Legal Secretary - Real Estate Finance in Belsize Park

Looking for your next challenge as a Legal Secretary? If you are someone who enjoys being at the heart of a dynamic team and has a background in property work, especially with Land Registry applications, we would love to hear from you. This role offers the chance to make a real impact and grow within a supportive environment.

We have an opportunity for a Legal Secretary looking to join our Real Estate Finance team. You will work as part of a team to provide administrative support to help our legal teams deliver a great service to our clients.

We can offer you:

• A competitive salary with great benefits including private medical, 27 days holiday plus bank holidays and a bonus day off for your birthday
• A varied workload covering a culture of trust, empowerment and autonomy over your work
• Part of a vibrant, forward-thinking team with the support of friendly, approachable partners who encourage and support your career development
• Hybrid working with the option of working from our Birmingham office

Our Real Estate Finance team has extensive experience in advising banks, building societies and other funders including property investors and developers. We are one of the largest teams in the West Midlands with a team of around 30 people experienced in Islamic finance issues alone. We advise our clients on a variety of matters including development finance, facility letters, guarantees, investment finance, loan book management, LPA receivership, priority/subordination deeds, security documents and short-term lending.

What you will be doing:

• Providing timely and effective support to requests for assistance from members of the team
• Taking telephone calls and messages, handling queries and enquiries
• Using a case management system to process open, close and progress files
• Submitting Land Registry and Companies House applications and dealing with any requisitions
• Processing incoming and outgoing post and arranging couriers
• Managing file opening, closure and archiving
• Archiving, storing and retrieving of documentation (electronic and paper versions)
• Typing documents and correspondence
• Producing bills and other financial administration
• Managing diaries for the team, planning and organising meetings and making travel arrangements
• Organising and maintaining departmental filing systems and document storage
• Photocopying, scanning, faxing, printing, filing and other general administrative tasks
• Handling searches and processing land registry applications
• Filing and payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax returns
• Assisting with financial administration, liaison with finance team, processing cheque requests and expenses, preparation and despatch of invoices and collecting payment

What you will need:

• A minimum of 6 months' previous office administrative experience ideally gained from within a legal environment
• A minimum grade C pass at GCSE (or equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics
• Confidence with IT systems to include Microsoft Word and Excel
• A good basic keyboard ability

Key competencies you will need:

• The ability to work well in a team and develop good working relationships with colleagues and others
• Good communication skills with the confidence to liaise openly and clearly with colleagues and clients
• The ability to produce a high standard of work, sometimes under pressure, whilst maintaining accuracy and good attention to detail
• To be able to demonstrate flexibility, initiative and confidence in your own ability

About you:

• Highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile and be happy to go beyond the job description
• Respectful towards others and have a positive, willing and 'can do' attitude
• Keen to learn, interested in driving your own career progression and be proactive in taking ownership of this

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work. We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we are keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.