General Counsel | Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

Garrison; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Menlo Digital seeks its first in-house General Counsel to lead the company’s legal function as a senior advisor to the CEO and leadership team. The role emphasizes sophisticated real estate, infrastructure, and data center transactions.

Ideal candidates have 12+ years of experience with complex deals, financing, and leasing, and direct data center exposure is strongly preferred. Location flexibility includes Reston, VA, and other major markets.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of sophisticated legal experience in real estate, infrastructure, development, acquisitions/dispositions and joint ventures.
• Significant financing and leasing experience.
• Direct data center experience preferred; related infra/energy/industrial experience considered.

Responsibilities

• Advise on complex real estate and infrastructure investments, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures.
• Support debt financings, capital formation, and other corporate transactions.
• Advise on data center leasing and customer transactions; oversee governance and risk management.
• Oversee outside counsel and legal spend; build the legal operations infrastructure.

Skills

Real estate & infra law

Corporate transactions

Data center experience

Leadership & executive partnering

Job description

Garrison has been exclusively engaged by Menlo Digital, a rapidly growing data center investment, development, and operating platform, to recruit its first in-house General Counsel.

This is a unique opportunity for an accomplished real estate/infrastructure lawyer to join the senior leadership team of a sophisticated, entrepreneurial platform at a significant point in its growth. Menlo Digital owns a national portfolio of operating data centers and is advancing a substantial development pipeline across Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, Portland, Texas, and Chicago. The company is an affiliate of Menlo Equities, an institutional real estate development and private equity investment firm with approximately $4.5 billion in AUM.

Reporting directly to the President & CEO, the General Counsel will serve as the company's senior legal leader and principal legal advisor to the CEO, partners, and senior leadership team.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Advising on complex real estate and infrastructure investments, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures;
• Supporting sophisticated debt financings, capital formation, and other corporate transactions;
• Advising on data center leasing and customer transactions;
• Supporting development, construction, procurement, power, and other real estate matters;
• Overseeing corporate governance, compliance, employment matters, disputes, and legal risk;
• Managing outside counsel and legal spend and developing the company's legal operations infrastructure; and
• Serving as a practical, commercially minded advisor across the organization, helping leadership distinguish legal risk from business risk and identify executable solutions.

Ideal candidates will have 12+ years of sophisticated legal experience involving complex real estate, infrastructure, development, acquisition/disposition, and joint venture transactions, together with significant financing and leasing experience. Direct data center experience is strongly preferred, although candidates with closely relevant infrastructure, energy, utility, construction, industrial or other mission-critical real estate experience will be considered. Location: Ideally Menlo Park, CA or Reston, VA, but also Austin, Newport Beach, Phoenix, or Santa Clara.

Exceptional opportunity to build the legal function from the ground up and serve as a true business partner to the CEO and senior leadership team as Menlo Digital continues to scale its national platform.