Contracts Attorney

About the role

Frontline Wildfire Defense is a mission-driven company founded in 2017 by landscape ecologist and fire mitigation expert Harry Statter. We develop and implement the first fully integrated wildfire defense system designed to stop the leading cause of home loss in wildfires: ember-driven ignition. Our system includes exterior sprinklers, full-coverage design, and connected software for remote monitoring and response. During the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, 96% of homes with Frontline systems survived, earning us recognition as one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2025 in the Green Tech category.

Responsibilities

• Own GC agreement negotiation - Serve as primary owner for general contractor contract redlines, change orders, amendments, and supporting paperwork from first draft through execution.
• Negotiate installer subcontract amendments - Take primary responsibility for amendments to installer master subcontracts, ensuring changes preserve our risk position as scope evolves.
• Support the subcontracting engine - Act as the legal escalation and secondary reviewer on installer master subcontract creation and redlining, statements of work, SOW change orders, and time-and-materials agreements.
• Structure construction risk deliberately - Advise on indemnity, insurance and additional insured requirements, waivers of subrogation, lien rights, retainage, liquidated damages, and flow-down provisions.
• Own vendor agreements - Draft, review, and negotiate vendor and procurement agreements across hardware, software, and services.
• Review external NDAs - Serve as primary reviewer for partner and vendor NDAs presented on their paper, and support the General Counsel on strategic partnership agreements.
• Manage collection matters - Partner with Finance on commercial collection issues.
• Be the escalation point for the contracts team - Provide fast, practical answers to the Contracts Manager, Contracts Administrator, and Legal Operations Coordinator on direct-client and owner agreements.
• Back up the General Counsel - Provide support on privacy, regulatory compliance, litigation, employment, and finance-related matters as capacity and expertise allow.
• Balance risk against velocity - Distinguish material risk from theoretical risk and give clear guidance that lets Sales and Operations move.
• Partner cross-functionally - Work directly with Sales, Construction Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Marketing to translate contract terms into operational reality.
• Build the clause library - Develop and maintain contract templates, fallback positions, and negotiation playbooks that let the team resolve routine issues without legal review.
• Raise the team’s ceiling - Train and mentor the Contracts Administrator and Legal Operations Coordinator so more work can be handled at the right level.
• Improve the system - Identify bottlenecks in contract workflow and drive changes that reduce cycle time without increasing risk.
• Support compliance programs - Partner with Legal and Operations on licensing, permitting, insurance, and regulatory compliance initiatives.

Qualifications

• Must-Have:
  • J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school
  • Active license and good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction
  • 5+ years of contract-focused in-house construction legal experience
  • Demonstrated ability to independently redline and negotiate construction subcontracts, MSAs, SOWs, and change orders
  • Strong command of construction risk allocation: indemnity, insurance, additional insured status, liens, retainage, and flow-down terms
  • Experience negotiating vendor, procurement, and commercial agreements
  • Sound commercial judgment - able to give a clear recommendation, not just a list of risks
  • Excellent drafting and written communication
  • Comfortable building process where little exists and operating with limited infrastructure
  • Able to manage a high-volume queue across multiple counterparties and business units in a fast-paced environment
• Nice-to-Have:
  • Licensed in California, Colorado, Washington, or Wyoming, or willing to pursue registered in-house counsel status
  • Familiarity with SaaS agreements, hardware procurement, or hybrid hardware-plus-software business models
  • Experience with consumer- or homeowner-facing contracting and related consumer protection considerations
  • Experience implementing or managing contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems
  • Familiarity with multi-state construction compliance or contractor licensing frameworks
  • Experience supporting finance, audit, or due diligence processes (fundraising, M&A, etc.)
  • Experience utilizing ServiceTitan and Sage Intacct, with a demonstrated track record of implementing new software systems

Pay

$130,000 - $160,000 DOE

Schedule

Remote (U.S. based; must be available to work PST hours)