Head of Legal

Solugen

Houston, TX 77027

Position

Head of Legal

About Solugen

Solugen, Inc. is a revolutionary technology company seeking to use biology to transform the chemicals industry. Solugen was founded in 2016 and is a post-Series D venture-backed startup company supported by renowned venture capital firms including GIC, Baillie Gifford, Temasek, Blackrock, and Founders Fund. Located in Houston, Texas, Solugen is currently scaling up its manufacturing facility to use its chemienzymatic process to manufacture biobased chemistries for water treatment, agriculture, and personal care. Solugen currently has 200+ full time employees.

Mission

Solugen’s mission is to decarbonize chemicals manufacturing. As a first step, Solugen has built a 10,000 tpy, the first carbon-negative commercial plant of its kind with the potential to offset up to 37,000 tpy of carbon dioxide equivalents. Reporting to the CFO, this is a hands-on role that will be focused on supporting day-to-day corporate legal needs of the company including, but not limited to lending legal support on employment matters, commercial contracts, NDAs, regulatory, and transactions (debt and equity). Additionally, this individual will serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for creation, review and updating of legal agreements for Solugen.

Key Outcomes

• Provides legal guidance on a wide range of general corporate transactional and compliance matters, which includes but Is not limited to corporate legal matters, special projects (fundraising, etc.), regulatory, IP, HR, commercial, litigation, NDA and other legal matters as they arise
• Evaluates and establishes agreements with a wide variety of commercial partners and other businesses related to operations (focusing on employment and regulatory) and other external ventures
• Serves as the in-house legal resource to evaluate and identify risk factors, clarify legal language, draft agreements, review agreements and negotiate on behalf of Solugen with a focus on commercial contracts and NDAs
• Negotiates and drafts, as necessary, commercial contracts on behalf of Solugen
• Provides the needed legal advice and support for any expansion projects and related transactions
• Acts as a Project Manager overseeing special projects with legal guidance and oversight
• Manages litigations and disputes including liaising with external counsel and stakeholders to resolve disputes effectively
• Provides legal guidance on corporate governance matters, finance and M&A, including due diligence, transactional work and other relevant issues
• Identifies, expands and manages external legal resources to meet the Company’s needs
• Creates and manages internal legal blueprint for how Legal should scale with the Company
• Manages any additional internal legal employees as they are onboarded
• Works closely with internal stakeholders to ensure effective contract management and compliance

Key Competencies

Job Specific

• Providing legal support in all areas that impact the day-to-day work of the company including corporate transactions, commercial contracts, governance, compliance, employment matters, finance, state and federal regulations, litigation, intellectual property, licensing, real estate, taxation, etc.
• Coordinating and overseeing outside counsel;
• Risk assessment;
• Advancing Solugen’s strategic objectives;
• Supporting executive leadership; and,
• Collaborating with other teams and business partners to provide strategic advice

Company Specific

• Ask a lot of questions, be curious, and have insights into your work
• Be nimble, embrace the speed and ambiguity of startup culture
• A passion for green chemistry and fighting climate change
• Ability to self-manage and set your own priorities and schedule
• Be comfortable working in multiple roles
• Emphasize safety above all else
• Respect for others
• Creative problem solving
• Willingness to learn and research new engineering/science concepts

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of practice with a large law firm or company;
• J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school; and,
• Licensed, admitted to practice, and in good standing in the United States

For adventurous individuals who care deeply about the environment and who are interested in working with one of the world's most successful and innovative green companies, Solugen offers challenging and sophisticated opportunities for its in-house counsel.

Compensation is competitive and includes excellent benefits.

Solugen is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status.

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Last updated on Nov 3, 2023