Senior Counsel, Real Estate

About You and The Role

The Zipline Legal Team is searching for an experienced, technically-sound, and process-oriented Senior Counsel who will smoothly and repeatedly close leases for critical infrastructure with our Operations Team, and provide legal support on a range of real estate matters. In this role, you will be a senior lawyer on real estate agreements, working especially closely with the Sales, Operations, and Finance Teams on scoping, drafting, negotiating, and closing agreements across our business. You’ll pair your surgical legal drafting and deft negotiation skills with your tireless project management skills to capture and execute strategic commercial agreements that the business is proud of. You’ll be a core member of a strong, friendly, passionate, in-house legal function and will report to Zipline’s Deputy General Counsel–Head of Commercial.

What You'll Do

● Develop a deep understanding of Zipline’s product and service offerings, business and sales strategy, mission and values.
● Confidently, efficiently, and thoughtfully draft, negotiate, and close real estate leases for drone charging infrastructure, maintenance and testing facilities, and other real estate interests, with
minimal oversight.
● Independently manage the entire contracting process for deals that you support–from initial scoping to final execution, working cross-functionally with business units across Zipline, including the Operations, Sales, Finance, Information Security, Privacy, and Aviation Teams.
● Contribute to improving Zipline’s deal templates and forms, taking into consideration the business’s goals and any factors unique to the customers that the applicable agreement is targeting.
● Ability to train and mentor junior attorneys and paralegals.
● Support landlord escalations and help implement efficient lease management processes.
● Help build and socialize thoughtful, repeatable, and rigorous deal processes that bring predictability and calm to your clients on the Site Acquisitions Team and streamline and simplify deals.
● Think outside the box when a transaction calls for it, bringing simple and elegant contractual solutions to potentially convoluted and chaotic situations.
● Build genuine relationships with each member of the Operations Team so that you are in sync whenclosing lease agreements.
● When called upon, a willingness to dive-in to provide support on needs that arise across the Legal team.

What You'll Bring

● Demonstrated expertise negotiating complex commercial lease agreements, including non-standard or infrastructure-related uses.
● Clear, cogent, and pragmatic contract drafting skills that you are a passionate and prideful nerd about.
● You thrive in high-pressure and time-sensitive situations and love the feeling of undramatically and quickly closing critical contracts for and with the business.
● Effective, tactful, friendly, and high-integrity negotiation skills, both verbally and in writing.
● Strong communication and project management skills that you deploy when leading the charge to close a deal.
● You are not easily overwhelmed or fearful of first-in-time deals or contractual provisions–rather, you seize the opportunity to draft from scratch and gain new contracting experience.
● Strong time management skills that enable you to set aggressive but realistic deadlines that you meet (and usually beat), even with competing priorities.
● Empathy for your internal customers and stakeholders as well as the customers that you’re negotiating against.
● Confidence to make independent judgment calls with conviction–and the instincts to recognize when issues require escalation or input from others.
● You don’t overthink issues, rabbit-hole on theoretical risk, or over-negotiate against yourself.

What Else You Need to Know

● JD Degree required
● Member in good standing of at least one state bar
● At least seven years of relevant legal experience at a top-tier law firm and/or in-house
● Must be eligible to work in the United States

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $180,000-$220,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!