Associate - Commercial Development & Investment

Associate – Commercial Development & Investment

Job Description

Our Commercial Development and Investment team is looking for two Associates (0‑2 PQE) to join our growing business in Birmingham. The role will have a broad high value, high profile property and investment focus across a range of commercial sectors.

About The Team

Gowling WLG is home to one of the UK’s largest real‑estate practices with a team of more than 320 commercially‑minded, innovative and pragmatic lawyers. We work alongside many of the sector’s most successful companies and have helped to deliver numerous high‑profile and market‑leading projects, advising throughout their lifecycle. As one of the biggest dedicated commercial real‑estate teams in the UK, we regularly lead on high‑value and strategically important deals and projects. Our experience means clients receive innovative and commercial solutions to often complex issues quickly and efficiently. Our comprehensive real‑estate development service includes site assembly, obtaining planning permission and negotiating infrastructure agreements, securing tenants, structuring and negotiating tax‑efficient development funding and joint ventures, through to disposal of the developed asset. We provide strategic land options, joint‑venture projects, promotion agreements, conditional land purchase contracts, sale‑and‑leaseback transactions, development forward funding, and more. Clients include real‑estate developers, property companies, institutional investors, private equity investors and PLC corporate occupiers across logistics sites, industrial estates, business and retail parks, strategic corporate developments, offices and data centres.

About The Role

Our business is growing and we are looking for confident, technically strong and dynamic Associates to support and collaborate with Partners and senior fee earners on a wide spectrum of transactions for property companies, developers and end‑users of strategic real‑estate facilities. This is an opportunity to develop deeper experience, work with high‑profile clients and build strong client relationships within a supportive team.

• Acquisition and disposal of land and substantial real‑estate investment assets, freehold and leasehold (often by way of conditional contracts and including unregistered land)
• Advising on structuring development transactions and heads of terms
• Pre‑lettings and lettings
• Sale and leaseback transactions
• Real‑estate aspects of financing projects, including Certificates of Title
• Associated property deeds and documents (e.g. agreements for lease/surrender, deeds of variation)

Additional duties include drafting and negotiating all the above, title investigation, searches, enquiries, research, analysis, liaising with clients, agents and third parties, reporting on title, indemnity insurance arrangements, project management, Land Registry or other applications (including SDLT) and post‑completion formalities. The role is predominantly office‑based but requires active participation in marketing, business development, group practice development and client entertainment/training events.

About You

• Manage your own caseload to tight deadlines, remain calm under pressure and prioritise effectively
• Work collaboratively as part of a larger project team and support colleagues
• Give clear, practical advice with sound judgment and swift, accurate implementation of instructions
• Negotiate effectively and deliver commercial solutions for clients
• Communicate appropriately with Gowling WLG team members, clients and other professionals
• Understand title registers, deeds and documents and have experience drafting and negotiating purchase contracts, transfers, leases and related deeds
• Prepare for and participate in marketing and business events
• Contribute to the firm’s sector group initiatives, especially the industrial and logistics practice
• Prepare for and help deliver external and internal presentations, seminars and training sessions
• Take ownership of matters and keep colleagues and clients updated on progress
• Demonstrate an appetite for learning and willingness to operate outside your comfort zone

What We Can Offer You

The opportunity to work for a firm regarded as one of the best places to work in the UK and ranked by Great Place to Work® for 25 consecutive years. Excellent benefits, including:

• Hybrid approach to office and remote working
• 25 days annual leave, with the option to buy up to an additional week
• Lawyer bonus
• Private medical insurance, with the option to add family members
• A generous pension allowance
• Life assurance covering four times your annual salary
• The chance of a three‑month sabbatical every five years
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes
• A range of health and wellbeing programmes
• State‑of‑the‑art offices in Birmingham City Centre, with an onsite restaurant
• Opportunities to flourish in your role and advance your career through training and personal development

Equal opportunities

Gowling WLG is committed to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to equal opportunities in employment. The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, maternity, paternity and other protected characteristics. We seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures to create an exciting and rewarding place to work. All offers are conditional on SRA clearance, eligibility to work in the UK, and DBS clearance.