Senior Counsel – Real Estate, Corporate & Development

Socket.dev; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

PopStroke seeks a Senior Counsel – Real Estate, Corporate & Development to partner with the General Counsel and leadership. You will support aggressive expansion through sophisticated commercial real estate transactions, ground leases, acquisitions, and development, while guiding a fast-growing hospitality business on corporate matters.

You’ll work across Real Estate, Operations, Risk, and Corporate teams to mitigate risk and enable growth, reporting to the General Counsel in Plano, Texas.

Qualifications

• Active member of the Texas Bar in good standing.
• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Approximately 5–7 years of relevant legal experience.
• Strong experience with commercial real estate transactions and ground leasing.
• Experience negotiating sophisticated commercial agreements.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation and communication skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong business judgment.
• Ability to independently manage multiple complex transactions simultaneously.
• Highly organized with outstanding project management skills.
• Collaborative, approachable and comfortable working with executives across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead legal support for new venue development from LOI through post-construction operations.
• Draft, review and negotiate LOIs, ground leases, purchase and sale agreements, easements, development agreements, work letters and amendments.
• Conduct due diligence including title commitments, surveys, environmental reports, zoning and entitlement matters.
• Coordinate with Development, Construction, Facilities and Finance across project phases and with outside counsel on specialized matters.
• Support lease administration, renewals, amendments and operational matters for the real estate portfolio.
• Provide pragmatic legal guidance on operational matters and partner with HR, Risk, Operations on incidents and claims.
• Draft, review and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements; support governance and corporate matters.
• Advise leaders on legal issues impacting venue operations, risk management and policy interpretation.
• Develop templates and playbooks to streamline transactions and improve internal processes.
• Collaborate with executives on strategic initiatives supporting national expansion.

Skills

Texas Bar

Juris Doctor

Real estate transactions

Ground leasing

Commercial agreements

Drafting & negotiation

Risk management

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Transaction management

Executive partnering

Attention to detail

Excellent communication

In-house experience

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

The Opportunity

This is a unique opportunity to joinPopStroke'slegal team as ourSenior Counsel – Real Estate, Corporate& Development, partnering directly with our General Counsel and executive leadership team.

This role is primarily focused on supporting the company's aggressive expansion strategy through sophisticated commercial real estate transactions, ground leasing, acquisitions, development, and construction matters. In addition to real estate work,you'llprovidepractical legal guidance across a variety of corporatelegaland operational matters that arise in a fast-growing hospitality company.

We'relooking for someone who enjoys solving business problems, negotiating complex transactions, and working alongside leaders who move quickly and think entrepreneurially.

Ifyou'relooking to leave the billable hour behind while still working on sophisticated, high-value transactions,we'dlove to meet you.

Location: Plano (Dallas), Texas Work

Arrangement: Full-Time | In Office

Reports To: General Counsel

What You'll Do

Real Estate & Development

Lead legal support for new venue development from Letter of Intent throughpost construction operations.

Draft,reviewand negotiate:

• Letters of Intent
• Ground leases
• Purchase and sale agreements
• Easements
• Development agreements
• Work letters
• Amendments
• Estoppel certificates
• Closing documents
• Vendor and construction agreements

Conduct legal due diligence including review of:

• Title commitments
• Surveys
• Environmental reports
• Zoning and entitlement matters
• Recorded encumbrances

Partner closely with Development, Construction, Facilities and Finance throughout every phase of a project.

Coordinate with outside counsel on specialized matters while serving as the primary internal legal advisor.

Support the company's growing real estate portfolio, including lease administration, renewals,amendmentsand operational matters.

Operations, Risk & Incident Management

In addition to supporting the company's growth and development efforts, this role will serve as a trusted legal partner to the business byprovidingpractical guidance on operational legal matters that arise acrossPopStroke'svenues.

Responsibilities include:

• Review andprovidelegal guidance on significant guest and team member incidents.
• Partner with Operations, Human Resources and Risk Management to assess potential legal exposure and recommend appropriate next steps.
• Support investigations involving guest claims, team membermattersand operational incidents
• Assistin responding to demand letters, pre-litigationmatters and other legal claims.
• Help develop policies, procedures and best practices that reduce organizational risk while supporting an exceptional guest and team member experience.
• Advise business leaders on legal issuesimpactingdaily venue operations,contractsand company policies.
• Coordinate with outside counsel on litigation and specialty legal matters whenappropriate.
• Provide practical, business-focused legal advice that balances risk mitigation with operational needs.

Corporate & Business Legal Support

Provide practical legal advice to business leaders across multiple departments.

Draft, review and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements.

Support corporate governance and general corporate legal matters.

Advise on legal issues related to venue operations, risk management and contract interpretation.

Partner with Human Resources, Operations, Marketing, Finance and executive leadership on legal questions that arise throughout the business.

Assist with claims, disputes and other legal matters as needed.

Identify legal risks while developing practical, business-focused solutions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Work directly with senior leadership on strategic initiatives supporting PopStroke's continued national expansion.

Help improve legal processes, templates and internal efficiencies.

Develop standard legal forms and playbooks to streamline transactions.

Draft and develop materials and programs for business teams on the company's real estate strategy, operations, risk management and legal processes.

Build strong relationships across the organization as a trusted business advisorand problem solverrather than simply a legal reviewerand issue spotter.

Support special projects and other responsibilities as assigned.

What We're Looking For

• Active member of the Texas Bar in good standing.
• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Approximately 5–7 years of relevant legal experience.
• Strong experience with commercial real estate transactions and ground leasing.
• Experience negotiating sophisticated commercial agreements.
• Excellent drafting,negotiationand communication skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong business judgment.
• Ability to independently manage multiple complex transactions simultaneously.
• Highly organized with outstanding project management skills.
• Collaborative,approachableand comfortable working with executives across the organization.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where priorities evolve quickly.
• Comfortable working with technological systems and standard business applications (e.g., MS Office).

Preferred Experience

We'reespecially interested in candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

• Commercial real estate development
• Retail,hospitalityor entertainment real estate
• Ground leasing
• Mixed-use developments
• Multi-site businesses
• In-house legal experience supporting a growing company
• Large law firm or sophisticated boutique real estate practice

Why Join PopStroke?

This is more than a legal role.

You'llhave a front-row seat to the continued growth of one of the most exciting brands in hospitality and entertainment.

You'llwork directly with executive leadership, help shape the future of our expansion strategy, andhave the opportunity toinfluence decisions thatimpactthe business every day.

AtPopStroke, we value ownership, collaboration,innovationand people who enjoy rolling up their sleeves to help build something special.

Ifyou'reenergized by growth, enjoy solving complex business challenges, and want to be part of a companythat'schanging the game,we'dlove to hear from you.

PopStroke is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.