Legal Director, Maritime (Menlo Park, CA, Los Angeles, CA or New York, NY, U.S.A.) (884-SLS)

Our client is an integrated family office serving the investments, activities and foundations of its founders and their family, and seeks to add a Legal Director, Maritime to its legal team. For those who love all things connected to the maritime world, this is an extraordinary and rare in-house opportunity for you.

The entities associated with our client employ over 800 employees, ranging from foundation staff, program managers, investment professionals, finance and accounting staff, property managers, pilots, sailors, scientists, and a diverse range of other individuals. Our client is the provider of centralized shared services, including legal, tax, finance, HR and other services, for these entities and their employees and oversees the management of the organization’s vast maritime assets, including motor yachts, sailing boats, exploration and research vessels and other watercraft that are located around the world. Preferably, this role would operate out of any of our client’s primary U.S. offices (Menlo Park, CA, Los Angeles or New York City). 

As a member of our client’s legal team, this attorney will be responsible for representing and counseling the organization and other associated entities on all legal matters involving their maritime operations and assets. The ideal candidate will possess an exceptional educational and professional record, including at least 8+ years of experience working as an attorney specifically related to maritime operations and asset management with training of at least 6 years at a preeminent law firm specializing in international maritime law. Deep knowledge of the lifecycle of maritime assets (including mega yachts, new builds, acquisitions and dispositions, maintenance and refits, crewing, etc.) and a strong working knowledge of maritime employment law in multiple jurisdictions (U.S., Cayman Islands, Marshall Islands, Guernsey, Jamaica, Mediterranean) is required. Familiarity with maritime insurance procedures and domestic and international incidents (e.g. casualty, pollution, salvage, piracy) resolution is also required. They will be a self-starter with strong business acumen and superb problem-solving skills. Integrity, trust and mutual respect for colleagues across functions and at all levels of an organization is a must. Bonus points if the candidate has multilingual capabilities including reading and communication proficiency in Spanish, Italian and/or French (in addition to English).

• Draft and negotiate contracts regarding the constructionof new maritime vessels, conversions and repairs, and the acquisition and disposition of existing maritime vessels joining and departing the fleet.
• Collaborate with the family office’s Director of Maritime Operations and other family office business units and associated entities and organizations that manage certain of the office’s vessels, and other associated entities that own and operate their own maritime assets, to manage and oversee all legal aspects of vessel operations, including registration, flag, class and other permitting matters, dockage, out-of-water storage and maintenance, employment of staff and crew, engagement of independent contractors and third party management companies and charter brokers.
• Draft and negotiate commercial agreements, including, but not limited to, vendor, supplier, insurer, consulting, management, broker, shipyard, charter, and seafarer employment agreements.
• Work with internal and external personnel to address the real-time maritime needs of the family office’s principals, family and friends.
• Collaborate and communicate with all departments of the family office involved in maritime activities, including IT, HR, tax, finance and insurance. 
• Provide periodic and ad-hoc reports to relevant stakeholders in the organizations.
• Identify and manage outside counsel, including international maritime counsel as needed.
• Work collaboratively with the legal, finance, operations and business units to develop practical maritime legal processes, and standardized templates with approved alternative clauses for specific recurring purposes (e.g. shipyard refit agreements, contractor agreements, etc.).

The current targeted base salary for this position ranges from $250K - $300K, plus an annual discretionary bonus. Actual compensation will be determined based on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, years of directly relevant experience, and geographic location.

Solutus has been selected as the exclusive representative for this search. Candidates applying directly to our client will be redirected to Solutus for consideration.

Ref. #884-SLS