Deputy General Counsel (Procurement)

Based in Austin, Texas, the Deputy General Counsel, Procurement provides senior legal leadership for the procurement and pursuit of complex transportation and infrastructure projects, particularly projects delivered for state departments of transportation, other public agencies, and private-sector owners. The role serves as a strategic business partner during the front end of project delivery, advising on procurement strategy, proposal development, joint venture and teaming structures, risk allocation, subcontracting approaches, and commercial negotiations from pursuit through contract award.

This position works closely with business development, estimating, procurement, operations, and executive leadership to structure and negotiate joint venture agreements, teaming arrangements, major subcontracts, supplier agreements, professional services agreements, and other procurement-related documents that support successful project pursuits. The Deputy General Counsel, Procurement must possess a deep understanding of public procurement requirements and delivery models and help ensure alignment among owner solicitation requirements, pursuit commitments, joint venture arrangements, and downstream procurement strategies.

What You Will Do:

Procurement strategy and leadership: Serve as the senior legal adviser to business development, estimating, procurement, and project leadership during pursuits and procurements. Provide practical guidance on commercial strategy, risk allocation, procurement structures, and contracting approaches for major transportation and infrastructure opportunities, and communicate significant risks and recommendations to executive leadership.

State departments of transportation, other public agencies, and private-sector owners procurement: Lead legal support for procurements involving state departments of transportation, other public agencies, and private-sector owners, including requests for qualifications, requests for proposals, alternative delivery procurements, best-value competitions, predevelopment agreements, and related procurement processes. Advise on owner requirements, procurement restrictions, certifications, approvals, records obligations, audit rights, and project-specific procurement procedures.

Solicitations and awards: Provide legal support throughout the pursuit lifecycle, including RFQs, RFPs, invitations to bid, bidder exceptions, clarifications, alternative technical concepts, procurement communications, proposal compliance reviews, risk assessments, award recommendations, and contract-award negotiations.

Joint ventures and teaming arrangements: Structure, draft, review, and negotiate joint venture agreements, limited liability company agreements, teaming agreements, memoranda of understanding, governance arrangements, delegated authority provisions, deadlock mechanisms, funding commitments, guarantees, indemnities, defaults, exits, and dispute-resolution provisions that support successful project pursuits and execution.

Risk evaluation and approvals: Identify material commercial, contractual, and procurement risks arising from owner requirements, pursuit commitments, joint venture arrangements, and company standards. Develop practical mitigation strategies and guide matters through project, joint venture, and corporate approval processes.

Prime-contract alignment and flow-downs: Analyze owner contracts, procurement documents, and pursuit commitments and translate applicable requirements into joint venture structures, procurement strategies, and downstream agreements. Ensure alignment of schedule, payment, change, claims, audit, safety, quality, environmental, Buy America, disadvantaged-business-enterprise, prevailing-wage, insurance, bonding, warranty, indemnity, and dispute-resolution obligations.

Subcontracts and major purchases: Develop procurement strategies and lead the preparation, review, and negotiation of major subcontracts, purchase agreements, supply agreements, professional-services agreements, equipment agreements, and other critical commercial arrangements necessary to support project pursuits and preconstruction activities.

Design and professional services: Advise on agreements with designers, engineers, consultants, and other professional service providers, including scope coordination, standard of care, professional liability, intellectual property rights, deliverables, licensing, reliance, and interface risk.

Compliance and integrity: Support compliance with public-procurement laws, ethics and conflict-of-interest requirements, anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, lobbying restrictions, sanctions, third-party diligence requirements, disadvantaged-business-enterprise commitments, prevailing-wage requirements, and applicable federal and state funding obligations.

Insurance, surety, and security: Collaborate with Insurance, Surety, Finance, and project teams to evaluate and structure bonding requirements, parent guarantees, letters of credit, insurance programs, subcontractor default insurance, and other security arrangements that support pursuit and procurement strategies.

Templates, training, and process improvement: Develop and maintain procurement templates, clause libraries, playbooks, approval tools, flow-down matrices, training materials, and best practices that improve procurement efficiency, consistency, speed, and risk management across the organization.

Transition to project execution and claims prevention: Support the transition from procurement to project execution by advising on notices, change management, payment provisions, schedule impacts, defaults, terminations, records preservation, and other contract-administration issues, with a focus on early issue resolution and protection of contractual rights.

Disputes and investigations: Support procurement-related disputes and investigations, including subcontractor, supplier, consultant, joint venture, bid protest, and public-contract matters. Assist with strategy development, document preservation, factual investigations, privilege considerations, and management of outside counsel.

Who You Are:

• Ability to travel periodically to state departments of transportation, other public agencies, and private-sector owners and other locations as business needs require.
• Practical, responsive, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple high-value procurements and competing deadlines independently.
• Strong business judgment, negotiation skills, and the ability to translate complex owner and joint venture requirements into practical procurement guidance.
• Familiarity with federal or state funding requirements, Buy America requirements, disadvantaged-business-enterprise commitments, prevailing-wage requirements, and public-procurement compliance is preferred.
• Experience working with joint venture boards, management committees, project executives, procurement personnel, and cross-functional corporate teams is strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of public-contract flow-down requirements and construction risk allocation, including payment, schedule, changes, claims, indemnity, insurance, bonding, guarantees, warranties, audit, records, compliance, and dispute resolution.
• Demonstrated experience drafting and negotiating joint venture agreements, teaming agreements, governance arrangements, subcontracts, purchase agreements, design or professional services agreements, and other complex project procurement documents.
• Preference will be given to active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• Preference will be given to candidates with direct experience supporting state departments of transportation, other public agencies, and private-sector owners and with significant joint venture, consortium, or teaming-agreement experience.
• Preference will be given to 15+ years of legal experience, including substantial experience with procurement and contract matters for transportation, heavy civil, infrastructure, engineering, or similarly complex project-based businesses.

What You'll Love:

• A collaborative culture that values each member of our team.
• Opportunities for professional growth in a company that values innovation and sustainability.
• Competitive base salary and bonus potential.
• Comprehensive benefits.
• 401(k) match up to 6%.
• Continuing legal education and licensure reimbursement.

Seize the challenge. Move the world together! Innovative, creative, respectful, and diverse are some of the ways we describe ourselves. We are motivated by challenges, and we collaborate across our business units to move the world together. Your journey to a fulfilling career starts here!