Senior Contracts Counsel

Overview

Are you a skilled legal professional with deep experience in construction and design contracts? Are you looking for a role where you can shape strategy, collaborate with senior leaders, and have a meaningful impact on a company’s long-term success? If so, we want to hear from you!

As Senior Contracts Counsel, you will be a key legal advisor to a wide range of business teams in our vertically integrated company, with a special focus on construction and design contracts. This role offers the unique opportunity to develop and implement best practices that drive efficiency and mitigate risk, ensuring our contracts align with business objectives and industry standards. You’ll be a strategic partner to project managers and senior leaders, providing practical, solutions-oriented guidance while playing a critical role in high-profile projects. If you're a proactive, business-minded attorney who thrives in a fast-paced environment, this is your chance to make a significant impact.

What You’ll Do

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of contracts, including construction contracts, architects’ and design agreements, consulting agreements, service agreements, and more.

• Develop and implement construction contract and risk management strategies in collaboration with senior leadership.

• Create, implement, and improve standard agreements and templates, including standard form owner-contractor agreements and riders to common AIA forms.

• Provide clear, business-focused legal advice on complex contract matters, including interpretation, negotiation, and risk management.

• Collaborate closely with project managers, cross-functional teams, and external partners to keep projects on track and protect WS’s interests.

• Advise business teams on RFPs for major construction contracts to ensure alignment with company objectives.

• Analyzing and interpreting complex legal documents related to construction, design, and other disciplines and providing practical, business-oriented advice informed by a sophisticated understanding of contractual leverage, relationships, and risk.

• Conduct training sessions for internal teams to enhance contract awareness and risk mitigation strategies.

• Oversee and manage outside counsel when needed.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of experience with a law firm or in-house legal team, with significant experience drafting and negotiating construction contracts and architects’ agreements (including expertise with AIA forms).

• Deep understanding of contract negotiation, dispute resolution, and risk management in a way that advances business goals.

• A practical, solutions-oriented approach with the ability to balance legal risks and business objectives.

• Strong negotiation, analytical, and drafting skills with exceptional attention to detail.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with senior leaders and business teams.

• A self-starter mindset—someone who takes ownership, anticipates challenges, and develops creative solutions.

• Strong project management and multitasking abilities, with the ability to handle a high-volume workload in a fast-paced environment.

• Sound judgment in knowing when to resolve issues independently and when to escalate matters to senior leadership.

• A team player who thrives in a collaborative environment and contributes positively to company culture.

Why Join Us?

This is more than just a legal role—it’s an opportunity to shape processes, drive improvements, and become a key advisor within an exciting company that is growing and evolving. You’ll work closely with the General Counsel and the Legal Director of Operations to help guide legal strategy, and, as we continue to expand, there may be opportunities to supervise other attorneys or paralegals. If you're looking for a role where your legal expertise will be valued, where you can make an immediate impact, and where there’s real potential for growth, please contact us.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Licensed and in good standing to practice law in a U.S. jurisdiction.
• Experience negotiating construction contracts in Massachusetts, along with admission to practice in Massachusetts, is preferred.
• Experience with multi-unit retail, mixed-use commercial projects, or ground-up construction is a plus.

About WS Development

Massachusetts-based WS Development is a mixed-use developer with a singular mission: creating places people want to be. With an approach that values art, science, innovation and, above all else, people, WS strives to engage each community it serves with best-in-class experiences, designed with our customers, tenants and partners in mind. Established in 1990, WS is one of few vertically-integrated real estate companies that conceptualizes, owns, operates and leases more than 100 properties that range from cutting-edge urban spaces to lifestyle and community centers. With over 22 million square feet of existing space and an additional nine million square feet under development, it is one of the largest privately-owned development firms in the country.

WS is where great ideas and great people come together to design, build, and operate some of the best loved real estate projects in the country. We live at the intersection of entrepreneurship and establishment. We have the infrastructure of decades supporting a culture of free-thinking excellence.

We expect every WS employee to feel welcomed and valued irrespective of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, and life experiences. Or for any other reason.