M

Montera

Develops hyperscale data centers for AI

VP, Deputy General Counsel - Energy

Legal Counsel & Legal SupportPosted on Nov 11
Full-timeRemote in USA

About the Job

Requirements

  • A J.D. from an accredited law school is required.
  • Admission to practice and good standing with at least one U.S. state bar are required, along with the ability to register as in-house counsel where required in the state of residence.
  • 15–20 years of relevant legal experience at a law firm, utility, developer or operator, or in-house; candidates with 10+ years and exceptional depth will be considered.
  • Deep energy transactional and regulatory experience is required, including demonstrated end-to-end ownership of interconnection, electric service, and power purchase agreements as the responsible attorney rather than in a supporting role.
  • Strong command of U.S. wholesale and retail power markets, FERC and state-commission practice, and large-load tariff structures is required.
  • Demonstrated commercial negotiation ability across a broad range of agreement types, with a track record of taking on unfamiliar subject matter and reaching a defensible answer quickly, is required.
  • Sound judgment about when to bring in outside counsel and when to decide, with the discipline to run specialist firms to defined scope and budget, is required.
  • Strong business acumen and the ability to balance legal risk, schedule, and commercial priorities are required.
  • Exceptional negotiation, drafting, and stakeholder-management skills are required.
  • The candidate must be comfortable operating with autonomy in a fast-moving, founder-led environment without established precedent or process.

Responsibilities

  • Exercise delegated authority from the Chief Legal Officer across energy and commercial matters, and represent the Legal function directly with the business, counterparties, and regulators.
  • Build the legal department in partnership with the Chief Legal Officer, including contract templates and negotiation playbooks, matter intake, contract lifecycle management, the outside-counsel panel, and the obligations and change-of-control registers.
  • Define, recruit, and mentor other attorney and director roles added as the legal function scales; select, scope, and manage specialist outside counsel, run the panel to budget, and bring recurring work in-house as the function matures.
  • Own the negotiation and execution of electric service agreements, large-load tariffs and special contracts, and capacity reservation and deposit structures across the development pipeline.
  • Lead large-load interconnection and transmission matters, including queue strategy and evidencing, network-upgrade cost allocation and reimbursement, transmission service, and substation and facilities ownership boundaries.
  • Structure power procurement across utility, wholesale, and behind-the-meter sources, including take-or-pay and minimum-demand terms, credit support, contribution in aid of construction, and energization milestones and remedies.
  • Advise on on-site and bridge generation, including gas, turbines, fuel cells, and storage, together with the supply, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and operating agreements behind them and the parallel-operation and permitting interfaces.
  • Lead energy regulatory strategy before FERC and state commissions, including large-load tariff proceedings, cost-allocation dockets, interventions, and regulatory audits and information requests.
  • Negotiate and close commercial agreements across the business, including master services agreements (MSAs), equipment procurement, technology and vendor, consulting and professional services, confidentiality, and teaming agreements.
  • Support customer-facing agreements in partnership with the Chief Legal Officer and the Real Estate & Development Deputy General Counsel, allocating power risk inside customer agreements, including capacity and availability commitments, service-level agreement (SLA) exposure, utility cost pass-through, curtailment and demand response, and excusable delay tied to utility performance.
  • Support power and real estate diligence on site acquisition and land enablement.
  • Support lender, sponsor, and customer diligence across the contract portfolio, including consents, direct agreements, assignability, and change of control.
  • Provide training to the business on key terms and escalation protocols.
  • Contribute to Board and sponsor reporting on contracted capacity, energy risk, commercial exposure, and the development of the legal function.

Desired Qualifications

  • Data center, large-load, or other energy-intensive industrial development experience is preferred.
  • Experience negotiating directly with investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, or municipal providers is preferred.
  • Experience with behind-the-meter, bridge, or on-site generation, including gas, storage, or fuel cells, is preferred.
  • Experience building legal-department infrastructure, including templates, playbooks, delegation of authority, contract lifecycle management, and outside-counsel panel management, is preferred.
  • Hyperscale leasing exposure from either side of the table is preferred.
  • Project finance and lender diligence experience is preferred.

About the Company

Montera

Develops hyperscale data centers for AI

Montera develops and operates hyperscale data centers across North America to support AI, cloud, enterprise tech, and energy workloads. It builds strategically located, scalable facilities with optimized power to run advanced workloads reliably and quickly. The company designs, builds, and operates data-center campuses and provides access to this infrastructure, with energy-efficient power, cooling, and connectivity. Backed by Stonepeak and led by experienced infrastructure leaders, Montera aims to deliver scalable digital infrastructure with reliability and impact, while creating meaningful job opportunities.

Company size
11-50
Company stage
Growth Equity (Non-Venture Capital)
Total funding
$1.5B
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA
Founded
2025

Recently Posted Jobs

Explore more opportunities at Montera

See more jobs