Managing Associate Solicitor

Capio Recruitment; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

6% pension

Private medical

Discounted parking

Job summary

Capio Recruitment is helping a Top 100 law firm recruit a Managing Associate to lead the housebuilding team in Leeds. You’ll handle on-site acquisitions, land assembly and disposals, and support partner with junior fee-earner management.

You’ll draft core transactional documents and mentor solicitors, trainees, and paralegals while expanding the housebuilding client base and contributing to BD efforts.

Qualifications

• 6+ years' PQE in real estate or housing.
• Strong experience in housebuilder site acquisition and development work.
• Ability to manage a demanding transactional caseload with tight deadlines.
• Strong relationship-building and client management skills.

Responsibilities

• Run site acquisitions, land assembly and disposal transactions for housebuilders.
• Draft and negotiate option, promotion, leases and overage provisions.
• Manage acquisition-to-sale handover and brief internal teams.
• Supervise and develop junior fee-earners and support partners.
• Support business development and client origination.
• Help grow the housebuilding client base and external profile.
• Maintain current housing-sector knowledge and CPD.

Skills

Housebuilding transactions

Site acquisitions

Property development

Client relationship mgmt

Job description

Hybrid working | 6% pension | Private medical | Discounted parking

About the Role

An award winning, Top 100 law firm with a strong reputation in the housing and real estate sector is looking for a Managing Associate to join the Housebuilding team. This is a genuine opportunity to help grow and shape the firm's offering to housebuilder clients, working on site acquisitions, site assembly, disposals and wider property-led project work.

What You’ll Be Doing

Working alongside the housebuilding partners and fee earners, you’ll play a central role in delivering new build residential development work, including:

• Running site acquisitions, land assembly and disposal transactions across a mix of national housebuilders, regional developers and smaller SME clients, including full due diligence (title, planning, overage, restrictive covenants) and associated reporting
• Drafting and negotiating the core transactional document suite: option agreements, promotion agreements, conditional and unconditional building leases, overage/clawback provisions, transfers and legal reports on title
• Managing the acquisition-to-sale handover process, briefing internal teams on infrastructure, estate set-up and plot sales ahead of first legal completions
• Supervising, delegating to and reviewing the output of solicitors, trainees and paralegals, and supporting partners with junior fee-earner management
• Contributing to service delivery standards and expansion of the housebuilding client base
• Supporting departmental business development, including client relationship management and new-work origination
• Helping build the external profile of the firm’s wider Built Environment practice (real estate, planning, construction, property litigation)
• Maintaining current technical knowledge of housing-sector legislation and case law, and undertaking CPD

What They’re Looking For

• 6+ years' PQE
• Strong experience in housebuilder site acquisition and development work
• Capacity to manage a demanding transactional caseload against tight completion timescales without dropping accuracy and client service
• Strong relationship-building skills with clients and introducers, including a willingness to attend off-site meetings as needed