Counsel/Senior Counsel – Commercial Location: Deerfield, IL

  Company Overview Come join a team of mission-driven doers as we work to build a more sustainable future!

LanzaJet, Inc. is a Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) technology producer and provider committed to decarbonizing the aviation industry. LanzaJet's patented ethanol-to-SAF technology is expected to deliver 1 billion gallons of SAF and renewable diesel by 2030.

Founded in 2020, LanzaJet is backed by investors British Airways, LanzaTech, Mitsui, Shell, Suncor Energy, and Southwest Airlines. These investors, as well as supporters All Nippon Airways, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation, and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, have set the stage for our accelerated growth, here in the United States and globally.

LanzaJet’s proprietary sustainable fuels technology has been in development for over 15 years and has been approved and used in global commercial flights by airlines including Virgin Atlantic and ANA.

Ranked #8 for Innovation Culture across U.S. companies by Fortune Magazine, LanzaJet is quickly rising through the ranks as one of the best companies to work for, leading the way across the industry.

In January 2024, LanzaJet opened the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF plant. Located in Soperton, GA, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels will produce 10M gallons of SAF and RD

LanzaJet is catalyzing the next generation of SAF and paving the way for a net-zero future in key regions like Japan, Australia, India, and Europe.

We’re a group of innovators committed to making a sustainable future a reality today. At LanzaJet, we believe Someday is Now – that’s why we’re leading the charge in sustainable fuels.

We’re taking off! Join us and be a part of our fast-growing team!

  About the Role Counsel/Senior Counsel – Commercial The Counsel/Senior Counsel will be the third attorney at our high growth technology company and will be primarily responsible for support of corporate finance, corporate governance and commercial projects, including the negotiation, interpretation, and/or administration of US and

international contracts as we license, develop and finance sustainable fuel projects. Key attributes for success in this role is adaptability to rapidly changing needs and priorities, maturity to address complex structures and problems, ability to evaluate and quickly manage risk exposure, and strong teamwork skills in a fast-paced environment. Key Responsibilities:

• Draft, review, edit, finalize, and negotiate a variety of international and domestic corporate and commercial agreements.

• Support corporate governance needs, including drafting shareholder and director actions, and preparing board and shareholder materials.

• Support corporate finance initiatives, including drafting and negotiation of investment documents, due diligence responses and other investment materials.

• Manage contract documentation/approval flows to ensure consistency with internal processes.

• Assist with the development of streamlined, organized, and efficient policies and procedures for contracts and other legal functions.

• Assist with contract challenges, and other disputes, including understanding the issues, providing guidance on solutions, and drafting settlement agreements.

• Provide proactive and pragmatic counsel and guidance for the accomplishment of overall business objectives of the Company, while fully complying with applicable laws and regulations and avoiding unacceptable risks; perform informed cost-benefit analysis when identifying risks under tight deadlines. This includes supporting and offering improvements to business processes.

• Opportunities to provide support on non-commercial practice area issues (labor and employment, real estate, tax and customs matters etc.).

• Proactively develop and maintain technical knowledge in biofuels, remaining up-to-date on current trends and best practices in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.

• Works autonomously and seeks management input in unusual situations, high complexity issues, and matters that may pose some legal, financial, and/or reputational risk to the company.

• Exercises reasonable judgment to determine when to escalate complex matters or decisions to the General Counsel and outside resources.

  Qualifications:

• In-house legal experience preferred, including supervision of outside counsel.

• At least 3 years prior experience in corporate governance, corporate transactional, contracts negotiation, and/or commercial transaction experience preferably with a background in energy or renewables, governmental contracting, and/or intellectual property. Candidates with significantly more experience than this minimum are encouraged to apply.

• Some experience working with legal policies and procedures and demonstrated ability to identify potential legal issues.

   

• Experience approaching legal matters with a sense of pragmatism and flexibility to recommend solutions that enable our company’s success while protecting its legacy and future.

• Excellent negotiation, consultation, and analytical skills.

• Excellent problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and decision-making skills.

• Strong interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills (including written and verbal).

• Ability to participate and collaborate in meetings with diverse array of customers, vendors, attorneys, management, and other third parties.

• Experience applying knowledge of multidisciplinary business principles and practices to achieve successful outcomes in cross-functional projects and activities.

• Business acumen, with the ability to understand the company’s business objectives and anticipate the legal issues that could arise.

• Well organized, detail-oriented, and adept in a fast-paced environment

• Work under pressure, meet tight deadlines and balance a heavy workload.

• Required to work with the highest level of ethics and discretion.

• Drive results and execution: Identifies issues and raises them so that appropriate actions can be taken to resolve problems or improve the client experience; takes personal ownership to follow through on commitments and achieve results with high quality; and demonstrates a strong bias for action and is able to balance priorities to keep plans on track.

• Think strategically: Aligns own work with broader business strategies and goals; stays aware of the business implications of the biofuels market and SAF industry trends.

• Collaborates: Ensures understanding of how own role fits into the bigger picture, and works with others to advance individual and team goals; seeks information and other points of view, and quickly responds to needs and promotes ideas with energy, urgency, and personal commitment.

• Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements.

  Basic Requirements

• Admission to the Bar in Illinois, or meets the requirements to work as inside counsel in Illinois.

  This position is open to candidates authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employer. LanzaJet is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law.

LanzaJet | Counsel/Senior Counsel                                       

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