Vice President & Senior Associate General Counsel

Confidential Jobs; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 240,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs in Chicago seeks a VP & Senior Associate General Counsel to lead the leasing and operations legal function for a large U.S. real estate portfolio.

The role oversees a team of attorneys and professionals, shaping strategy and driving scalable legal operations across markets. The successful candidate will bring deep commercial real estate expertise, strong leadership, and a business-focused approach to counsel.

Qualifications

• Ten+ years of progressively responsible legal experience, including significant experience with commercial real estate, leasing, development, or related transactions.
• Five+ years of experience managing or leading legal professionals, including attorneys and non-attorney staff.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and manage a team of attorneys, paralegals, and legal professionals, including workload allocation and performance management.
• Negotiate, draft, and review complex, high-value commercial real estate transactions and leases.
• Provide senior-level review and legal approval of a broad range of real estate documents (leases, subleases, amendments, etc.).
• Advise on easements, licenses, letters of intent, covenants, and other transaction documents.
• Serve as trusted advisor to senior leadership and cross-functional partners on proposed transactions and portfolio matters.
• Establish workflows and legal operations processes to improve efficiency and scalability.

Skills

Leasing & real estate law

Negotiation & drafting of complex real

Team leadership & coaching

Cross-functional collaboration

Prior in-house experience

Education

J.D. from ABA-accredited law school

Job description

A leading real estate owner and operator with a large U.S. property management portfolio is seeking a VP & Senior Associate General Counsel to join its in-house legal team. This role sits within a leasing and operations-focused legal function and plays a critical leadership role supporting the company’s real estate business.

The Vice President & Senior Associate General Counsel leads the organization’s legal leasing function, overseeing a team of attorneys, paralegals, and legal professionals supporting commercial real estate activities across multiple markets. This role is responsible for the legal strategy, quality of work, and operational effectiveness of the function while serving as a senior legal advisor on complex leasing and real estate matters.

The successful candidate will combine deep commercial real estate expertise with strong leadership capabilities and a practical, business-oriented approach to legal counsel. This individual will personally lead significant and complex transactions, provide guidance to senior business partners, and establish standards and processes that support effective and scalable legal operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and manage a team of attorneys, paralegals, and legal professionals, including oversight of workload allocation, work product quality, day-to-day operations, performance management, coaching, and professional development.
• Negotiate, draft, and review complex and high-value commercial real estate transactions, including multi-property agreements, development-related transactions, large-format leases, and other strategic leasing matters.
• Provide senior-level review and legal approval of a broad range of real estate documentation, including leases, subleases, amendments, terminations, construction exhibits, reciprocal easement agreements, and related ancillary agreements.
• Review and advise on additional transaction documents such as easements, licenses, letters of intent, restrictive covenants, letters of credit, lien releases, and other documents supporting real estate transactions.
• Serve as a trusted legal advisor to senior leadership, development professionals, leasing teams, and other cross-functional partners regarding proposed transactions, development and redevelopment initiatives, contractual obligations, and portfolio-related matters.
• Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice that appropriately balances business objectives and legal risk.
• Manage relationships with outside counsel, including matter assignment, oversight of work product, fee management, and legal budgets for specialized matters.
• Establish and continuously improve workflows, document management practices, approval processes, templates, and legal operations procedures to enhance efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
• Partner with other senior members of the Legal department on broader legal strategy, cross-functional matters, and departmental initiatives.
• Ensure contractual arrangements entered into on behalf of the organization comply with applicable internal approval and governance requirements.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible legal experience, including significant experience with commercial real estate, leasing, development, or related transactions.
• Demonstrated expertise negotiating and drafting complex commercial leases, reciprocal easement agreements, development-related agreements, and associated real estate documentation.
• Minimum of five years of experience managing or leading legal professionals, including attorneys and non-attorney legal staff.
• Strong knowledge of commercial real estate transactions, leasing practices, property operations, and related legal and business considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to provide practical, risk-calibrated legal advice that supports informed business decision-making.
• Strong executive presence and excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex legal concepts effectively to business professionals and senior leaders.
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and retain high-performing teams in a fast-paced, transaction-oriented environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with a nationally recognized or sophisticated commercial real estate law practice.
• Prior in-house legal experience with a commercial real estate owner, operator, developer, investment organization, or other organization with a significant real estate portfolio.
• Experience managing legal professionals across multiple locations or markets.
• Experience with multi-jurisdictional and multi-property commercial real estate transactions.