Associate Real Estate Counsel - Mission Pet Health

Overview

This is a fully remote position for an Associate Real Estate Counsel who will be a key member of the Legal & Compliance team. The role involves providing legal, business, and strategic support related to real estate, lease administration, facilities, construction, and related operational matters. The position supports a national portfolio of veterinary hospitals by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial real estate documents, assisting with landlord and property disputes, supporting lease administration, and collaborating with internal stakeholders across multiple departments.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, revise, and negotiate commercial real estate documents including letters of intent, leases, lease amendments, renewals, assignments, subleases, license agreements, estoppels, SNDAs, easements, declarations, restrictive covenants, access agreements, and termination agreements.
• Support legal review and negotiation of design, construction, architectural, engineering, vendor facilities, maintenance, and other property-related agreements.
• Provide legal and business support for new hospital openings, relocations, expansions, renewals, remodels, closures, dispositions, and other strategic portfolio initiatives.
• Assist with legal review and analysis of title, survey, environmental, zoning, use restrictions, landlord work, tenant improvements, operating covenants, exclusivity, assignment, insurance, and other real estate diligence matters.
• Identify and assess legal and business risks in real estate transactions and recommend practical, business-oriented solutions.
• Partner with internal stakeholders including Legal & Compliance, Real Estate, Facilities Maintenance, Operations, Finance, and hospital leadership to support real estate and lease-related decision-making.
• Assist with legal oversight and support for the Lease Administration team, including lease interpretation, issue escalation, process and template development, critical date management, lease compliance, document organization, and internal reporting.
• Advise on lease administration, enforcement, and landlord-tenant matters such as landlord defaults, tenant rights, maintenance obligations, operating expense disputes, repair obligations, access issues, signage rights, exclusivity/use issues, casualty, condemnation, and related disputes.
• Draft and review landlord communications, notices, demand letters, default notes, consent requests, approval requests, and other real estate-related correspondence.
• Support resolution of landlord disputes and property-related operational issues in coordination with Facilities, Operations, Finance, Lease Administration, and outside counsel as needed.
• Assist in managing outside counsel on real estate, lease, construction, dispute, and other property-related matters, including coordinating internal input and reviewing work product.
• Maintain and improve legal templates, playbooks, workflows, checklists, approval processes, and other resources related to leasing, lease administration, construction, and real estate matters.
• Provide practical, responsive, and service-oriented legal support to internal business partners while protecting legal and business interests.
• Perform other related duties and special projects as assigned.

Requirements

• Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law and in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 2-5 years of relevant legal experience, preferably including commercial real estate, commercial leasing, construction, corporate transactions, or in-house legal support.
• Strong academic credentials and training from a nationally recognized law firm, sophisticated regional law firm, in-house legal department, or comparable high-performing legal environment.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial leases, lease amendments, SNDAs, estoppels, construction agreements, and other real estate-related documents.
• Experience with real estate diligence including title, survey, zoning, environmental, and use restriction review.
• Experience working cross-functionally with lease administration, facilities, real estate, finance, operations, construction, or other business teams preferred.
• Excellent attention to detail, organization, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects, transactions, deadlines, and stakeholders with appropriate urgency.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-moving, dynamic, and growing organization.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, Outlook) and ability to learn lease administration, contract management, document management, property management, and project management systems.

Location

• This is a fully remote opportunity.