Real Estate Finance Associate / Senior Associate

JMC Legal Recruitment; Greater Manchester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Direct mentorship

Hybrid working

Dress-for-your-day policy

Marketing support

Job summary

JMC Legal Recruitment in Manchester seeks a Real Estate Finance Associate with 3+ years PQE to join a dedicated, high-calibre team handling complex borrower and lender transactions. You will draft and negotiate facility agreements, security documents and related paperwork while developing client relationships.

The firm offers strong mentorship from a partner with deep market experience, a collegial culture, and a practical hybrid work model alongside top-tier lenders and borrowers.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor with 3+ years PQE in real estate finance or commercial property.
• Experience drafting facility agreements and security documentation.
• Experience acting for borrowers and/or lenders on property finance matters.

Responsibilities

• Join a tight-knit team handling real estate finance transactions with increasing autonomy.
• Draft and negotiate facility agreements, security packages and related documents.
• Develop client relationships and contribute to a high-quality deal flow.
• Support senior lawyers on complex borrower and lender mandates.

Skills

3+ years PQE

Real estate finance

Commercial property

Client relationships

Team player

Education

Solicitor qualification

Job description

Real Estate Finance Associate | 3+ Years PQE | Legal 500 & Chambers Ranked | Manchester

A strong opportunity for a Real Estate Finance lawyer to join a highly specialised and well-regarded practice, working on complex borrower and lender transactions at a firm that attracts lawyers from Top 30 international practices for all the right reasons.

The Firm

This firm sits within the Top 200 nationally and has built a reputation that consistently attracts lawyers from Top 30 international practices. The draw is simple: better work-life balance, a quality of work that matches or exceeds what they were doing before and a culture that actually lives up to what it promises. Most of the partners have been with the firm for over ten years, staff retention is excellent across the board and the firm's track record speaks for itself.

This is not a revolving-door firm. The people here choose to stay, and the reasons for that become clear quickly. The environment is collegiate, the leadership is accessible and there is a sense that the firm invests in its lawyers for the long term rather than extracting what it can in the short term.

The Team

The Real Estate Finance team is a serious, highly specialised practice within one of Manchester's most established full-service commercial firms. This is not a side offering bolted onto a broader Real Estate department. It is a dedicated, commercially sharp team with real depth, led by a partner with nearly 25 years in the market and a strong track record of delivering complex, high-quality work for an impressive client base.

The team acts for both borrowers and lenders, sitting on some excellent panels and handling work that spans mainstream banks, challenger banks, building societies, specialist and bridging lenders and insolvency office holders.

The breadth of financing structures the team works across is a real differentiator, and the work-life balance on offer is exceptional by any measure.

The Role

You will join a tight-knit team and take on a varied and high-quality caseload of real estate finance transactions, working closely alongside the partner and senior lawyers on complex deals whilst managing your own matters with increasing autonomy as you develop within the team.

Work spans mainstream secured lending through to more specialist, short-term and restructuring-led mandates, acting for both borrowers and lenders across a broad range of financing structures. You will draft and negotiate facility agreements, security packages and associated documentation, develop your client relationships and build your technical expertise across one of the most commercially interesting areas of real estate law.

The team is supportive and invested in the development of its lawyers. For an Associate or Senior Associate looking for a step up in the quality and variety of their work, without sacrificing work-life balance, this is an outstanding platform.

The Ideal Candidate

• Qualified Solicitor with 3+ years PQE in real estate finance or commercial property
• Solid technical grounding across facility agreements, security documentation and real estate finance transactions
• Experience acting for borrowers and/or lenders on property finance matters
• Commercially minded with strong communication skills and an appetite to develop client relationships
• A collaborative team player keen to develop within a specialist and well-regarded practice

What's on Offer

• A role within a highly specialised Real Estate Finance team with a broad and impressive client base
• Borrower and lender work across a wide range of financing structures and panel appointments
• Direct mentorship from a partner with nearly 25 years of market experience
• Competitive salary, hybrid working and a dress-for-your-day policy
• A dedicated marketing function to support your profile and business development activity