Head of Legal

Deca; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Founder's economics

Competitive cash compensation

Job summary

Deca Digital, SF-based hyperscale data center developer, seeks Head of Legal to own high-volume transactional work across land option agreements, energy contracts, EPC and JV arrangements. You will draft, negotiate, and close deals, manage outside counsel, and build contract management systems while supporting acquisitions, development, and energy teams.

A JD with bar admission, 6–12 years of transactional experience in real estate/energy, strong drafting skills, and ability to interface with

Qualifications

• 6–12 years of legal experience with a transactional focus in real estate, energy, infrastructure, or private equity.
• JD from an accredited law school and active bar admission in at least one US jurisdiction.
• Excellent drafting and negotiation skills, able to manage high-volume concurrent matters.
• Experience in data center, digital infrastructure, or energy/renewables is a plus.
• Highly organized with strong prioritization and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and close contracts across land options, energy, EPC, and JV agreements.
• Serve as the primary day-to-day legal interface for acquisitions, development, and procurement teams.
• Build and maintain contract management systems, clause libraries, and playbooks.
• Manage outside counsel relationships and legal spend.
• Support land use, permitting, and closing documentation for site transactions.
• Support energy team on interconnection agreements and utility negotiations.
• Oversee corporate compliance and entity management across project entities.
• Assist with investor and lender reporting and capital markets documentation.
• Identify bottlenecks and implement templates to accelerate throughput.

Skills

Transactional law

Contract drafting

Contract negotiation

Legal project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

JD from an accredited law school

US bar admission

Job description

About Deca Digital

Deca Digital is a hyperscale data center developer. We’re deploying an initial $2B vehicle from a top-three global asset manager, with five projects in flight and a pipeline of 5+ GW across the United States. Our vision is a 10+ GW portfolio of powered land and the vertical infrastructure on top of it.

Our mandate is broad: we develop both grid-connected and behind-the-meter projects, we acquire and recapitalize mid-stage development opportunities alongside our own greenfield work, and we compete by orchestrating power solutions creatively across each project’s unique constraints. We have the capital, ambition, and entrepreneurial DNA to become the premier platform in this sector and we’re building the executive team that will get us there.

Our Culture & Values

We are fiercely ambitious, deeply entrepreneurial, and operationally excellent. We move fast, think big, and operate with a high degree of ownership and accountability. Our mottos include “opportunity lies in complexity” and “make no small plans.”

We are lifelong students and value curiosity. We care deeply about how infrastructure shapes communities and about the legacy we leave behind.

We believe in building great companies without compromising our commitment to family, fulfillment, and multidimensional lives. We are owners of our company. We are in this for the long run.

About the Role

Deca Digital closes a lot of deals. Land option agreements, purchase contracts, energy agreements, equipment procurement contracts, EPC and construction agreements, joint venture arrangements, outside counsel engagements — the volume of legal work generated by a national infrastructure development platform at our stage is significant, and it only grows as the portfolio does.

The Head of Legal is an execution-focused legal professional who will own the throughput of that work. This person is an expert drafter and negotiator who gets contracts across the finish line quickly and precisely — managing a high volume of concurrent matters, building the systems that keep legal work organized and on track, and serving as the primary legal interface for Deca’s acquisitions, energy, development, and procurement teams.

This is not a role for someone primarily interested in being a strategic business advisor in the boardroom sense. It is a role for someone who takes genuine pride in the quality and speed of their legal execution — who finds satisfaction in a clean redline, a well-structured contract library, and a deal that closes on time. Experience in the data center, digital infrastructure, or energy and renewables development sectors is a meaningful plus and will allow the right candidate to contribute immediately.

Key Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and close contracts across all of Deca’s deal types: land option and purchase agreements, energy contracts (PPAs, electric service agreements, interconnection agreements), equipment procurement and supply agreements, EPC and construction contracts, vendor and consulting agreements, and joint venture arrangements.
• Serve as the primary day-to-day legal interface for the acquisitions, development, energy, and procurement teams — reviewing incoming contracts, preparing redlines, and advising on deal-specific legal issues.
• Build and maintain Deca’s contract management infrastructure: standard form agreements, clause libraries, legal playbooks, and tracking systems that allow the company to move faster and more consistently at scale.
• Manage outside counsel relationships across active matters, coordinating workstreams, reviewing work product, and managing legal spend.
• Support the acquisitions team on site transactions, including title review coordination, due diligence checklists, and closing documentation.
• Support the development and entitlements team on land use, permitting, and regulatory legal matters in coordination with outside counsel.
• Support the energy team on utility negotiations and interconnection agreement review.
• Oversee corporate compliance and entity management across Deca’s growing portfolio of project entities.
• Assist with legal aspects of investor and lender reporting, project financing documentation, and capital markets transactions in coordination with senior leadership.
• Identify recurring legal bottlenecks and build processes or templates to eliminate them.

Who You Are

• 6–12 years of legal experience, with a strong transactional background — ideally spanning real estate, energy, infrastructure, or private equity.
• JD from an accredited law school and active bar admission in at least one US jurisdiction.
• An excellent drafter and contract negotiator — fast, precise, and comfortable managing a high volume of concurrent matters.
• Experience in the data center, digital infrastructure, or energy and renewables development sectors is a significant plus; familiarity with PPAs, interconnection agreements, or land acquisition contracts is highly valued.
• Highly organized, with the ability to track and prioritize a large, varied legal workload without dropping balls.
• A self-starter who takes ownership of their work and does not need heavy supervision to stay on track and deliver.
• Collaborative — equally comfortable working directly with deal teams and managing outside counsel.
• Someone who takes genuine satisfaction in execution: in getting the deal done, the contract signed, the system built.

Compensation

This is a rare opportunity to be a formative part of an ambitious, long-term venture with institutional scale. The role offers the opportunity to operate with founder-like economics and influence. Compensation includes:

• Competitive cash compensation
• Upside in the venture via performance-based equity / profit participation
• Foundational seat in an emerging market leader

We are building a rocket ship while flying it. The first few seats matter most. If you are a builder and a believer, we want to meet you.