Senior Manager, Legal Counsel

Position Title: Senior Legal Counsel – Commercial Attorney

Location:  Dallas, TX

Your role 

This position, based in Dallas, is an opportunity to join our legal team as a commercial attorney supporting senior attorneys in the legal department as well members of our sales and portfolio management teams. The successful candidate will be diligent, self-motivated and proactive, able to handle and prioritize time-sensitive projects in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, juggle many projects simultaneously, and have demonstrated excellent legal skills, business judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to work independently and in team settings.

Primarily, you will be responsible for drafting, negotiating and advising the business with respect to agreements for datacenter space and ancillary services between Digital and its enterprise customers.  This position would report to the leader (Vice President, Associate General Counsel) of the Legal Commercial team in North America.

As a Senior Legal Counsel, you should be able to offer internal clients with sound advice on risks, legal terms and negotiation strategy with respect to customer transactions for data center space and ancillary services. The role anticipates the ability to take ownership of increasingly complex global transactions from a legal perspective, with discernment to appropriately escalate legal risks.

What you’ll do 

• Draft, negotiate and review agreements for data center space/power and ancillary services, including:

  • Complex, multi-tiered and multi-jurisdictional customer master service agreements, based on Digital’s standard templates and third-party/customer forms.

  • Individual leases, colocation licenses, service agreements and other occupancy agreements, ranging from full-building and multi-suite deals to agreements for caged space or individual racks in colocation environments.

  • Orders, addenda or amendments for ancillary services, such as electrical fit-out work, remote hands services and connectivity.

• Provide legal support to portfolio management and property operations teams related to datacenter customers, including day-to-day matters (tenant inquiries and audits) and more significant projects.
• Support the continuous improvement of standard forms and the development and improvement of policies and procedures for the Legal Department.
• Help evaluate legal strategy with respect to datacenter customers and identify and mitigate risk in the commercial environment.
• Work closely with the business to streamline negotiations and remove barriers to execution to achieve business goals while thoughtfully balancing risk.
• Execute assigned projects, including the development and implementation of processes, as determined by the needs of the Legal Department.

• Manage outside counsel effectively and efficiently.

What you’ll need 

• Juris Doctor from an ABA accredited law school; license in good standing with at least one state bar (with eligibility for in-house counsel registration if necessary)

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant substantive legal experience (law firm and/or corporate legal department). 

• Experience with general real estate leases or technology-related service agreements preferred, and experience with datacenter leases, licenses, service agreements and other agreements strongly preferred.

• Willingness and ability to work with and coordinate activities among a large number of individuals in various departments around Digital Realty’s global footprint, with a focus on the American continent.

• Solid analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

• Comfortable with balancing multiple, competing priorities and changes in scope/direction.

• Self-starter, with the ability to follow through on matters and bring them to resolution in a timely and reasonable manner.

• Detail oriented, friendly, approachable, professional demeanor and disposition.

• Experience with government contracting is a plus.

• Relevant experience in an international environment and a willingness to travel occasionally. Open to dealing with other cultures. 

• A sociable team player with a hands-on approach and a strong urge to work in a result-oriented fashion.

• A flexible and enthusiastic attitude, with the drive and determination to succeed in a competitive sector. Natural tendency to solve problems and make things work.

• A professional independent worker, showing initiative and commitment. Assertive and persuasive. Used to working under pressure and in an environment where a decisive approach leads the team to succeed.

• Must possess a good sense of humor.

• Courage, Passion, customer and teamwork focused, likes to run the extra mile.

A bit about us

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

A bit about our Digital team 

Legal

Our Legal team works in a highly complex global business sector with a diverse range of local, regional and international organizations. From ensuring compliance in different jurisdictions to supporting business teams with customer and supplier contracts, we’re involved in a variety of projects. Working in a dynamic commercial environment, we collaborate with colleagues across different departments and always have a new challenge waiting for us.

What we can offer you

Our rapidly evolving business sector offers the opportunity to be part of a courageous and passionate team who work together to understand and meet the changing needs of our global customers. 

Join us and you’ll be part of a supportive and inclusive environment where you can bring your whole self to work. As part of our team, you’ll get to work with people from different business areas, challenge the way we do things and put your ideas into action. We’ll also give you plenty of development opportunities so you can build a rewarding and successful career with us. 

Our Compensation Philosophy

Digital Realty offers its employees a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions. Central to our compensation philosophy is rewarding our employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned to the company's overall goals and values.

This is an exciting time to join our business so apply now and make your mark on our future.

Notes:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Digital Realty is an equal opportunity employer, EOE/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled.  All applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, or other status protected by law or Company policy.

Digital Realty is a publicly traded company (NYSE: DLR) with investment grade ratings from all three major ratings agencies.

Please do not forward unsolicited resumes to any employee of Digital Realty and its subsidiaries. Digital Realty is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited referrals.