Counsel, Real Estate

About You and The Role 

The Zipline Legal Team is searching for an experienced, technically-sound, and process-oriented 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 serve as a key member of the Legal Team supporting real estate agreements, working especially closely with the Site Acquisition Team on scoping, drafting, negotiating, and closing agreements for our drone charging infrastructure. You’ll pair your surgical legal drafting and deft negotiation skills with your project management skills to support the business by efficiently negotiating and closing commercial real estate agreements. 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, while partnering closely with Senior Counsel, Real Estate. 

What You'll Do 

• Develop a deep understanding of Zipline’s product and service offerings, business strategy, mission and values. 
• Confidently, efficiently, and thoughtfully draft, negotiate, and close real estate leases for drone charging infrastructure, maintenance and testing facilities, taking ownership from initial draft through execution. 
• Lead the contracting process for the transactions you support—from initial scoping through execution—working cross-functionally with Site Acquisition, Land Use (Legal), Finance, and other teams within Zipline. 
• Develop deep expertise in Zipline's lease forms, playbooks, and negotiation strategies, using that expertise to help the team close a high volume of transactions efficiently and consistently.
• Contribute to improving Zipline’s deal templates and forms to better support the business’s goals and improve transaction efficiency.
• Support landlord escalations and contribute to 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. 
• Build genuine relationships with each member of the Site Acquisition Team so that you are in sync when closing 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

• Experience drafting and negotiating commercial real estate leases or other commercial real estate agreements.
• Experience with infrastructure, industrial, logistics, telecommunications, or other operational real estate is a plus but not required
• Clear, cogent, and pragmatic contract drafting, communication, and project management skills that you deploy to keep a high volume of transactions moving efficiently across multiple stakeholders. 
• You enjoy solving practical legal problems, are comfortable working through ambiguity, and exercise sound legal judgment in novel areas of commercial real estate.
• You thrive in high-pressure and time-sensitive situations and love the feeling of undramatically and quickly closing contracts for and with the business.
• Effective, tactful, friendly, and high-integrity negotiation skills, both verbally and in writing.
• 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.
• You don’t overthink issues, rabbit-hole on theoretical risk, or over-negotiate against yourself.
• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant legal experience supporting commercial real estate transactions. A combination of law firm and in-house experience is preferred, but not required.
• JD Degree required.
• Member in good standing of at least one state bar. 
• Must be eligible to work in the United States.

What Else You Need To Know

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.

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!