Senior Lawyer - Real Estate FTC

The Crown Estate is seeking a Senior Lawyer (Real Estate) to join its evolving Legal, Ethics and Compliance function on a 12 month Fixed Term Contract. This maternity cover role will provide high-quality, commercially focused legal advice, primarily across real estate matters, while supporting wider legal priorities as business needs develop.

Working closely with Group Legal Directors and colleagues across the organisation, you will help manage legal risk and enable informed decision-making in support of our purpose: to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation. The role also offers an opportunity to take on line management responsibilities and contribute to an inclusive, collaborative and forward-looking legal team.

This is an opportunity to apply your real estate expertise across a diverse national portfolio while helping to shape a legal function undergoing transformation.

You will:

• Advise on residential and commercial development projects, including planning, acquisitions, construction and disposals.

• Support joint venture arrangements, including structuring, governance and documentation.

• Advise on leasing matters, including heads of terms, negotiations, renewals and terminations.

• Provide legal guidance on rural estate matters, including agricultural tenancies, land management and heritage considerations.

• Contribute advice across wider legal areas, such as commercial contracts, regulatory compliance, governance and construction.

• Support transformation programmes and organisation-wide initiatives through clear legal advice and proportionate risk assessment.

• Build trusted relationships across property, finance, sustainability, operations and other business areas.

• Work with external counsel and advisers, ensuring advice is aligned with organisational priorities and delivers value.

• Identify and help mitigate legal risks, while contributing to legal policies, templates and practical guidance.

• Line manage and support the development of junior legal colleagues, helping to create a collaborative and inclusive team culture.

• Improve legal service delivery through effective processes, technology and continuous improvement.

• Respond flexibly to changing priorities and provide support where it will have the greatest organisational impact.

You will be a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, with strong technical expertise in real estate law and experience advising on matters such as residential or commercial development, joint ventures and leasing.

You will also bring:

• Excellent legal drafting and negotiation skills.

• Sound judgement and the ability to provide pragmatic, commercially aware advice.

• The ability to consider legal risk alongside wider reputational, financial and sustainability factors.

• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills.

• Confidence managing competing priorities in a changing environment.

• Curiosity and an interest in developing expertise across additional legal disciplines.

• A collaborative, organisation-wide mindset and a commitment to delivering consistently high-quality support.

• High standards of integrity, discretion and attention to detail.

• A commitment to inclusive working practices and valuing different perspectives.

Experience gained in private practice alongside current or previous in-house experience would be valuable. Knowledge of rural estate matters, exposure to broader legal disciplines, and previous mentoring or line management experience would also be welcomed, but these are not essential. We encourage applications from people who demonstrate the core legal expertise and the potential to grow with the role.

We are a proud disability confident employer and operate the offer of interview scheme Disability Confident employer scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We are happy to offer alternative application methods or formats and can be flexible on our process to enable you to have the best opportunity.

If you have any questions about our recruitment process or would like to talk about adjustments, please contact us directly, or at careers@thecrownestate.co.uk

Please note that if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close this advert early. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.