Vice President & Senior Associate General Counsel

Confidential Jobs; Illinois; On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs, a leading real estate owner and operator in the United States, seeks a VP & Senior Associate General Counsel to lead the in-house legal leasing function. The role oversees a team of attorneys and professionals, guiding complex commercial real estate transactions across multiple markets.

This is a senior leadership role focusing on legal strategy, quality, and scalable operations. The successful candidate will blend deep CRE expertise with strong leadership, personally handling

Qualifications

• J.D. from ABA-accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible legal experience, including significant CRE leasing/transactions.
• Experience negotiating and drafting complex commercial leases and related real estate docs.
• 5+ years leading legal professionals and teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of attorneys, paralegals, and legal staff, including workload allocation and performance management.
• Negotiate, draft, and review complex CRE transactions and leases across multiple markets.
• Provide senior-level review and approval of leases, easements, licenses, and related documents.
• Advise senior leadership on proposed transactions, development, and portfolio matters.
• Manage outside counsel, budgets, and matter oversight.
• Implement efficient workflows and legal operations processes.
• Collaborate with other senior legal leaders on broader strategy and initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with internal governance for contractual arrangements.

Skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Contract drafting

Commercial real estate knowledge

Communications

Executive presence

Risk management

Education

J.D. from ABA-accredited law school

Bar admission in at least one U.S. jurisdiction

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.