Legal Counsel, Real Estate & Construction

ABOUT THE TEAM

Anduril’s Legal Real Estate Team is a resourceful, fast-acting, and creative legal partner to Anduril’s real estate, design, and construction teams. Anduril’s development projects include high-performance manufacturing facilities, cutting-edge R&D spaces, mission-critical secure environments, test sites, and collaborative and flexible office spaces all over the world. Legal Real Estate is a key piece of moving these complex and unique development projects forward on aggressive timelines through contract negotiations, permitting oversight, land due diligence, and energy procurement.

ABOUT THE JOB

We are looking for a highly experienced Real Estate and Construction Attorney to join our rapidly growing legal team in either Costa Mesa, California or Washington D.C. This role will act as a critical legal expert for our real estate, construction, and environmental teams, advising on all aspects of real estate and construction law from an owner/developer/tenant perspective. You will be instrumental in driving the contracts, transactions, and permits necessary to ensure Anduril's facilities are delivered on schedule and in compliance with applicable law.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Draft and negotiate contracts related to Anduril’s development and construction projects, including construction contracts, master services agreements, design professionals agreements, real estate purchase and lease agreements, license and access agreements, and others.
• Support all phases of the transactional life cycle, including letters of intent, due diligence, title and survey, zoning, and internal approvals.
• Provide day-to-day legal advice and support to the real estate, design and construction, and environmental health and safety teams, including land use and entitlement support, air permitting strategy, energy procurement, and environmental review.
• Maintain and improve contract templates and playbooks to reflect current law, regulatory requirements, and market standards.
• Provide real-time guidance to project executives and operational leaders regarding contract interpretation, change order management, schedule impacts, differing site conditions, force majeure events, acceleration claims, and contract notice requirements.
• Manage outside counsel on selected matters, including setting scope, approving budget, reviewing work product, driving timely execution, and maintaining cost discipline consistent with business priorities.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from a top-tier accredited law school.
• A minimum of 7 years of experience practicing construction and real estate law, with a focus on representing owners, developers, or sophisticated tenants in commercial, industrial, or high-tech construction and leasing projects.
• Active membership in good standing with the bar in at least one U.S. state, with the ability to become authorized to practice in California (e.g., through California Bar membership or California Registered In-House Counsel status).
• Demonstrated expertise in drafting, negotiating, and interpreting common construction contract forms, including comprehensive knowledge of AIA (American Institute of Architects) document families (e.g., A101, A201, B101, C401) and ConsensusDocs.
• Strong understanding of various construction project delivery methods (e.g., Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, CM at Risk, GMP).
• Proven ability to manage a large portfolio of concurrent matters in a fast-paced environment, proactively identifying issues and driving projects to completion with urgency and precision.
• Proven ability to provide clear, pragmatic, and business-focused legal advice to executive leadership and project teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with meticulous attention to detail.
• Willing and able to work in Anduril’s Costa Mesa, California or Washington D.C. office full-time. Our team thrives on in-person collaboration so remote/hybrid is not available.
• Willingness to travel to development sites both domestic and international.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior in-house legal experience within a real estate development firm, a company with significant capital expenditures for facility build-outs, or a technology/manufacturing company with a large real estate portfolio.
• Experience with government construction contracting regulations and nuances.
• Knowledge of environmental laws (including NEPA, CEQA, or state equivalents), zoning, and land use regulations as they pertain to large-scale construction and development.
• Experience establishing templates, playbooks and processes from scratch in a rapidly scaling environment.
• Familiarity with prevailing wage requirements, Davis-Bacon Act compliance, or labor regulations applicable to construction projects.
• Experience with construction dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, or pre-litigation claims management.
• Undergraduate degree in engineering, construction management, architecture, or a related technical field.