Senior Legal Counsel, M&A

Corporate Development Initiatives:

• Act as a key legal adviser to the business on corporate development initiatives, including new market expansion, real estate and asset-level acquisitions, sale and leaseback transactions, REIT and other asset recycling structures, and other strategic transactions.
• Advise on transaction structuring, key legal and commercial risks and execution strategy, and proactively identify and resolve issues to keep transactions on track.

Joint Ventures & Strategic Investments:

• Support the structuring, negotiation and implementation of joint ventures and strategic investments, including governance arrangements, reserved matters, funding obligations, exit rights and other key shareholder arrangements.

Legal Due Diligence & Advisor Management:

• Lead or support legal due diligence for acquisitions, divestments, new market opportunities and other strategic transactions; instruct, coordinate and manage external counsel across multiple jurisdictions.

Stakeholder & Project Management:

• Act as a key legal point of contact for transactions and take ownership of transaction execution, working closely with internal stakeholders across investments, finance, tax and project development teams and supporting negotiations with investors, joint-venture partners and other counterparties.

Legal Process & Knowledge Management:

• Assist with developing and maintaining standard templates, precedents and playbooks for M&A, joint ventures, asset recycling and other corporate development activities; support continuous improvement and standardisation of legal processes.

Education

• Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree or higher.

Qualifications

• Admitted to practice in a common law jurisdiction.

Experience:

• 5+ years of post-qualification experience from a top-tier or well-regarded law firm, with demonstrated experience in M&A, joint ventures and/or other complex investment transactions, including significant international and cross-border deal exposure.
• Experience in real estate transactions, sale and leaseback transactions, REIT structures and/or other asset recycling transactions would be an advantage.
• Candidates from private practice are welcome to apply; prior in-house experience is an advantage but not necessary.

Core Skills:

• Strong transaction management skills and a demonstrated ability to independently lead and drive transactions from inception through completion, with appropriate escalation of material legal and commercial issues
• Excellent legal drafting and negotiation skills, with sound commercial judgement and the ability to provide practical, business-focused advice.

Language and Communication:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; ability to engage effectively with senior internal stakeholders and external advisers across jurisdictions. Proficiency in Japanese would be an advantage.

Personal Attributes:

• Proactive, adaptable and able to work independently; strong sense of ownership and responsibility; able to manage multiple complex workstreams in a fast-paced, cross-border environment; collaborative team player with high professional and ethical standards.