Chief Legal Officer

Chief Legal Officer ( Real Estate )A growing, multi-entity real estate and capital platform seeks a Chief Legal Officer to build and lead its legal function. This is a newly created, ground-floor role reporting directly to executive leadership, with broad exposure across real estate development, financing, specialty capital programs, construction and corporate operations. You will serve as principal legal advisor across the enterprise, manage outside counsel, structure transactions, and build the legal infrastructure and governance the business needs as it scales.Key ResponsibilitiesServe as principal legal advisor to the CEO and executive team across all entities.Lead legal strategy and execution for real estate acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and development, including purchase and sale, development and operating agreements.Structure and negotiate financings across the capital stack, including construction and permanent loans, mezzanine and preferred equity, and fund-level financing.Provide legal oversight of specialty capital programs, including offering documents, investor agreements and regulatory compliance, in coordination with outside specialists.Oversee legal matters for construction and contracting operations, including contracts, subcontractor agreements, liens and risk allocation.Support affiliated businesses on formation, licensing and regulatory matters.Manage corporate governance, entity formation and compliance across the holding company and subsidiaries.Select and manage outside counsel across transactional, regulatory, tax and litigation matters, including budgets and scope.Build internal legal infrastructure (templates, approval workflows, governance tracking, document management) and grow from a single seat into a broader team.Advise on employment, commercial contracting and corporate risk, and lead lender, investor and regulatory diligence.QualificationsJ.D. and active bar admission (California strongly preferred).12+ years of legal experience, including significant commercial real estate transactions (acquisitions, development, financing, joint ventures).In-house counsel experience at a real estate development, investment or operating platform, ideally as sole or lead counsel.Experience with specialty or alternative capital raising, or strong fund formation and securities experience with the ability to ramp quickly.Strong drafting, negotiation and business judgment, with the ability to advise senior executives and ownership directly.Proven ability to manage a high volume of complex transactions independently in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.