About NovaSource
NovaSource Power Services is the service partner for renewables asset owners ready to fuel smart growth. As an O&M-focused company with 20 years of operating experience, NovaSource has the global reach and strategic capabilities to achieve our clients’ renewables goals around the world.
To serve our clients, we invest in our people. On hire, we assess each employee’s experience and expertise, then mentor them to grow engaging and satisfying careers.
Our turn-key services optimize each step of our clients’ project lifecycles — from commissioning to decommissioning and everything in between. Our approach delivers creates success for our clients, stability for our teams, and enables us to build a world-class culture of excellence. And that’s how we empower a renewable world.
SUMMARY OF ROLE – Contracts Manager & Foreign Legal Consultant (On-Site Position: Houston, TX)
The Contracts Manager & Foreign Legal Consultant role is an individual contributor in the NovaSource Power Services (NovaSource) Contract Execution team that supports the NSPS Business Development team by negotiating and executing customer-facing sales contracts, driving NovaSource’s bookings and profitability while balancing commercial, legal and execution risk. The Contracts Manager & Foreign Legal Consultant works closely with the origination team to structure final proposals and is the principal customer interface responsible for negotiating contracts that align with NovaSource’s commercial objectives and execution capabilities, with the goal of achieving consistency with commercial and risk management guidelines.
The Contracts Manager & Foreign Legal Consultant interacts extensively with the NSPS Leadership, the rest of the legal team and all relevant subject matter experts and is responsible for obtaining cross-functional buy-in on the compromises necessary to secure the business and for ensuring that the execution teams are aware of the commercial obligations in the contracts.
Essential Responsibilities:
- Lead negotiation of principal customer-facing contracts.
- Develop and maintain relationships with customers' commercial counterparts.
- Work with team members to ensure the contracting nuances of risk management, warranties, deliverables, tax, accounting, revenue recognition, permitting, bonuses, damages, costs, and schedules are understood and are consistent with DoA policies and procedures
- Support transactions Deal Review Committee process
- Interface closely with Executive Leadership Team, legal, finance, accounting, tax, risk management, internal audit, and other critical functions essential to deal negotiations and approvals
- Maintain a streamlined negotiation process to minimize risk and reduce legal costs while ensuring strict adherence to DoA policies and procedures
- Follow procedures that ensure a timely and complete handover of executed commercial agreements to the execution teams responsible for delivering on contractual obligations.
- Responsible for the timely preparation of draft agreements; ensuring that the legal, commercial, and operational obligations meet performance and profitability targets
- Coordinate reviews of customer draft agreements and seek replacement with NovaSource forms if possible; if not possible, understand and document deviations from NovaSource’s standard agreements and obtain DoA approvals as required
- Ensure timely preparation and review of requests for proposals, term sheets, exhibits and other agreement documents to meet deal closing deadlines and customer schedules
- Other duties as assigned
Experience:
- Minimum of 2 years of experience as an attorney in a commercial contracting role in the energy or services industry
- Experience and detailed commercial and legal knowledge of the principal customer-facing agreements or related experience
- Proven success in commercial deal structuring, pricing strategy, and contract development and negotiation
- Strong business acumen and exemplary work ethic
Required Skills/Competencies:
- Strong cross-functional skills, able to collaborate effectively with other groups within the company
- Exemplary customer service skills, interfacing directly with company heads, vice presidents, and legal counsel on the other side of the table
- Strong legal acumen, negotiation and problem-solving skills
- Strong ability to identify, evaluate, and allocate risks
- Exceptional attention to detail with the ability to discern subtle requirements, nuances and differences within complex commercial and legal documents
- Commitment to Delegation of Authority (DoA) and Business Code of Conduct; expected to act and guide others with integrity
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills
- Highly effective time management skills, with the ability to execute on multiple negotiations and business objectives simultaneously
- Knowledge of multiple languages considered advantageous
- Able to draft contract provisions clearly to convey the positions of the company
- Solid technical acumen and/or in-depth knowledge of solar power plant technology, construction, operation, maintenance and performance a plus
Reporting Relationships:
- Deputy General Counsel, Head of Contracting
- No direct reports, possibility for growth and direct reports as the company scales
Education:
- Bachelors’ degree or jurisdictional equivalent required
- Admitted to the bar in accordance with the rules of the relevant jurisdiction
- A minimum of 2 years’ experience in international law
Travel:
- Occasional travel to customer locations as necessary for negotiations and relationship development; domestic and international travel required.
- Periodic travel to company headquarters in Arizona will be required, approximately 25%.
Office Physical Requirements:
All positions, when in our offices, require interaction with people and technology while either standing or sitting. In order to best service our customers, internal and external, all such personnel must be able to communicate face-to-face and on the phone with or without reasonable accommodation. NovaSource is committed to compliance with its obligations under all applicable state and federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. In keeping with this commitment, it attempts to reasonably accommodate applicants and employees in accordance with the requirements of the disability discrimination laws. It also invites individuals with disabilities to participate in a good faith, interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made without imposing an undue hardship.
Potential candidates will meet the education and experience requirements provided on the above job description and excel in completing the listed responsibilities for this role. All candidates receiving an offer of employment must successfully complete a background check and any other tests that may be required, in compliance with all federal laws and the state in which the candidate resides.
US: Diversity Statement – Equal Employment Opportunity
It is NovaSource’s policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. NovaSource disapproves of, and will not tolerate, unlawful discrimination against any applicant or employee because of race, color, national origin or ancestry, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, age, religion, disability, family care status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal laws.
