SABRE Senior Associate (REF)

Clifford Chance; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading international law firm in London is seeking a Mid-Senior Lawyer to join its Real Estate Finance team. This role includes advising clients on complex transactions, managing cross-border teams, and delivering tailored legal services. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in real estate finance, excellent document drafting capabilities, and a commitment to client relationship management. This position offers hybrid working and opportunities for personal and professional development.

Benefits

Mentorship culture

Broad range of benefits including financial wellbeing

Equal opportunities and inclusion

Qualifications

• Experience in real estate finance with a leading practice.
• Proven legal skills and strong reputation for providing commercial solutions.
• Excellent document drafting and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Advise clients on legal aspects of finance transactions.
• Draft legal documents and structure deals.
• Manage and supervise transaction parties.

Skills

Business Development

Organizational Management

Strong Communication

Analytical Skills

Document Drafting

Education

Outstanding academic history in law

Tools

Microsoft Powerpoint

Microsoft Excel

Job description

The role

Our Real Estate Finance team is consistently ranked as Tier 1 in both Chambers and Legal 500. The team covers transactions in the UK and Europe often pan-Euro or cross-border.

The team provides the clients with a single source of multi-disciplinary advice that covers all aspects of the transactions which we are engaged on (finance, real estate, tax, corporate, capital markets and restructuring advice). We have continued to invest in those teams throughout most of the major economies in Europe so that we can provide a one stop shop service for cross-border deals distinguishing us from competitors who lack that network.

Our combined expertise spans the complete spectrum of asset classes involving real estate finance products and sectors including the following types of deals :

• investment finance including top tier sponsor transactions
• development finance
• loan-on-loan and other back leverage structures (teaming up with our New York office on repo financing where relevant)
• Senior / mezz finance
• CMBS
• crossover real estate infrastructure finance (including data centres)
• restructurings and work-outs
• performing and non-performing loan portfolio sales purchases and financings
• CRE CLOs and other structured deals financing commercial real estate assets

We advise across the entire range of market participants including investment banks, credit funds, asset managers, sponsors and arrangers. Our wider team also advises and is involved in industry discussions with governments and regulators and industry bodies / committees (e.g. the LMA whom we advise alongside AOS) and rating agencies.

Who you will work with

You will be part of our combined Real Estate Finance & Structured Debt team which is at the cutting edge of the market. Uniquely among our competitors we combine our real estate finance and our structured debt practice into one group thereby enabling our team to advise on all aspects of the transactions listed above.

The Real Estate Finance and Structured Debt team in London is made up of 13 Partners with six covering Real Estate Finance and approximately 45 lawyers and 16 trainees.

What you will be responsible for

You will advise clients on all aspects of the transactions listed above. You will be regularly working as part of cross-border and interdisciplinary teams essential to the delivery of the transactions we cover for our clients.

As a lawyer your remit will be to :

• Draft core legal documents or (on top tier sponsor deals) advise on the key deal points and mark-up the main documents.
• Apply your legal expertise to help structure the deals.
• Lead (alongside the file partners) the transaction management of the above deals which will often entail leading a team of colleagues drawn from across various practice areas and offices.
• Deliver clear commercial and market‑informed concise and tailored legal advice to clients.
• Drive the execution process.
• Manage and supervise other transaction parties including the wider CC team, external local counsel, junior lawyers and trainees and delegate appropriately.
• Help to develop client relationships including through management of fee budgets and reporting of the same to clients, client training and networking. Sharing intel from the same in discussions with the partners and other Seniors.
• Drive the efficient delivery of our transactions by using our multiple best delivery tools: e.g. templates, paralegal teams, Legal Project Managers, legal tech tools including AI.

Qualifications : Your experience

A Mid‑Senior Lawyer who can demonstrate experience and developing expertise in real estate finance. Your knowledge and experience will probably have been gained at a leading practice with a reputation for work in this market.

An outstanding academic history and proven first‑rate legal skills combined with a strong reputation amongst existing clients for providing commercial solutions to complex problems and demonstrating excellent transaction management skills.

You will be able to demonstrate excellent document drafting skills with strong communication and analytical skills with a high level of commercial awareness. We will seek out team members with very strong communication and interpersonal skills.

You will have a strong track record of working collaboratively with multi‑jurisdictional and multi‑disciplinary teams. You should be resilient, self‑motivated and comfortable working in a fast‑paced high‑pressure environment while operating within a supportive framework provided by partners.

It is crucial that you can demonstrate an appetite for self‑driven technical development, business development and client relationship management.

How we will support you

From your first day with us you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and develop your skills and knowledge. We offer a mentorship culture e.g. you will have a career development partner assigned to you with whom you can discuss all aspects of your career development in a confidential setting with a second partner named should you ever want another view or a different listening post.

You will receive formal training on all aspects of our practice both on technical skills and soft skills, legal updates from our knowledge team together with informal coaching and mentoring. You will be actively supervised and mentored by partners on matters and so benefit from on‑the‑job learning.

The partners will always take the time to provide guidance whenever it is sought; we proactively ask that team members say when they would like some help. Our group has a resource manager to assist with the staffing of transactions to ensure a fair allocation of matters as well as dedicated HR support.

Hybrid working

This role follows our balanced hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow you will be supported to work in a hybrid way with the expectation of working from the office for a minimum of 50% of your time.

What we offer including our broad range of benefits and working environment

When you join Clifford Chance you will have access to a broad range of benefits to support you across many aspects of your personal and professional life including financial wellbeing, lifestyle and family‑friendly benefits. For more information on what we offer specifically in the UK please visit our What We Offer page on our career site.

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age. This applies to recruitment and selection terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm.

Find out more about our inclusive culture here

#LI-Hybrid

Information

Remote Work: No

Employment Type: Contract

Key Skills

Business Development, Organizational Management, GAAP, Accounting, Analysis Skills, Meeting Facilitation, Microsoft Powerpoint, Investment Banking, Microsoft Excel, Private equity, Financial Modeling, Writing Skills

Experience: years

Vacancy: 1