Legal Consultant

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

This Opportunity:

Palladium recently received a Convergence Asia Climate Solutions Design Grant to structure The Nature Catalyst, a financial platform which aims to unlock $500M USD in investments for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across Southeast Asia, targeting the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors in Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos. Leveraging a blended finance model, the Catalyst combines grant funding with investment capital to de-risk and accelerate early-stage NbS pipelines and generate adequate returns on investments in the long-run.

The solution's dual-facility structure comprises: (1) the Nature Catalyst Incubation Facility (NCIF), which aims to offer performance-based grants and technical assistance (TA) to local pipeline developers, and grants to strengthen NbS projects; and (2) the Nature Catalyst Venture Debt Fund , which will provide tailored finance (e.g., bridge loans, revenue-based loans, and convertible debt) to support NbS projects and enterprises across seed, venture, and early growth stages. The Catalyst aims to raise capital from public concessional finance sources, family offices, private foundations, and corporates.

Palladium is seeking a Legal Consultant to provide expert legal and tax advisory services to support the design and operationalization of the fund.

Period of Performance

This consultancy is for a maximum of 5 days between November 1, 2025, and January 15, 2026. Daily compensation to be negotiated.

This consultancy will be managed by the Project Director out of Palladium's Washington D.C. office. The consultant will work closely with Palladium's partner Impact Earth to deliver the work.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

Legal Structure Options

• Assess and recommend viable legal structures for a regional impact fund operating across multiple jurisdictions.
• Compare incorporation options and implications for governance, liability, and compliance.

Tax Advisory:

• Provide guidance on tax obligations and incentives for fund operations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, and Laos.
• Advise on cross-border tax considerations, including withholding taxes, double taxation treaties, and repatriation of returns.

Regulatory Compliance:

• Identify licensing, registration, and reporting requirements for investment funds in each jurisdiction.
• Advise on anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) compliance frameworks.

Documentation Support:

• Draft or review legal documents related to fund formation and operations.
• Prepare a summary report outlining recommended structures and tax strategies.

Essential Criteria

• Advanced degree in Law (JD or equivalent) and license to practice in at least one relevant jurisdiction.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in corporate law, investment fund structuring, and tax advisory.
• Demonstrated expertise in Southeast Asian legal and tax frameworks.
• Strong analytical, research, and drafting skills.
• Ability to work independently and proactively under tight timelines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English; proficiency in local languages is an asset.

Desirable Criteria:

• Prior experience advising on impact investment funds or blended finance structures.
• Familiarity with ESG and climate finance regulations.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as "the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm". We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.