Head of Legal

American Terawatt is a vertically integrated HVDC transmission developer building a new industrial electric grid for the United States.

We develop HVDC projects, build the control software and hardware that run them, and charge capacity tolls on the systems we operate. We serve large industrial loads, delivering hundreds of megawatts at a time. Our systems deliver electric power to everything from frontier AI datacenters to highly automated manufacturing, refineries, mines, and more.

We make interconnection fast, simple, and cheap. On our network, generation owners get their projects online faster, delivering abundant power at competitive prices.

The backbone of American Terawatt’s network is based on long-distance underground HVDC transmission, anchored by software-defined ‘Macrogrids’ that actively manage local transmission between generation, storage, and loads.

We are hiring a Head of Legal. This is an early opportunity at a well-funded infrastructure technology company, backed by investors such as Altimeter, Founders Fund, Bessemer Ventures, and Zero Infinity Partners, and at the intersection of energy infrastructure, AI, and data centers. You will own the entire legal function: internal corporate counsel, commercial contracts, project-level agreements, corporate governance, employment, and IP. Over time, you will build and lead a team.

This is a fast-paced, commercial and investment-focused role, we close complex, high-value deals quickly, and legal needs to move with us. We have a Head of Policy & Government Affairs to own regulatory and policy-related workstreams; however, you will collaborate closely on the legal side. This is a “0 to n” role, not a “1 to n” role - the right candidate is scrappy, resourceful, and will roll up their sleeves and draft.

The Role

As American Terawatt’s Head of Legal you will:

• Lead all of American Terawatt’s legal functions (except for government affairs), serving as trusted corporate counsel. You will provide strategic insights, evaluate tradeoffs, and highlight considerations.

• Problem solve, and help identify options and paths to achieve AmWatt’s commercial objectives.

• Evaluate, engage, and negotiate engagement letters with law firms; own law firm relationships

• Lead legal due diligence on projects and partnerships

• Help create, design, and draft AmWatt’s corporate structure strategy, including SPV use and intercompany agreements

• Scope of work

• Build, and operationalize, deep relationships with key law firm stakeholders - widely spread gospel of AmWatt. Build coalitions.

• Keep leadership team ahead of material legal developments in the industry, provide market intelligence

• Own and manage Board Meeting process

Experience

This is a senior role requiring deep energy and infrastructure experience, as well as experience in-house. You are commercially-minded, can see around corners, steer an organization through complexity and uncharted territory, and know how to track down all of the “unknown unknowns” and perform a risk analysis. You can translate law into plain language, and tie it to commercial outcomes.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of legal experience, with meaningful time in‑house

• Infrastructure, energy, or energy tech experience - you have negotiated complex, capital-intensive deals and strategic partnerships (transmission, data centers, pipelines, power generation, fiber, or other large industrial projects)

• Track record as a commercial deal lawyer, owning a deal end-to-end, ability to close

• Comfortable functioning as the only lawyer in the building, at least initially; you set up systems rather than inherit them

• Excellent project management skills and business judgment

• High accountability: you own outcomes, flag problems early, and own resolutions; have ideally worked in a scrappy environment

• You’ve built meaningful relationships with a wide range of law firms and practice groups

• JD from an accredited law school

Preferred Experience (some combination of)

• Project finance experience: infrastructure debt, construction lending, tax equity, or supply chain or equipment financing or leasing, etc.

• FERC or energy regulatory familiarity, specifically private wire / behind-the-meter structures and FPA exemptions

• ROW and easement experience (both public and private lands)

• Experience navigating state PUC/utility commissions across multiple jurisdictions

• Growth-stage company experience: Series A/B fundraising through close, equity plan management, board governance

Position Details

This role reports directly to the COO and will serve as the internal legal lead.

Location

New York (preferred), San Francisco

Type

Full-time