In-House Legal Counsel

We are an ambitious climate-tech company developing innovative processes to mitigate ocean acidification and realize atmospheric CO₂ removal (so-called “negative emissions”). Our multidisciplinary team combines electrochemistry, mineral processing, and marine systems engineering to turn breakthrough concepts into robust pilot and industrial installations.

We are looking for an In-House Legal Counsel who can support Ocean Ionics as we move from technology development toward demonstration, partnerships, project finance, and commercial scale-up. This is a broad legal role for someone with a strong corporate background, practical contracting skills, and experience with complex innovation or infrastructure projects.

You will work closely with the founders, management team, engineering team, external advisors, investors, project partners, research institutions, suppliers, and public stakeholders.

What you will do

• Lead and coordinate legal work across corporate, commercial, project, and innovation-related matters.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts with partners, suppliers, research institutions, investors, consultants, and demonstration hosts.
• Support corporate governance, shareholder matters, investment rounds, board documentation, and internal decision-making.
• Advise on legal structures for demonstration projects, joint development, project consortia, grants, subsidies, and future infrastructure deployment.
• Manage IP-related agreements, confidentiality, licensing, collaboration frameworks, and technology development arrangements.
• Support permitting, liability, insurance, environmental, marine, and regulatory matters together with specialist external counsel.
• Help structure risk allocation in contracts for pilots, infrastructure projects, equipment supply, EPC-type scopes, and long-term partnerships.
• Translate legal complexity into clear, practical advice for technical and commercial teams.
• Build scalable legal templates, processes, approval routes, and document standards.
• Coordinate external lawyers where specialist expertise is needed.

What we are looking for

• A qualified legal professional with strong corporate and commercial experience.
• Experience in infrastructure, energy, climate-tech, industrial projects, construction, marine, renewables, or other complex project environments.
• Strong understanding of contracting, corporate governance, investment processes, risk allocation, liability, and commercial negotiation.
• Experience with innovation environments, start-ups, scale-ups, R&D collaborations, technology licensing, or public-private partnerships is highly valuable.
• Ability to work with technical teams and understand engineering, project, and scale-up realities.
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage company where legal work ranges from strategic structuring to hands-on document review.
• Pragmatic and business-minded: you protect the company without slowing down responsible progress.
• Clear communicator: you can explain legal risks in plain language and help the team make decisions.
• Optimistic, constructive, and solution-oriented.

Your profile

You are not a lawyer who only says what cannot be done. You help define how things can be done properly.

You understand that Ocean Ionics is building technology, partnerships, and future infrastructure at the same time. That means legal work is not separate from the business; it is part of how the company scales responsibly. You can handle board-level topics, investor questions, project risk, collaboration agreements, supplier contracts, and the occasional urgent NDA without losing the plot.

You bring structure, judgement, and calm. You know when to be strict, when to be pragmatic, and when to bring in specialist external counsel.

Why join Ocean Ionics

• Help build the legal foundation for a serious climate technology company.
• Work at the intersection of innovation, infrastructure, ocean restoration, carbon removal, and project development.
• Be close to strategic decisions, partnerships, financing, and scale-up.
• Join a small team where legal judgement directly shapes the company’s future.
• Build the systems, contracts, and governance needed to move from demonstration to commercial deployment.

Location

Netherlands / Spain / hybrid to be defined, with travel expected for partners, investors, project stakeholders, and demonstration activities.

How to apply

Apply through our contact page with your CV and a short note explaining why this role fits you. We are especially interested in examples where you supported infrastructure projects, innovation companies, investment processes, project partnerships, or complex commercial negotiations.