Senior Real Estate Attorney

Company Description

At H&M, our purpose is to liberate fashion for the many. We want to shape a new world in Fashion. A world with one ultimate goal : to unleash your self-expression.

As an H&M colleague, you're encouraged to be yourself & more. You'll take on new responsibilities from day one, learn skills for life, and find new ways to make your big dreams come true.

Our company is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, and we actively seek colleagues who share our commitment.

Job Description

About the Role

As a Senior Real Estate Attorney USA-CA-PR in the Expansion function, you are responsible for leading and managing both the legal and Lease Administrator function and the external legal service providers while serving as a liaison with outside counsel and internal Leasing Managers on leasing issues.

• The Senior Real Estate Attorney should be able to set and own the legal strategy for the department; provide direction and practical solutions on a wide range of real estate issues;
• identify, analyze, and communicate complex business and legal issues that may have a significant impact to H&M's real estate portfolio;
• provide advice to proactively manage the company's real estate portfolio from a legal standpoint, minimizing risks while supporting the business goals;

independently negotiate - or manage outside counsel in the process of negotiation - various types of retail leases (including leases for malls, lifestyle centers and street locations) or portfolios of leases.

This role should have the ability to negotiate and manage the negotiation of leases that conform to a template, or are one-off deals, and work effectively with outside counsel on standalone or complex transactions.

This role is also responsible for working independently on documents that arise post-lease execution, including but not limited to the drafting, review, and negotiation of lease amendments (whether simple or complex), SNDAs, estoppels, and abstracts, as well as the prompt resolution of lease disputes and facilities issues.

Multitasking is critical in this role, as is the ability to work collaboratively with various functions within the Expansion Function including Lease Administration and Facilities.

While being responsible of the performances of the Real Estate Attorney, the Senior Real Estate Attorney will also manage 3 Lease Administrators while productively collaborating with other in-house attorneys on other legal issues on an as needed basis.

Will guide and develop the professionals within the team, acting as a role model, delivering feedback, communicating in an inspiring and inclusive way, assisting in the preparation of the legal and lease admin matters the team while coaching the H&M values and the Expansion's internal and external way of working.

This hybrid role reports into our Expansion Manager USA-CA-PR and is based out of New York, NY, with the following direct reports : Real Estate Attorney, Lease Administrator.

A Day in the Life

Working at H&M means no two days are ever the same, but a typical day will include the following responsibilities*

Lead and manage the legal and Lease Administrator function and external legal service providers serving as a liaison with outside counsel and internal Leasing Managers on leasing issues.

Lead the legal review, drafting, and negotiation of commercial agreements and contracts.

Provide through leadership the development of the legal strategies and the improvement of standards while guaranteeing that the corporate Global legal guidelines are met.

Provide strategic legal guidance, directions and practical solutions to executives on a wide range of real estate issues and identify, analyze, and communicate complex business and legal issues that may have a significant impact to H&M's real estate portfolio.

Ability to negotiate / draft leases, amendments, estoppels, SNDAs, lease abstracts, side letters - with an emphasis on amendments and conforming leases.

Attends weekly and monthly meetings regarding lease status and lease approvals.

Bring structure, consistency, and efficiency to the real estate legal department while being involved with all aspects of expansion including construction, leasing, finance and logistics.

Actively facilitates the resolution of lease problems whether they are based in accounting issues due to interpretation of lease language, facilities issues based on operation by Landlord at actual store location or any other problem that may arise.

Lead the Lease Administrators to manage lease portfolio in connection with co-tenancy audits, exercising kick-outs or options and renewals.

Deliver relevant training to new and existing Real Estate Attorneys and Lease Administrators within the team while guiding and developing the team, acting as a role model, delivering feedback, communicating in an inspiring and inclusive way, assisting in the preparation of the legal and lease admin matters the team while coaching the H&M values and the Expansion's internal and external way of working.

Develop a strong understanding of best practices in LIMA, being responsible of timely data entry and accuracy while providing constructive feedback on how to improve, while assisting others.

Financial Accountability : Ensuring legal fees are controlled

Qualifications

Who You Are :

College degree and J.D. from an accredited law school along with admission to the NYS bar

8 years' experience in retail leasing required

Can state facts, law and legal arguments clearly and logically in written and oral form

Needs to be a business person as much as an attorney

Ability to work as a team member

Ability to work in a fast paced environment

Proficient in Word and Excel. Lease Administration Software (Virtual Premise or some similar real estate database software) knowledge preferred but not required

Inclusive, positive, open to feedback, willing to multitask and learn on the job

Additional Information

Why You'll Love Working at H&M

We value diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and disability

We pride ourselves on being a values-driven organization, guided by our 7 unique values that have been part of our success story for over 75 years

You'll have access to our Colleague Resource Groups (CRGs) to find community and networking opportunities among colleagues

We are an inclusive company where you're encouraged to be yourself at work

You will have access to a large global talent community, where career growth and aspirations have no limits

We believe in supporting your overall wellbeing and offer comprehensive benefits inclusive of health insurance, wellness and family support programs, company match 401k, paid leave programs, and paid time off, including a community day to serve your local community

You'll be able to express your personal style with our employee discount at H&M, & Other Stories, and COS

Compensation : salary range is $196,396-$225,860 annually

This job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job and is not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, and responsibilities assigned for this job at the company's discretion.

H&M, in good faith, has assessed this posted range of compensation as the accurate range for this role and location at the time of this posting.

H&M may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range depending on candidate qualifications. This range may be modified in the future.

EEOC Code : PRO

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.