Real Estate Counsel

The Role..

We now have a unique opportunity for someone who is passionate about the Soho House brand and business to join our growing legal team as a permanent Real Estate Counsel. 

You will be a UK qualified lawyer (with between 4-8 years post qualification experience) with a proven track record of leading property transactions, drafting and negotiating complex property and commercial contracts, and have a working knowledge of other legal practice areas relevant to the hospitality industry. Private practice training is preferred, and in-house experience - particularly in the hospitality sector - would be an advantage. You will be used to working in fast-paced and diverse commercial environments, working to transactional deadlines and delivering high quality work on a broad range of legal and commercial issues. You will report to the Senior Legal Director and work closely alongside the existing legal team based in both London and New York.

The ideal candidate will have the following attributes:

• Experienced in planning, leading and managing property and development projects, and capable of devising strategy and driving matters forward independently as well as part of a team.
• Strong grounding in commercial property law, with a solid understanding of construction, and a working knowledge of contract and general commercial laws, employment, litigation, intellectual property and finance matters.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation and analytical skills.
• Ability to spot and escalate issues when appropriate, and communicate clearly with senior management and stakeholders.
• Strong oral, communication and problem-solving skills, with an ability to identify issues, evaluate risk and escalate as appropriate.
• Commercially focused and solutions driven.
• Proactive and flexible, with an ability to work independently and as part of a small but dynamic team.
• Ability to manage, prioritize and work on multiple simultaneous workstreams.
• Good inter-personal skills, and a team player.

Key Responsibilities

• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating real estate and construction contracts across the wide range of Soho House & Co group businesses, including agreements for lease, leases, development agreements, operating agreements, promote agreements, JCTs, contactor/sub-contractor/consultant/sub-consultant agreements and collateral warranties, and providing legal advice as required.
• Dealing with all aspects of the group’s leasehold and freehold property portfolio, including consents, alterations, variations, assignments, underlettings and easements.
• Working on international legal projects in conjunction with the legal, finance and senior management teams as well as with local counsel where required.
• Working with the existing legal team as required, including drafting, reviewing and negotiating terms and conditions and commercial agreements.
• Establishing and managing relationships with landlords, external legal counsels and other professional advisors where appropriate while providing support to the operational teams.
• Working effectively with all parts of the business to ensure consistency, efficiency, professionalism and effective communication.
• Developing template contracts and documents for property transactions.
• Helping to manage development and property projects, assisting with the timely completion of transactions, as well as overseeing the storage of key documents in the online dataroom.
• Attending meetings as required and providing updates on areas of responsibility proactively to internal business partners.
• Providing input on legal and business affairs issues (as required) to the legal and senior management teams and ensuring that sound, commercial, solutions-focused advice is provided whenever required.
• Providing guidance on and implementing company policies, procedures and corporate governance to facilitate effective performance, communication and good business practice.
• Ensuring compliance with applicable UK real estate legislation, including by providing internal updates and in-house training on property and tenant issues.