risks introduced by key terms in PPA, EPC, O&M, financing and other project contracts as well as project structuring and implementation
• A patient puzzle-solver; you have the composure and skill to approach a problem from many angles over time until you can unlock a solution. You persevere and find a way
• Networker skilled at building and maintaining professional relationships across countries, personalities, and the political spectrum to achieve positive impact
• Ethical and highly-principled; knowledgeable about the most rigorous international standards for ethical relations with government, which you exemplify in all situations
• A systematic and highly-organized lawyer; takes personal accountability for tracking numerous activities across workstreams and driving them all to successful conclusion
• Keen understanding of what drives key stakeholder decisions
• Effective in a fast-moving and complex environment
• Well organized, systematic, and calm under pressure

Primary Responsibilities

• Assist in reviewing, drafting and negotiating key project documents for CBE / CB Access projects in our expanding markets
• Driving and managing the day-to-day legal needs in CBE’s Telecommunications Electricity Supply vertical
• Ensure legal compliance of all project agreements in the numerous countries in which CrossBoundary is present or has project interests
• Work closely with the investment, business development, regulatory and engineering teams to help drive business development strategy, identifying risks that arise
• Assist in reviewing, drafting and negotiating key finance documents such as Share Purchase Agreements, Shareholders' Agreements, Loan Agreements and other documents for CBE and CB Access
• Support on corporate compliance of CrossBoundary Group entities established in various markets globally
• Advise internal teams on strategic and contractual matters
• Update and improve precedent agreements over time, as appropriate
• Monitor project agreement compliance across jurisdictions
• Collaborate with outside counsel on specific projects
• Work autonomously to identify, prioritize, and address commercial, regulatory and legislative hurdles across markets
• Support additional policy priorities in areas relevant to CrossBoundary’s evolving business development needs

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the following skills and qualifications:

• 5+ years’ post admission experience in a premier law firm and/or an in-house legal department
• Experience with PPAs, EPC contracts, O&M agreements, project sale and acquisition agreements, project structuring for renewable energy facilities, and the development of renewable energy facilities in emerging markets
• Experience in managing contracting for extensive telecommunications site rollouts and associated services, encompassing procurement, infrastructure, and managed service partnerships
• Proficiency in structuring projects for telecommunications facilities and related energy services

Required skills and qualifications

• 5+ years’ post-admission experience in a premier law firm and/or an in-house legal department focused on energy projects
• Experience working on PPAs, EPC contracts, O&M agreements and other project documents
• Experience working on telecommunications projects
• Experience with projects in multiple jurisdictions across Africa
• Good understanding of project finance concepts and structures
• Proficiency in corporate compliance
• Familiarity with drafting, reviewing and negotiating finance documents, share purchase agreements and shareholders agreements
• Law degree with strong academic credentials from an accredited university
• Bar admission
• Fluency in the English language, additionally French language skills would be a benefit
• Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously