Legal Transaction Advisor - Solar Mini-Grids

About the role

Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is recruiting a Legal Transaction Advisor for a client that develops and operates solar mini-grids for rural and peri-urban communities and commercial-and-industrial (C&I) energy projects in Nigeria. The role covers active financing and investor processes, new project entities and a growing project pipeline. The advisor advances legal work through diligence, documentation, signing and close, strengthens project contracts and corporate governance, and leaves practical legal and regulatory controls for internal teams. The position reports to the CEO, starts in December 2026 and runs for 18 months.

Key responsibilities

• Lead legal diligence and documentation for an active debt financing and C&I investor process, including term sheets, facility and security documents, conditions precedent, closing checklists and coordination with lenders and counsel.
• Review and negotiate mini-grid and C&I project contracts: PPAs and offtake, concessions, shareholder and land/community agreements, and EPC and O&M interfaces.
• Put HoldCo and project-SPV governance in place through intercompany agreements, corporate approvals, shareholder rights and ring-fencing, and document cash waterfalls and lender covenants with the finance team.
• Review mini-grid licensing, state-level electricity requirements, corporate filings and land, community, grant, environmental and social compliance against lender and investor standards.
• Coordinate legal inputs to local and foreign investor diligence, maintain the legal data room, approvals and covenant register, issues log and post-closing obligations.
• Document legal templates and transaction records, and train designated legal and ESG colleagues to own contracts, governance and compliance at handover.

Required profile

• Law degree and senior transactional legal experience in African renewable energy, infrastructure or project finance.
• Experience personally drafting and negotiating finance and project agreements through signing or close, leading legal diligence, implementing HoldCo/SPV structures and mentoring lean teams.
• Fluent English is essential; additional Nigerian language is helpful but not required.
• Nigeria mini-grid experience strongly preferred; knowledge of NERC/REA, state licensing, CAC/CAMA and DFI E&S standards is valued.

Required skills

• Finance and security documents, term sheets, conditions precedent, covenants, corporate approvals and legal data rooms.
• PPAs/offtake, concessions, EPC/O&M, shareholder and intercompany agreements, land and community arrangements.
• Own legal drafting, negotiation, document control and issue escalation.

Working arrangement: hybrid, Nigeria-based with remote work possible for documentation, and regular project site and transaction visits. The contract is for 18 months starting December 2026.