Legal Counsel in London

Legal /Senior Legal Counsel — Family Office with Venture capital, Capital Markets and Real Estate interests.

Equifind are proud to be supporting a newly established single-family office based in London, set up to manage the wealth of its founder following a successful career in institutional investment management.

The office is being built from the ground up, with a small senior team and an institutional approach to governance, reporting and control.

This is an opportunity to join at inception and to shape the legal function as the office grows.

About the Role

The legal counsel/ senior legal counsel will be the first dedicated in-house lawyer at the family office, reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer.

The role covers the full legal, corporate governance and regulatory remit of a sophisticated, multi-asset portfolio spanning across public and private markets, structured credit and real estate development, held through a holding company structure with entities incorporated in the UK and Jersey, but UK tax resident.

The role includes commercial and corporate legal work, involvement in transaction and execution activity, banking and facility documentation, employment matters, real estate, and the governance and regulatory framework.

It also encompasses the legal and structuring work supporting the family office's charitable initiatives and foundation.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial & Corporate Legal
• Provide day-to-day commercial and corporate legal advice across the full range of the family office's activities, acting as first point of contact for the COO and the wider team.
• Draft, review and negotiate the contractual flow of the family office, including NDAs, engagement letters, service and consultancy agreements, supplier contracts and terms of business.
• Advise on corporate matters including share transfers, capital structure, intra-group arrangements and shareholder documentation.
• Transactions & Execution
• Play an active role in transaction and execution work across asset classes: private equity directs and funds, structured credit, public market arrangements and real estate transactions.
• Support legal due diligence, review of transaction documentation (including hedge fund terms), negotiation of key terms, and management of signing and completion processes.
• Support acquisitions, restructurings, secondaries and other special projects alongside the COO, coordinating legal, tax and finance workstreams.
• Banking, Finance & Counterparty Documentation
• Assist with negotiating and managing facility agreements and security documentation with banks, lenders and other finance providers.
• Review and negotiate documentation with custodians, prime brokers, administrators, managers and other service providers, including account opening and trading documentation.
• Maintain oversight of covenants, undertakings, conditions precedent and key contractual dates across finance arrangements.
• Corporate & Entity Governance
• Own legal governance of the holding company structure and its underlying entities across multiple jurisdictions, principally the UK and Jersey.
• Maintain corporate records, registers and constitutional documents; ensure statutory and corporate obligations are met in each jurisdiction.
• Manage board and shareholder processes - resolutions, minutes, powers of attorney, director appointments and authorised signatory frameworks.

Provide legal oversight of entity administrators and outsourced company secretaries.

• Advise on group structuring, entity formation, migration and dissolution, working with corporate service providers, offshore administrators and external counsel.
• Support the COO on governance best practice, delegation of authority, and the documentation of internal policies and decision-making processes.
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Own the KYC/AML framework - onboarding of counterparties, custodians, banks, managers and investment partners, and maintenance of the underlying records.
• Manage regulatory filings and notifications across jurisdictions, including beneficial ownership, substance and economic reporting requirements in the UK and Jersey.
• Employment & People
• Advise on employment matters across the family office, including contracts of employment, consultancy arrangements and staff handbooks and policies.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and exit processes from a legal perspective, including restrictive covenants and settlement arrangements.
• Advise with discretion on employment matters relating to household and support staff.
• Other
• Support the development and legal structuring of the family office's charitable framework, including vehicle selection, formation and governing documents.
• Manage the panel of external law firms - scoping instructions, controlling fees, and reviewing output rather than simply passing it on.
• Ideal Candidate Profile
• Qualified lawyer (England & Wales, or comparable jurisdiction) with approximately 5–10 years' post-qualification experience.
• Trained and developed at a recognised law firm, with subsequent in-house experience strongly preferred.
• Experience gained within the financial services world - asset management, investment management, hedge fund, private equity, family office or private capital.
• A generalist, with exceptional time management and prioritisation skills, comfortable operating across corporate, commercial, transactional, regulatory, employment and real estate matters, and confident identifying when specialist external advice is required.
• Experience in UK employment law and the documentation that supports a small, senior team.
• Real estate experience covering development, joint ventures and asset management, or a genuine willingness to own that workstream with specialist external support.
• Exposure to charitable or philanthropic structures is an advantage, or a clear interest in developing that capability.

Compensation

• market level