Senior Legal Director, Real Estate

This is an opportunity to join Digital Realty’s global Legal, Risk, Sustainability & Compliance (LRSC) team as Senior Legal Director leading the Real Estate, Infrastructure & Procurement team.  Reporting to the SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Global Commercial & Real Estate/Ops, this role serves as the senior legal lead for North America supporting real estate development, construction, infrastructure and procurement activities across our data center platform. You will provide strategic, business-oriented legal counsel on complex transactions and oversee a team of legal professionals supporting these functions.

You will partner closely with Development, Design & Construction, Portfolio Management, Energy, Procurement, Operations, Investments and Finance teams to enable execution of large-scale data center projects while ensuring appropriate risk management and alignment with Digital Realty’s commercial and operational objectives.

What You’ll do

Leadership and Team Management

• Lead and develop the North America legal team supporting real estate, infrastructure, construction and procurement.
• Set priorities, allocate work, and support the professional development of team members.
• Act as escalation point for complex or high-risk legal matters.
• Drive consistency in legal positions, templates and negotiation strategies across NAM.

Strategic Legal Advisory

• Serve as senior legal advisor to Development, Construction, Procurement and Operations teams, and advise and collaborate with Investments, Finance, and Legal teams to align project with financing and commercial objectives.
• Provide strategic counsel on data center development, ownership and operational matters, including joint ventures, easements, entitlements and infrastructure projects. 
• Support structuring and execution of large-scale, multi-site and multi-jurisdictional infrastructure projects.
• Align legal strategy with commercial objectives, delivery timelines, and operational requirements.

Transactions and Contracting

• Oversee and support the drafting and negotiation of:
• Construction, design and development agreements
• Procurement and master service agreements (equipment, materials and services)
• Infrastructure agreements, including for campus developments, reciprocal easements, and similar.
• Real estate documentation related to development and operations
• Provide guidance on complex, multi-tiered and multi-jurisdictional contracting strategies. 
• Ensure appropriate risk allocation and consistency with company standards.

Risk Management and Governance

• Identify, assess and mitigate legal and commercial risks across development, construction and procurement activities.
• Provide clear guidance on liability, contractual risk allocation, and negotiation strategy.
• Ensure adherence to internal policies, approval processes and governance frameworks.
• Support dispute management and resolution for construction and supplier-related matters.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with internal stakeholders (Development, Engineering, Energy, Procurement, Finance, Investments and Operations) to facilitate execution of projects.
• Work closely with global legal teams to ensure alignment on standards, processes and positions.
• Support enterprise-wide initiatives and cross-regional projects.

Process Improvement and Efficiency

• Drive continuous improvement of templates, playbooks and contracting processes.
• Streamline negotiations and remove barriers to execution while maintaining appropriate legal protections. 
• Implement scalable processes to support the growth of the NAM platform.

External Counsel Management

• Oversee engagement and management of outside counsel for specialized real estate, construction or procurement matters.
• Ensure efficient use of external legal resources and budget control.

What you will need

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school
• Admitted to the bar and in good standing or otherwise authorized to practice law (e.g., have registered in-house status) in the state in which the position is located.
• Minimum 12-15 years of relevant legal experience (law firm and/or in-house), with strong focus on:
• Real estate development and transactions (data center development a significant plus)
• Construction and infrastructure projects
• Procurement and commercial contracting
• Extensive experience in negotiating complex agreements (construction, MSAs, procurement and real estate).
• Strong business and commercial judgment, with ability to balance risk and execution. 
• Proven leadership experience managing and developing legal teams. 
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth, international environment.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• A highly strategic, commercially minded legal leader with deep experience in real estate and infrastructure development. This individual combines strong technical expertise with leadership capability, enabling the business to execute complex data center projects at scale while effectively managing legal and commercial risk.

Additional Information
The responsibilities described above are not exhaustive. Additional duties may be assigned at any time, with or without notice, at Digital Realty’s discretion.

A bit about us

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

A bit about our team 

Legal

Our Legal team works in a highly complex global business sector with a diverse range of local, regional and international organizations. From ensuring compliance in different jurisdictions to supporting business teams with customer and supplier contracts, we’re involved in a variety of projects. Working in a dynamic commercial environment, we collaborate with colleagues across different departments and always have a new challenge waiting for us.

What we can offer you

Our rapidly evolving business sector offers the opportunity to be part of a courageous and passionate team who work together to understand and meet the changing needs of our global customers. 

Join us and you’ll be part of a supportive and inclusive environment where you can bring your whole self to work. As part of our team, you’ll get to work with people from different business areas, challenge the way we do things and put your ideas into action. We’ll also give you plenty of development opportunities so you can build a rewarding and successful career with us. 

Health and Safety

Safety isnt just a priority here at Digital; its critical to everything we do. Safeguarding lives, protecting assets, and securing data arent just ideals - theyre essential pillars of our commitment to excellence for our people, our partners and our customers. We have a culture of care where every member of Team Digital embraces a relentless pursuit of working safely across Digital Realty. Together we are Safely Powering Progress.

Our Compensation Philosophy

Digital Realty offers its employees a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions. Central to our compensation philosophy is rewarding our employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned to the companys overall goals and values.

Apply today, take charge of your career and grow your talents with us.

NOTES:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Digital Realty is an equal opportunity employer, EOE/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled.  All applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, or other status protected by law or Company policy.

Digital Realty is a publicly traded company (NYSE: DLR) with investment grade ratings from all three major ratings agencies.

Please do not forward unsolicited resumes to any employee of Digital Realty and its subsidiaries. Digital Realty is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited referrals.