Commercial Lawyer – In house Legal Counsel

Quest Capital LLC (CQC) is a leading global carbon project developer, social impact investor and climate finance specialist. Our mission is to transform the lives of families in the poorest communities in developing countries by providing access to clean and sustainable energy solutions and improving the health and wellbeing of women and children. We do this through developing and investing in carbon reduction and removal programs, which provide clean and efficient energy appliances, small-scale agriculture and forestry services to the rural poor. We generate carbon credits from our projects and generate revenue from the sale of these credits through our dedicated Commercial division.

CQC’s carbon programs have improved the lives of over 20 million people in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Central America. Our ambition is to reach over 175 million people by 2035. We have successfully raised substantial funding to be able to make our ambition a reality.

CQC is headquartered in Washington DC, USA, with subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Australia.

The Role

CQC is expanding its Legal team and hiring a Commercial in-house counsel to support the company’s commercial growth. The Commercial team, based in Melbourne and Sydney, is responsible for the sale of carbon credits generated from our portfolio of projects. We are looking for a driven individual experienced in negotiating offtake agreements/commodities trading contracts. The successful candidate will work closely with the Chief Commercial Officer to negotiate and close multiple sales contracts, as well as provide general commercial legal support to the Commercial team. This is a new role reporting to CQC’s Group General Counsel, with dotted line reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer**.**

Location

Australia – Hybrid: Sydney or Melbourne/ remote or Singapore.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Counsel- Commercial will have the following main responsibilities:

• Draft, review and negotiate contracts for sales team.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Chief Commercial Officer and legal department gatekeeper.
• Provide counsel on and oversee legal points of the various documents for the sales team, such as non-disclosure agreements, term sheets and Emission Reductions Purchase Agreements (ERPAs).
• Interface with the Group General Counsel and in house legal team.
• Assist with contract review and analysis primarily of offtake agreements, but also general commercial contracts.
• Assist with Buyer/Offtaker due diligence.
• Provide ongoing contract management in respect of executed agreements for the Commercial team.
• Provide general commercial legal support to the Commercial team.

Relevant Experience and Qualifications

The successful candidate is likely to have the following prior experiences and training/qualifications:

• Experience as In-house Counsel or Senior Associate in a corporate law firm.

• Relevant legal qualifications, such as JD or LLB.

• Admission in a relevant jurisdiction, such as England and Wales, Australia or United States.

• 5+ years of relevant professional experience in contract negotiation and/or corporate law

• Experience advising on, and negotiation of commercial agreements such as ERPAs and/or Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

• Preferable experience in the energy, commodity trading, or carbon market sector

• Preferable experience in internal law related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions and offsets.

• Experience in working with cross functional teams.

• Experience with Due Diligence Questionnaires (DDQ) and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures is an advantage.

• Experience working with fast growth entrepreneurial organizations, preferably in the carbon, commodities, or energy sectors.

• Comfortable operating within an international environment with a diversity of cultures.

Key Attributes

The successful candidate is likely to be:

• A lawyer who understands commercial targets and can provide counsel to create a win-win outcome for the Company and its clients.
• A highly effective communicator, in written and verbal form, of complex ideas and activities.
• Detail oriented, with exceptional attention to detail in document review and drafting.
• Exceptional organizational skills and appreciation for building and following processes.
• A lawyer who has a good understanding of the challenges that climate change presents and the role that carbon markets play in addressing it.
• Passionate about actively helping the rural poor in less developed countries in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Able to fit in with the high-performance, entrepreneurial, and collaborative culture of CQC.
• Located in Sydney or Melbourne.

Compensation Details

We offer a highly competitive, full compensation package to include Base Salary, Bonus, generous corporate benefits, and a broad range of company perks.