Senior Legal Counsel

Overview

Gilbane Building Company is seeking an experienced in-house construction attorney to serve as Senior Legal Counsel supporting the Mid-Atlantic Division (Washington, DC/Arlington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New Jersey). This senior legal role serves as a trusted business partner to divisional and project leadership, providing strategic, practical legal counsel across all phases of the construction lifecycle. Responsibilities include commercial contracting, claims management, dispute avoidance, and dispute resolution, risk management, compliance, training, and cross-functional counseling. The ideal candidate is a proactive, business-minded attorney who can balance legal risk with operational objectives, influence outcomes in a fast-paced project environment, and build strong relationships across field operations, project management, estimating, preconstruction, procurement, safety, finance, and executive leadership.

This position will be an integral part of the Legal Department that supports Gilbane Building Company and its subsidiaries. The Senior Legal Counsel will report directly to the Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and will serve as the primary legal advisor to the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Possible locations for this position include Gilbane's Arlington, Baltimore, or Philadelphia office.

Who are we?

As a Top-10 ENR Contractor, Gilbane is a family-owned business with 45 offices that has been shaping communities since 1870. Consistently recognized as one of the most reputable construction management firms in the country, Gilbane is committed to delivering projects safely and on-time. You will have the opportunity to build schools, labs, hospitals, corporate offices, sports arenas and more!

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Who Are You?

You are someone who acts inclusively, showing empathy and treating others with respect and dignity in order to uphold Gilbane's core value of Caring and "People First" workplace culture. You seek to listen in order to understand and can convey information clearly. You're a strong problem solver who can identify, prioritize, and implement alternatives for solutions, and you demonstrate adaptability by collaborating with others and supporting team members to achieve excellence. A self-starter who shows passion, commitment, and ownership all while delivering on business outcomes and driving results. You're someone who identifies opportunities for new and improved ways of doing things that result in value-add solutions.

Your core values match Gilbane's: Integrity, Caring, Teamwork, Toughmindedness, Dedication to Excellence, Discipline, Loyalty, and Entrepreneurship.

What’s in it for you?

Gilbane offers employees multi-dimensional training opportunities through a number of resources. While managing your responsibilities to projects, you will be able to enroll in trainings through our award-winning Gilbane University to build leadership and technical skills. In addition, you would workwith an experienced team which provides you with the opportunityto learn new industry skills every day. You will protect and promote the interests of both Gilbane and the client in all matters as well as demonstrating the personal characteristics of a developing leader.

Responsibilities

The Senior Legal Counsel will provide hands-on advice in the following practice areas for the Company, among others:

Construction Contracts & Commercial Transactions

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of agreements: owner/CM agreements (CMAR/CM-at-Risk, CM as Agent, GMP, Design-Build), design consultant agreements, subcontracts, purchase orders, equipment rental/lease agreements, master supply agreements, NDAs, teaming and JV agreements, lease agreements, and professional services agreements.
• Structure, negotiate, and update contract templates, playbooks, and clause libraries, ensuring alignment with corporate standards and insurance/risk requirements.
• Support public and private sector procurement, bid protests, prequalification, and compliance with RFP/RFQ requirements, including small/diverse business participation.

Claims, Dispute Avoidance & Resolution

• Guide project teams on claim preservation, notice requirements, changes, delay/acceleration/disruption, differing site conditions, constructive changes, defective work, backcharges, and pass-through claims.
• Manage pre-dispute processes (issue escalation, negotiation, mediation, DRBs) and oversee outside counsel for litigation, arbitration, and surety matters as needed.
• Handle lien and bond claims, subcontractor defaults/terminations, and recovery strategies.
• Develop practical protocols for claims documentation.

Strategic Counseling & Business Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to division leadership on strategic business, operational, risk management, and project delivery matters.
• Provide practical legal guidance that supports business objectives while appropriately managing legal and commercial risk.
• Collaborate with operational leaders to develop scalable processes, best practices, and risk mitigation strategies.

Risk Management, Safety, Training & Compliance

• Partner with Risk/Insurance to ensure appropriate insurance strategies are utilized based on project risk profile.
• Counsel on licensing, permitting, mechanic’s lien/bond compliance, prevailing wage, certified payroll, and other public procurement rules.
• Collaborate with Safety on OSHA compliance, incident response, and post-incident reviews.
• Lead training programs for project teams on contract compliance, claims preservation, documentation standards and operational risk management.
• Support ethics/compliance initiatives.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited U.S. law school
• Active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. State Bar
• Ability to obtain in-house registration or other required authorization in applicable jurisdictions, as necessary.

Education and Experience

The ideal Senior Legal Counsel will possess solid academic credentials and 8+ years of progressively responsible legal experience counseling businesses in the practice areas listed above, including at least 3 years of relevant in-house experience. In particular, the ideal candidate will have relevant experience as in-house counsel for a medium-sized or large construction company, will be familiar with public and private contracting for institutional, commercial and residential projects, including developer projects, and possess a demonstrated ability to serve as a trusted advisor to field superintendents, project executives, and division leadership, balancing legal risk with operational challenges.

Preferred Attributes

• Exceptional judgment and problem-solving skills.
• Strong negotiation and influence capabilities.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both legal and non-legal stakeholders.
• Self-starter who thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and exercise sound judgment under tight deadlines.

Travel

The applicant must be willing to travel on occasion, sometimes with short notice. The travel required for the role is estimated at approximately 25%.

Salary to be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience of the applicant, as well as the internal equity and alignment with the team.

The pay ranges from $200,000.00-$270,000.00 plus benefits and retirement program.

Gilbane is an Affiantive Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or disability status.