Head of Legal & Compliance

THE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

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.

A BIT ABOUT THE DAY TO DAY

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.

WHY THIS JOB IS HARD

You are the senior legal leader for a business that is growing rapidly while still developing processes, infrastructure and operating rhythms.

The role spans commercial contracts, construction, project development, financing, public procurement, grants, compliance and corporate matters, often simultaneously and cross-functionally.

Legal issues frequently emerge in ambiguous situations where complete information, established precedent or clear internal ownership may not exist.

You must balance commercial objectives with legal and compliance requirements while being willing to challenge assumptions and push back when necessary.

Competing priorities are constant, making strong judgment, prioritization and resilience essential.

This role requires a lawyer who is willing and able to personally produce excellent legal work product in a fast-moving environment. Candidates seeking a position that is primarily focused on supervising outside counsel, reviewing work prepared by others or managing a large internal legal team are unlikely to find this role a fit.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

You are comfortable operating as the legal leader in a startup-like environment inside a larger global organization and do not require mature processes or perfect information to make progress.

You combine strong legal judgment with commercial practicality and can distinguish between risks that should stop or materially change a transaction and risks that can be managed.

You communicate directly and constructively. You can say “no,” “not yet,” or “we need to do this differently” when necessary, including with senior stakeholders, without becoming adversarial.

You are comfortable doing your own drafting, negotiation and issue analysis, even as the senior legal leader for the business.

You build credibility by understanding the commercial objective, offering workable alternatives and following through.

You can distinguish between genuine urgency and organizational urgency. You manage an exceptionally broad workload through deliberate, risk-based prioritization, communicate trade-offs clearly and do not treat every request as equally urgent.

Health and Safety

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. By doing so, each employee at Zenobe plays a vital role in fostering a culture that prioritises overall safety, holistic wellbeing, environmental sustainability in our business operations.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Essential Qualifications

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.

Advantageous Qualifications

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.

OUR BENEFITS

We have an open, honest and trusting culture here at Zenobe. Apart from the unparallel opportunity to be at the forefront of the Net Zero revolution we are proud of the culture we have built. Here is what we can offer when you join the Zenobe community;

At Zenobe we all work hard and go the extra mile so it’s important to rest and regenerate with 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