Legal Counsel - Development in London

About Realty Income Realty Income (NYSE: O), an S&P 500 company, is a real estate partner to the world's leading companies. Founded in 1969, we invest in diversified commercial real estate and have a portfolio of 15,600 properties in all 50 U.S. states, the UK and six other countries in Europe, with a gross book value of $58bn. We are known as "The Monthly Dividend Company®” and have a mission to deliver stockholders dependable monthly dividends that grow over time. Since our founding, we have declared 656 consecutive monthly dividends and are a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats® index, having increased our dividend for the last 30 consecutive years.

You will be joining one of the largest Real Estate Investment Trusts in the world as we rapidly expand into the UK and European markets, including moving into new offices at 3 St. James’s Square. The European portfolio, including the UK, has experienced consistent growth quarter-on-quarter since our first international acquisition, a £429m 12-property portfolio from Sainsbury’s in 2019. In just five years the portfolio now includes investments of over $11bn, and 483 distinct properties.

Position Overview: Our expansion into Europe is well underway, and with a portfolio of several $ billions of assets acquired in the UK and in Europe, we need your contribution to continue to build and expand our international portfolio with a particular focus on real estate development projects.

Key responsibilities:

• Supporting Senior Legal Counsel in driving the execution of complex development transactions and joint ventures across different European geographies;
• Working closely with Senior Legal Counsel in relation to deal structuring and negotiating offer letters and heads of terms;
• Coordinating legal and technical due diligence exercises by external advisors and reviewing and reporting on their findings;
• Instructing and managing external counsel in relation to drafting and negotiating development and joint venture documents;
• Reviewing and approving project documents including construction contracts, agreements for lease, leases, funding documents etc.;
• Reporting to and advising the project company board on legal issues;
• Assisting with the coordination of monthly funding processes for ongoing developments;
• Individually managing projects with accountability for delivering the business objectives in a timely fashion;
• Potential opportunities for involvement with real estate acquisitions and sale and leaseback transactions.

General Responsibilities:

• Coordinate, analyse, manage, negotiate, document, and close a wide range of multifaceted transactions with a particular focus on development projects and joint ventures.
• Manage complex and significant deals that cut across workstreams and teams.
• Management of external law firms and multi-disciplinary transaction teams.
• Assess transactional risks and recommend strategies to mitigate them.
• Progress transactions with careful attention to proceeding on time, on budget and in accordance with deal strategy.
• Input into growth strategy, market intelligence and initial deal terms.
• Collaborate with internal teams to devise optimal approaches in the context of assigned transactions.
• Attend board meetings and present transactions to the board of directors.
• Analyse transactions and structure transactions in the UK and other European countries as necessary.
• Assist with co-ordination of entry into new markets.
• Review, evaluate, and approve information and reports from external advisors concerning development projects and investment transactions.
• Manage and monitor environmental issues from a legal perspective.
• Supervise Legal Analysts performing transactional support.
• Develop and make recommendations to the Legal team regarding improvements to internal policies and procedures for handling transactions.
• Provide clarification on legal language or specifications.
• Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business decisions and operations.
• Apply effective risk management techniques and offer proactive advice on possible legal issues.
• Communicate and negotiate with external parties, creating relationships of trust.
• Provide professional legal counsel and advice to Company executives.
• Promote the external reputation of the Company with tenants, partners and counterparties.

Candidate Requirements Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree.
• Qualified Solicitor (England & Wales).
• At least 3-6+ years’ post-qualification development focused legal experience in the real estate department of a City or US law firm or a real estate focused investment fund or a real estate developer.
• Experience in negotiating and closing real estate transactions including development projects.
• Familiarity with different investment structures and JV arrangements.
• Dynamic with bias for action, committed and principled.
• Ability to manage external law firms and external advisory teams.
• Highly effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Adept and proficient at advanced legal document drafting and negotiating.
• Ability to effectively identify, research, and analyse routine-to-complex legal issues.

Desirable but not essential:

• Some experience in real estate development in continental Europe.
• European language helpful.

This role is subject to enhanced compliance and disclosure requirements consistent with those of a financial services organization.

Realty Income is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.