Senior Corporate Counsel - Economic Development & External Relations

At Rowan Digital Infrastructure, we are transforming data center delivery for speed and scale. Our mission is to deliver best-in-class data center solutions to hyperscale customers who share our commitment to sustainability, and to do so with an unwavering focus on efficiency, quality, and flexibility. Our data center solutions are tailored to our customers’ needs and delivered by our exceptional end-to-end team.

Rowan is assembling a strategic portfolio of data center sites in Tier 1 markets across the United States at various stages of development, and we’re looking for incredible and passionate people to help us advance our company and our commitment to building a more sustainable future.

Rowan is backed by Quinbrook, a leading investor in the energy transition, and Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager.

As Senior Corporate Counsel – Economic Development & External Relations you will play an integral role in supporting Rowan’s Economic Development and External Affairs (EDX) team. The team handles a variety of matters for the company, including Economic Development, Government and Community Affairs, Public Relations and Communications, as well as Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy. The successful candidate will have deep and diverse experience with economic incentives, local and state legislation and regulatory proceedings, government relations, strategic communications, community relations and more.

This role will negotiate economic incentives and community benefit agreements and advise leaders across Rowan on regulatory, legislative, public relations, and community affairs matters. In this role, you will help Rowan engage with and positively impact the communities that we’re a part of. To succeed, candidates need to be strong legal advisors, and also have good commercial judgment.

Travel: Ability to travel up to 30% to meet with government and other external stakeholders, as well as team and company events

Location: Denver, CO strongly preferred (Seattle office or remote may be considered for an exceptional candidate)

Compensation: $150k - $175k (Offers Bonus)

• Structure, draft and negotiate economic incentives, community benefits, development, and utility agreements and related economic development documentation

• Represent Rowan in proceedings, meetings, engagement sessions, and hearings with community partners, government officials, policymakers, and other key stakeholders

• Coordinate Rowan’s strategy for state and local legislative and regulatory matters affecting development, energy, water, tax policy, and land use

• Advise on land use, entitlement, and permitting actions and respond to inquires, audits, and other requests.

• Provide counsel on political engagement such as lobbying and political campaigns

• Manage outside counsel and other partners across multiple jurisdictions

• Assist with the development of internal policies, playbooks, and precedent documents

• Serve as a partner to teams across Rowan to develop strong project de-risking and execution strategies

• JD from an accredited U.S. law school and active license to practice law in the jurisdiction where you live

• Mid-level attorney (5-7 years’ of experience) with at least 4+ years’ of experience focused on regulatory and/or governmental affairs and engagement, economic incentives and community benefits, policy making, and land use

• Strong drafting, negotiation, and communication skills

• Ability to manage outside counsel and oversee multiple high-priority projects simultaneously

• Experience providing legal counsel for data centers or other industries involving complex land development

• Experience working for or with hyperscale data center companies, including co-location and cloud companies (Preferred)

• Experience managing multiple high-priority projects simultaneously; excellent communication and collaboration skills across different levels; strong organizational skills;
  Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment

• Comfort with ambiguity and a growth mindset

At Rowan, we are a distributed team united by a…