The Role: Legal Counsel – In-house

Sector: Non-residential Property and Real Estate – FTSE listed

Location: London (Head Office)

Reports to: Company Secretary

Salary: £90,000 - £110,000 DOE

A rare chance to step into a high-impact in-house legal role within a well-established, FTSE-listed London property business. You’ll act as a trusted legal and governance adviser, working closely with the Company Secretary to support the Board, Executive Committee and wider organisation on all corporate, commercial and compliance matters.

This is a broad, business-facing position where you’ll shape legal strategy, manage risk and ensure robust governance across a dynamic, growing portfolio of flexible workspace assets.

The role

You’ll provide clear, pragmatic and commercially focused legal advice across the full spectrum of in-house work, with particular emphasis on corporate and commercial law, governance and company secretarial support.

Key responsibilities include:

• Legal & Compliance: Proactively identify projects requiring legal input; deliver timely advice; manage external counsel relationships and ensure cost-effective support. Oversee compliance policies - data protection, anti-bribery, modern slavery, whistleblowing, market abuse/inside information - and lead staff training.
• Data Protection: Support the Company Secretary as Data Protection Officer; conduct DPIAs/LIAs; manage data processor appointments, breaches and subject rights requests; maintain the accountability framework and oversee audits.
• Contracts: Develop and operate contract review and signing authority processes; review commercial contracts according to value and risk; mitigate or escalate material contractual risks; create standard document templates and train stakeholders.
• Risk Management: Play a lead role in legal risk management; maintain the Regulatory Risk Register (identification, assessment, scoring, mitigation and reporting); support preparations for Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024.
• Governance: Support the Company Secretary in Board secretariat duties; report to the Board and Exec on legal, regulatory and governance developments; ensure timely statutory/regulatory filings; contribute to ESG initiatives and the governance section of the Annual Report; ensure AGM compliance; assist with share scheme administration.
• Stakeholder & Team Support: Build strong relationships across all levels, including Board and Exec; supervise junior legal team members; coordinate with external advisers, brokers and share scheme administrators.