Director, Assistant General Counsel: Commercial Real Estate

NYC 299 Park Avenue (22957), United States of America, New York, New York

Director, Assistant General Counsel: Commercial Real Estate

The Capital One Legal Department is seeking an experienced commercial real estate finance attorney to support its growing Commercial Bank. It is an opportunity to join an outstanding team at a Fortune 100 Company that is consistently voted one of the best places to work in the U.S. This attorney will be one of the critical and primary subject matter experts supporting our multi-billion-dollar Commercial Real Estate (CRE) business, a segment within the Commercial Bank, that provides permanent and construction financing for a broad range of project types, including multifamily housing, office buildings, and industrial facilities, as well as financing for REITS, real estate funds, and bridge lending.  

In addition, this role will assist in enhancing the legal infrastructure of CRE and driving consistency across CRE business segments. The successful candidate will be a strategic partner embedded within the business. The attorney must have outstanding legal and communication skills, an ability to anticipate and deliver on the needs of an  innovative, sophisticated, and fast-paced business and the flexibility to simultaneously manage a wide range of transactions and projects. This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate looking to work with an exceptional group of legal and business professionals in a dynamic environment. 

Responsibilities Include:

• Advising the Commercial Real Estate lending business and other Commercial Bank units on a wide variety of matters 

• Providing legal support to CRE as a trusted advisor and partner to the transaction teams and other internal partners 

• Leading the legal process for structuring, due diligence, documenting, negotiating and closing of CRE transactions 

• Engaging and overseeing outside legal counsel as needed in an effective and efficient manner

• Partnering collaboratively with other internal counsel and business teams in the Commercial Bank and across the enterprise 

• Representing the Commercial Bank with external parties, including customers, regulators, partners, industry trade groups and outside law firms 

• Providing thought and strategic leadership on relevant industry and regulatory developments 

• Leading projects such as the development of form documents, negotiation guidelines and training sessions 

• Partnering with the Commercial Bank’s Risk and Compliance officers to ensure comprehensive support 

• Partnering with the operations team to drive process improvements 

• Collaborating with Special Assets legal and business teams in support of workout and restructuring matters 

• Collaborating with in-house litigation team in support of litigation matters 

Our successful candidate will have the following skills and experience: 

• Detailed working knowledge of commercial real estate finance and willingness to work on various types of commercial real estate lending transactions 

• Demonstrated working knowledge of commercial real estate lending issues involving title insurance, surveys, zoning, flood, casualty/liability insurance, licensing, non-recourse carveouts, syndication and market standards 

• Experience leading projects relating to form document development 

• Demonstrated advocacy and oral and written communication skills, including the ability to interact successfully with all functions and levels of associates, including senior management

• Demonstrated ability to quickly understand the business needs and partner with the business, underwriting team, other members of the Legal Department and other constituents to create solutions and effectively deliver team results 

• Demonstrated leadership qualities and ability to get issues resolved across organizational borders

• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills 

• Experience managing outside counsel

Basic Qualifications: 

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school

• Active member in good standing of at least one state bar

• At least 6 years of experience in a law firm, in-house legal department, or a combination with a focus on commercial real estate financing transactions, mortgage secured real estate financing,