The opportunity we have available The Legal, Legislation Liaison & Privacy Division is seeking an experienced (EL1 level), dynamic and talented real property lawyer to join our growing legal team. Reporting to the Principal Lawyer - Real Property (EL2), you will collaborate with other lawyers to deliver practical, strategic and solutions-focused advice as part of a high performing legal team managing a diverse portfolio of real property matters. This is an opportunity to advance your career and gain experience working in the Australian Public Service on high profile matters and with a wide range of stakeholders. As an EL1 Senior Lawyer, you will build and nurture collaborative client relationships as their trusted legal adviser and have an opportunity to supervise and develop more junior lawyers. You will be responsible for providing advice on a broad range of real property and leasing matters relating to: major infrastructure projects, including air, road and rail; regional development initiatives; support for the administration of offshore non-self-governing Australian territories; communication services; broader corporate and procurement services for the department; and surface transport matters, including aviation, maritime and road transport. We may establish a merit pool for future vacancies. The key duties of the position include What will you do? Operating under the general direction of the Principal Lawyer - Real Property Commercial, you will contribute to the success of the Commercial Law team by: providing proactive, strategic, high quality and solutions-focused advice on a wide variety of complex and significant real property issues and transactions (such as agreements for lease, leases, licences, easements, covenants, contracts for sale) to enable the department to assess legal risks and make sounds decisions on contractual and commercial matters; developing and maintaining the department's real property templates and precedents; participating in the peer-review and second-counselling of colleagues' legal work and providing guidance to junior members of the Commercial Law team; assisting with the efficient and value for money engagement of external legal service providers in accordance with the Legal Services Directions 2017 and other Commonwealth requirements; contributing to organisational level continuous improvement and skills/capacity building initiatives, including by delivering internal training to the department on real property related issues from time to time; and actively contributing to the division's positive work environment and culture. We actively support flexible work arrangements in terms of mixed home-based and in office work, upon discussion with the General Counsel, Commercial and Privacy. Who are we looking for? The successful candidate for this position will demonstrate their capability against the Executive level 1 Work level standards. Essential Our ideal candidate will: have broad real property legal practice experience, strong legal skills and sound commercial acumen gained in a law firm, in-house environment or government agency, including: advising on, drafting, reviewing and negotiating a range of real property arrangements; and strong problem-solving skills and the ability to provide timely, strategic and high-quality legal advice that enables decision makers to assess risk and make sound decisions on real property matters. demonstrate initiative and the ability to proactively manage legal matters and deliver client-focused outcomes communicate clearly and persuasively in plain English, both verbally and in writing have well-developed interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong collaborative working relationships with clients, colleagues and stakeholders be able to triage, manage and prioritise their workload be a flexible, resilient and strong team player who can work independently and with a geographically dispersed team have an appreciation (or ability to quickly acquire an appreciation) of the policy and legislative framework governing the department's real property dealings, including its obligations as a land manager and when undertaking real property procurements and disposals strive to continuously improve and develop, including by responding to constructive feedback; and have integrity and be committed to practising in accordance with the Statement of Expectations of Australian Government lawyers. Favourable While not a mandatory requirement, given the legal expertise this role requires, we expect many suitable candidates are likely to have at least 3 years relevant post qualification experience. In addition, the following would be favourably considered: some experience in managing real property disputes, including using alternate dispute resolution and/or some experience in general commercial legal practice.
