Projects Associate Director/Legal Director

Role profile

"A firm of great experience in energy matters and hasa thriving renewable energy practice"

Overview

We have anexciting new opportunity for an experienced energy lawyer to join our brilliant Energy Projects team in eitherBristol or London. You will be a central senior member of our market-leadingenergy practice, and have a particular focus on energy market commercial andregulatory advisory mandates.

This willcover: grid connection and use of system arrangements; energy offtakeagreements (including corporate PPAs); and complex optimisation and route tomarket structures across power, renewables and storage. The role combines highquality transactional support with cutting edge regulatory advice in a rapidlyevolving energy market.

You willalso be given responsibility for building client relationships and businessdevelopment whilst working in a supportive team environment. A key part of therole is your ability to work proactively and collaboratively with the otherteam members, and we expect you to have a strong interest in working with thepartners to develop and supervise more junior talent.

The team

The EnergyProjects team is split between Bristol and London, and works closely with otherservice lines in our Energy and Energy Transition sector You will work directlywith a number of Partners in the team and will be a key team member forproviding support, supervision and leadership to the rest of the team. OurEnergy and Energy Transition team is particularly well known for the depth ofits experience in the Renewables sector (including storage), but successfulcandidates are also likely to have experience in conventional power and/orenergy transition technologies.

Key responsibilities

Your key responsibilities will include being partof a team that provides complex, commercial advice in the following areas:

• Regulation and market design
• Advising generators, investors, developers, and other market participants on UK energy regulation, policy and market design (including liaising with our European colleagues on cross-border regulatory matters)
• Providing detailed advice on: (1) licence conditions, industry codes and frameworks (e.g., Electricity Act, Ofgem rules and consultations, CUSC, BSC, Grid Code); and (2) Capacity Market rules, the CfD and new revenue support mechanisms (RAB, cap and floor etc)
• Creating and sharing knowhow on regulatory change (e.g., network charging reforms, access/queue management, code governance reforms, REMA/electricity market design) and supporting client engagement with regulators and industry bodies.
• Grid connection and network arrangements
• Drafting, negotiating and advising on grid connection and use-of-system arrangements at transmission and distribution level (e.g. CUSC, Connection Offers/Agreements, Grid Sharing arrangements).
• Supporting due diligence on grid connection issues (including connection reform) for M&A and project finance mandates.
• Offtake and route to market
• Structuring, drafting and negotiating PPAs and related offtake instruments: corporate PPAs (sleeved and virtual/synthetic), private wire PPAs, utility and route to market PPAs, tolling, balancing and other optimisation services, ancillary services and capacity agreements.
• Advising on novel revenue stacks and merchant opportunities for renewable and storage projects (including asset optimisation, co-location, and optimisation of constraints).
• Transactions and projects
• Supporting M&A and project finance transactions with specialist regulatory, grid and offtake workstreams.
• Coordinate multi jurisdictional advice with local counsel and internal specialists (competition, public law/procurement, planning, real estate, tax, construction).

In delivering the abovescope of work, we expect that you will:

• Client service and practice development
• Act as a trusted advisor; lead negotiations and manage complex workstreams efficiently
• Help supervise and develop junior lawyers and trainees; contribute to precedents and know how
• Produce client alerts, thought leadership and training on emerging regulatory and market issues
• Support business development, pitches and key account plans
• Risk and financials
• Manage matters to scope, budget and timelines; ensure compliance with internal risk, confidentiality and information security processes.
• Contribute to team financial performance (utilisation, recovery, matter profitability)

Candidate Profile:

Essential experience

• Experience in energy regulation and commercial/transactional work within a leading law firm or in house at an energy company.
• Strong track record advising on the energy market areas noted above
• Comfortable leading negotiations and interfacing with technical, commercial and financing teams
• Excellent drafting skills and the ability to translate complex regulation into pragmatic, commercially focused advice
• Collaborative mindset; confident supervising juniors and coordinating multidisciplinary teams. A strong team player, with a proven track record of having led and/or helped develop a team of junior lawyers.

Desirable experience

• Track record of having advised on novel energy transition technologies, including hydrogen, CCUS, long-duration storage, behind-the-meter structures, heat networks and/or interconnectors.

What we offer

• High profile mandates across renewables, storage, hydrogen, flexibility, and new energy technologies.
• Excellent candidate profile across one of our most strategically important sectors
• A collaborative, growth oriented team with genuine responsibility from day one.
• Competitive remuneration and comprehensive benefits.
• Flexible/hybrid working and support for continued professional development.

Yourcareer development

Like all ourlawyers, you will benefit from our multi-award winning career developmentprogramme. At each stage of your career this provides you with:

• clear expectations of your role and what it takes to progress;
• high quality clients and work, with early responsibility and client exposure;
• thorough assessment and individual feedback from a range of experienced colleagues;
• robust technical training with early skills based development, increasingly tailored to you; and
• reward for your contribution, progression and potential, rather than PQE or tenure.

For more information or to apply

At Osborne Clarke we welcome direct applications - if you would like any further information about the role, or the firm, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact, in complete confidence, Angharad Jenkins in the recruitment team on angharad.jenkins@osborneclarke.com or 0117 917 3127.

Osborne Clarke is an inclusive working environment and values diversity in its workforce.

About Us

Osborne Clarke is an international legal practice with over 330 Partners and more than 1,260 talented lawyers in 26 locations*. Our sector-based approach enables us to help our clients tackle the issues they are facing today, and prepare for the ones that they will face tomorrow. Advising them both comprehensively and commercially. We love working closely with our clients on new deals, products and solutions which will transform their businesses, markets and even sectors. And our unique approachable culture is not an added extra, it's fundamental to our success.

At Osborne Clarke we value difference and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. We want everyone to feel that OC is a place where you can be yourself and belong, and our range of interest groups and diversity networks - not to mention our great teams - are a part of making that a reality. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.

*Services in India are provided by a relationship firm