The key duties of the position include The Role Defence Legal is a national organisation, which provides legal advice and other legal support services to Defence. We draw upon the professional talent of our people to pursue excellence in support of Defence operations, command, management and administration. As part of the General Counsel - Defence Branch, this position provides legal support to the Estate and Infrastructure Law Team. The day-to-day tasks undertaken by the role include providing legal advice and assistance to internal Defence clients, principally for the Security & Estate Group, including in relation to strategic and legal risk issues, the drafting and review of documents (including complex and bespoke documents) and the oversight of external engagements, on matters relating to the Defence Estate and covering all jurisdictions within Australia. The Security & Estate Group undertake an interesting, broad and diverse body of work to progress Defence's key Estate programs, which are central to the 2024 National Defence Strategy. Applicants can expect novel, rewarding and unprecedented legal work in support of projects critical to Australia's national interest. This legal advice and assistance principally involves broadly the provision of legal services focused on supporting Defence's key Estate programs, in the following areas of law across three dedicated lines of legal service: Construction Law; Real Property Law; Environmental Law; and Native Title Law. Legal assistance also involves, across the lines of legal service, general advisory, providing legal advice and drafting on administrative and legal documents, including ministerial submissions and briefs. Your role will be to principally provide legal advice and assistance to Defence clients with real property law matters, focusing on providing strategic and legal risk advice in relation to: Negotiation of leases, easements, access licences and other access agreements; Specialist advisory on land tenure arrangements; Preparation and review of a range of documents relating to tenure and access in the Estate, including MOUs, leases, licenses, access deeds and general deeds relating to the Estate; and Legal and policy requirements relating to access and use of the Estate and Non-Defence Training Areas. This role is eligible for an additional remuneration benefit known in Defence as a Building Defence Capability Payment (BDCP). This enables Defence to provide a premium, in addition to the base salary otherwise payable under the Defence Enterprise Collective Agreement (DECA), for positions in occupational disciplines/classifications that are critical to Defence capability. For further information, please contact the contact officer. About our Team The Estate & Infrastructure Law (E&I Law) Team in Defence Legal provides legal services primarily to the Security & Estate Group's (SEG) Infrastructure, Estate Transformation and Service Delivery Divisions. SEG manages the development, maintenance, management, leasing, acquisition and disposal of the Defence Estate - one of the largest real estate portfolios in Australia. To manage the Estate, SEG reviews, develops and constructs facilities and sites, often planning out to thirty years in advance. They create heritage and environment policies for all Defence properties across Australia. Property acquisitions, leasing, disposal and management of Estate related access, native title, mining and petroleum exploration issues, also fall within SEG's portfolio of responsibilities. The E&I Law Team play a crucial role in providing strategic advice and managing legal risk for SEG. The Team assists SEG on all aspects of the Estate, large and small, including: Its large-scale infrastructure and leasing projects, joint-user arrangements and Commonwealth and State agency MOUs; Its office accommodation, neighbouring land interface issues and cadet training needs; In addition, the E&I Law Team provide legal advice and assistance to other areas of Defence who require construction, property, native title or environmental law expertise. Our Ideal Candidate The successful candidate will ideally have: Extensive post-qualification experience in commercial property law, relevant to leasing, licensing, property management (including portfolio management) and the development of land; Experience in leasing and/or conducting property law matters across multiple Australian jurisdictions is desirable; Experience in transactions is required and dispute work is desirable; Excellent communication, relationship management and client engagement skills; An ability to lead work streams and manage staff (when and where required) and to work collaboratively as a member of a team; and An ability to manage competing priorities in a high tempo We are also interested in hearing from candidates at a senior level with significant experience in providing intensive in-house legal support to large-scale and/or high risk government projects or national security operations.
