Senior Legal Counsel

Washington, DC | Full-Time | Office-Based (5 Days per Week)

About the Opportunity

A confidential opportunity has arisen to join the newly established US operations of an international investment group focused on critical minerals, battery materials and strategic resources supporting the global energy transition.

As the organisation continues to expand its investment portfolio across North America and internationally, it is seeking a commercially astute Senior Legal Counsel to become one of the first senior hires within its US platform.

Working alongside the Chief Legal Officer who will be UK based, this role will act as the lead legal advisor for the US business, partnering closely with the CEO, CFO and senior leadership team on investments, acquisitions, corporate governance and strategic transactions. This is a rare opportunity to build and shape the legal function within a fast-growing, entrepreneurial investment environment.

The Role

This is a broad, hands-on position for an experienced corporate lawyer who enjoys working close to the business and taking ownership of complex legal matters.

The successful candidate will lead and support the legal aspects of investments and corporate transactions while ensuring strong governance, regulatory compliance and commercial risk management across the US platform.

The role requires someone comfortable operating independently, making commercial decisions and managing legal matters from inception through to execution without relying heavily on external counsel.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead legal support for mergers, acquisitions, strategic investments and corporate transactions.
• Manage the full investment lifecycle, including legal due diligence, virtual data room (VDR) management, transaction structuring, negotiation, completion and post-closing integration.
• Draft, review and negotiate investment agreements, shareholders' agreements, financing documents, commercial contracts and related transaction documentation.
• Support equity and debt financing transactions and capital deployment activities.
• Advise senior leadership on corporate governance, board matters and company secretarial requirements.
• Prepare board materials and advise on directors' duties, conflicts of interest and corporate decision-making.
• Develop and maintain governance frameworks, corporate policies and internal compliance programmes.
• Oversee compliance matters, including anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, ethics, sanctions and regulatory requirements.
• Manage external legal counsel where appropriate while acting as the primary legal advisor to the business.
• Support the establishment and ongoing legal management of US and international corporate entities.
• Provide commercially focused legal advice across strategic business initiatives and day-to-day operations.

Experience & Qualifications

The successful candidate is likely to have 10-15 years' post-qualification experience gained within a leading international law firm, private equity firm, investment organisation or sophisticated in-house legal function.

Candidates should demonstrate experience across most of the following:

• Significant experience leading mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions.
• Strong understanding of the full investment lifecycle, from due diligence through to completion and post-closing matters.
• Experience negotiating complex investment agreements, transaction documentation and commercial contracts.
• Experience managing legal due diligence exercises and coordinating virtual data rooms (VDRs).
• Strong corporate governance and company secretarial experience.
• Experience advising Boards and senior executives on governance, conflicts of interest and corporate compliance.
• Commercially focused legal judgement with the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience working across cross-border transactions and international corporate structures.

Highly Desirable

• Experience gained within private equity, investment management, infrastructure, mining, energy, critical minerals or other asset-intensive sectors.
• Knowledge of US securities law and public company governance.
• Experience supporting debt and equity financing transactions.
• Previous experience establishing or supporting legal functions within a growing organisation.

Personal Attributes

• Commercial, pragmatic and solutions-oriented.
• Comfortable working in an entrepreneurial, fast-moving environment.
• Confident engaging directly with senior executives, investors and external stakeholders.
• Self-starter who takes ownership and delivers with minimal supervision.
• Hands-on, adaptable and willing to work across both strategic and operational legal matters.
• Strong relationship builder with excellent judgement and communication skills.

Why Join?

This is an exceptional opportunity to join a growing international investment platform at an early stage of its US expansion. The successful candidate will play a key role in building the legal function, supporting high-value investments and helping shape the long-term success of the organisation.

This position offers significant autonomy, close interaction with executive leadership and exposure to complex domestic and international transactions within a highly strategic and commercially focused environment.