General Counsel

Are you a commercially astute, strategically minded legal practitioner? Are you keen to use your skills to build up a legal function in a high-impact and high-growth environment? If so, look no further.

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Acre is thrilled to partner with Climate Impact Partners, a leading provider of high-quality carbon credit programs, in identifying a leader to grow and elevate their legal function and commercial transaction capabilities. Our client is seeking a General Counsel to be a strong strategic partner within the senior leadership team and to evolve the commercial value that the legal function can play within their evolving go-to-market. This is a remarkable opportunity to build and integrate an intuitive corporate legal function across a private equity-backed, impactful group at a critical juncture in its growth trajectory.

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The ideal candidate will have experience across international project development and contract negotiation, managing a complex global business from a legal perspective and will bring a commercial mindset to complement their legal expertise. The General Counsel will also bring a practical and operational approach to our client's smaller company, where all strategic partners must support the execution of department deliverables.

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RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategy and Business Partnership

• Act as a true legal partner to senior executive staff to drive balanced outcomes for the business.

• Collaborate with client solutions and sales departments, positioning legal as a partner to 'get deals done' and contribute to our mission to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030.

• Devise and implement a 'go-to-market' strategy for the legal function and fully integrate legal within the business.

• Manage wider business needs at a staff level, educating employees on legal issues and implementing company policies, including anti-corruption, code of business conduct and ethics, data protection and privacy.

• Partner with CFO and HR to audit and improve business process elements.

• Lead global expansion efforts and foreign subsidiary management.

• Review legal team structure to maximise effectiveness and employee engagement.

• Responsible for coordinating litigation matters if they arise.

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Commercial and Project Development Support

• Responsible for a wide variety of sales, purchase, development and other commercial agreements and commercial contract negotiations, with a specific focus on purchase and sale contracts for environmental attributes.

• Advise on legal aspects of project development with a focus on emerging markets and new models, in partnership with the Commercial team.

• Manage prompt and effective responses to legal requests from sales, operations, management, marketing, corporate finance, and other internal clients, advising on recommended courses of action and legal risks.

• Drive continuous improvement of standard form agreements, policies, and legal processes.

• Manage intellectual property portfolio (e.g., copyright and trademark) with assistance from outside counsel.

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WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Qualified to practice in either UK or US with additional jurisdictional experience.

• Role model of excellent ethical legal and commercial practice.

• A commercial mindset with the ability to offer balanced advice.

• Ability to manage risk in a setting without clear or tested solutions.

• Leadership and coaching capabilities.

• Strong communication and negotiation skills to communicate with internal and sometimes external parties at all levels.

• A solutions-focused mindset to partner with Senior stakeholders when solving problems and to bring matters to a close.

• Experience working within the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is advantageous.

• Keen interest in learning about the VCM and in contributing to our reputation as a leader in this space.

• Previous experience at General Counsel level, or second-to.

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Reporting to: CEO, and part of the Senior Management Team

Direct reports: Three legal professionals

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Please note this role can be located in London/Oxford or East Coast, US on a fully remote basis, open to working flexible hours.

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If you are an experienced legal practitioner, please apply now or contact Lucy Chapman at lucy.chapman@acre.com for more information.