Location
The Crown Estate, London

Hours
Full Time - 12 to 14 month Fixed Term Contract (Maternity Cover)

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
The Crown Estate is seeking a Senior Lawyer (Real Estate) to join its evolving Legal, Ethics and Compliance function on a 12 month Fixed Term Contract. This maternity cover role will provide high-quality, commercially focused legal advice primarily across real estate matters, while supporting wider legal priorities as business needs develop. Working closely with Group Legal Directors and colleagues across the organisation, you will help manage legal risk and enable informed decision-making in support of our purpose: to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation. The role offers an opportunity to take on line management responsibilities and contribute to an inclusive, collaborative and forward-looking legal team.

This is an opportunity to apply your real estate expertise across a diverse national portfolio while helping to shape a legal function undergoing transformation. You will:
- Advise on residential and commercial development projects, including planning, acquisitions, construction and disposals.
- Support joint venture arrangements, including structuring, governance and documentation.
- Advise on leasing matters, including heads of terms, negotiations, renewals and terminations.
- Provide legal guidance on rural estate matters, including agricultural tenancies, land management and heritage considerations.
- Contribute advice across wider legal areas, such as commercial contracts, regulatory compliance, governance and construction.
- Support transformation programmes and organisation-wide initiatives through clear legal advice and proportionate risk assessment.
- Build trusted relationships across property, finance, sustainability, operations and other business areas.
- Work with external counsel and advisers, ensuring advice is aligned with organisational priorities and delivers value.
- Identify and help mitigate legal risks, while contributing to legal policies, templates and practical guidance.
- Line manage and support the development of junior legal colleagues, helping to create a collaborative and inclusive team culture.
- Improve legal service delivery through effective processes, technology and continuous improvement.
- Respond flexibly to changing priorities and provide support where it will have the greatest organisational impact.

Our Offering / Benefits
As well as a competitive salary, pension and performance related bonus offering, we provide a wealth of benefits including flexible working, market leading family policies, shopping discounts in the West End, private healthcare, life and critical illness cover and 28 days holiday with the option to buy more. We value work-life balance and wellbeing, enabling you to be your best self at work.

Experience
You will be a qualified solicitor in England and Wales with strong technical expertise in real estate law and experience advising on residential or commercial development, joint ventures and leasing. Experience gained in private practice alongside current or previous in-house experience is valuable. Knowledge of rural estate matters, exposure to broader legal disciplines, and previous mentoring or line management experience are welcomed but not essential.

About You
You demonstrate excellent legal drafting and negotiation skills, sound judgement, and the ability to provide pragmatic, commercially aware advice. You consider legal risk alongside reputational, financial and sustainability factors. You have strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills, confidence managing competing priorities in a changing environment, curiosity to develop expertise across additional legal disciplines, and a collaborative, organisation-wide mindset. You are committed to delivering consistently high-quality support, uphold high standards of integrity, discretion and attention to detail, and value inclusive working practices and diverse perspectives.

Qualifications
Qualified solicitor in England and Wales. No additional qualifications are specified beyond core legal qualifications, but a commitment to continuous professional development and growth within the role is expected.