VP - Land & Legal (Renewable Energy)-.

Job Description: VP - Land & Legal (Renewable Energy).

Experience: 20+ Years.

Qualification: Minimum LLB (mandatory; additional legal or management qualifications preferred).

Location: Pan-India (extensive travel required).

Industry: Renewable Energy (Solar, Wind, Hybrid, Green Hydrogen preferred).

Role Overview:

- The VP - Land & Legal will lead all land acquisition, legal, regulatory, and compliance functions for renewable energy projects across India.

- This senior leadership role demands extensive legal expertise, strong pan-India advocacy skills, and deep understanding of land laws, regulatory frameworks, government liaison, and project development for utility-scale renewable energy assets.

Key Responsibilities:

Land Acquisition & Due Diligence:

- Lead end-to-end land acquisition processes for solar, wind, and hybrid renewable projects across states.

- Conduct detailed legal due diligence on land titles, ownership, encumbrances, revenue records, and acquisition feasibility.

- Oversee negotiations with landowners, aggregators, and local stakeholders.

- Ensure compliance with state-specific land conversion, land ceiling, stamp duty, mutation, and registration laws.

Legal Strategy & Advisory:

- Provide expert legal opinions on land transactions, PPAs, EPC contracts, ISTS/STS regulatory compliance, and project development documents.

- Draft, review, and vet agreements including sale deeds, lease deeds, right-of-way agreements, EPC/O&M contracts, JV agreements, NDAs, etc.

- Mitigate legal risks and create robust contract structures to safeguard company interests.

Advocacy & Litigation Management:

- Handle pan-India litigation related to land disputes, regulatory issues, contractual claims, and compliance matters.

- Represent the organization before courts, tribunals, revenue authorities, and regulatory bodies.

- Manage external law firms and counsel for critical litigations.

Regulatory & Compliance :

- Ensure adherence to central and state statutory requirements related to land, environment, forest, renewable energy policies, and electricity regulations.

- Maintain strong working relationships with state revenue departments, electricity regulatory commissions, SLDCs, and other government authorities.

- Track changes in renewable energy regulations, land laws, and policy frameworks; advise leadership on strategic implications.

Stakeholder & Government Liaison:

- Establish relationships with state/central ministries, local administration, utilities, DISCOMs, and regulatory authorities.

- Ensure seamless project development by enabling approvals, right-of-way permissions, and statutory clearances.

Leadership & Team Management:

- Lead and mentor pan-India legal and land acquisition teams.

- Drive best practices, process governance, and risk-control frameworks for legal and land functions.

- Contribute to strategic planning for new renewable markets and project pipeline expansion.

Key Requirements & Skills:

- LLB is mandatory; LLM or MBA (Law/Business) preferred.

- 20+ years of legal experience, with at least 10 years in renewable energy, power, infrastructure, or related sectors.

- Proven expertise in pan-India land acquisition, revenue laws, land due diligence, and regulatory norms.

- Strong advocacy experience with the ability to represent matters independently.

- In-depth understanding of Electricity Act, RPO/SERC regulations, energy policies, SECI/NTPC bids, and contract law.

- Excellent negotiation, leadership, government liaison, and stakeholder management skills.

- Ability to travel extensively across project locations.

Preferred Background.

- Experience with leading IPPs, renewable energy developers, utility companies, or large infrastructure firms.

- Track record of securing land for 500 MW+ renewable energy projects.

- Familiarity with wind resource assessment corridors, solar park regulations, and hybrid/RTC project land requirements.