Associate – Real Estate Finance

Overview

We have an exciting opportunity for an Associate to join our thriving and expanding Real Estate Finance team in London.

Our Real Estate Finance Team

Our market-leading real estate finance team advises on the full spectrum of domestic and cross-border transactions across all real estate asset classes. We act for a wide range of lender clients—including major banks, debt funds, insurers and financial institutions—as well as borrower clients such as investors, developers, blue-chip property companies, family offices, real estate funds, REITs, social housing providers, housebuilders and pension funds.

Your Role

You will work closely with our Partners and wider team on a diverse range of finance matters, including development finance, hotel finance, Islamic finance and mezzanine transactions. The team benefits from the support of our “best in class” real estate practice, comprising 420+ lawyers across our global network and operating across key sectors including hotels and leisure, student accommodation, living, retail, logistics and offices. We’re proud of our dynamic, inclusive and supportive working environment. Associates in our team are empowered to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the practice and are encouraged to take an active role in business development. We distinguish ourselves in the market by offering our clients:

• Clear, commercially focused advice that adds value
• Unrivalled knowledge of the real estate sector
• A solutions-driven mindset
• Strong project management and the ability to drive transactions forward

About the Firm

Gowling WLG is a place where people are valued, supported and encouraged to reach their full potential. Our culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and growth drives innovation and rewards ambition. We combine technical excellence with deep market understanding, making us a natural choice for FTSE 100 clients and their equivalents globally. Our success is rooted in the diversity of our people—their backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. Our employee networks play a key role in celebrating this diversity and ensuring everyone feels included. With offices across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Canada, our lawyers work seamlessly across jurisdictions, collaborating with market-leading teams throughout our international network. We provide comprehensive training and support to help our lawyers excel at every stage of their career.

About you

We welcome applications from ambitious and talented real estate finance lawyers who bring strong technical ability, commercial insight and a collaborative approach. International experience is an advantage but not essential. We are particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate:

• Qualification as a lawyer with 2–3 years’ PQE from a leading law firm
• Strong academic background
• Excellent technical knowledge of finance transactions and robust drafting skills
• Experience advising on real estate finance matters
• A proactive, detail-oriented approach and sound judgement
• Enthusiasm for complex, intellectually challenging work
• Commercial awareness and the confidence to deliver high-quality advice
• Strong relationship-building and communication skills
• The ability to manage multiple deadlines effectively
• A team-focused, collaborative mindset and willingness to support colleagues

What We Can Offer You

The opportunity to work for a firm that has been recognised as one of best places to work in the UK and has been ranked by Great Place to Work® for 26 consecutive years.

• A hybrid approach to office and remote working.
• 25 days annual leave, with the option to buy up to a week’s extra annual leave
• Private medical insurance, and 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 the heart of Birmingham City Centre, with an onsite restaurant
• Opportunities to flourish in your role through training and personal development

Equal Opportunities

Gowling WLG is committed both to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to Equal Opportunities in employment. The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity. This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment. At Gowling WLG 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. Our aim is to fulfil everyone\’s potential and together to achieve personal and business goals.

Contact

If you have any queries in relation to this position or would like to see a full job description please contact Nana Panti-Amoa at Nana.pant-amoa@gowlingwlg.com