Senior Legal Counsel, Development (Hospitality Group)

About the role

A leading international hospitality group is looking for an experienced legal professional to support its expansion across Asia Pacific. This is a commercially focused role covering hotel development, management and franchise arrangements, with particular exposure to branded residences and hospitality-related transactions. Working closely with regional development and commercial teams, the successful candidate helps structure and negotiate transactions across the APAC region.

Key responsibilities

• Lead negotiations and give legal advice on hotel management agreements, franchise agreements and branded residential developments.
• Advise on new hotel signings, contract renewals, amendments and commercial arrangements with property owners and developers.
• Support corporate and real estate transactions, including acquisitions, disposals, leases and joint ventures.
• Provide guidance on franchise regulatory requirements and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Work with development, finance, tax and commercial stakeholders on transaction structuring and execution.
• Advise on commercial matters such as intellectual property, owner due diligence and procurement arrangements.
• Manage external counsel and give practical, commercially oriented advice to regional stakeholders.

Required profile

• Minimum 10 years of relevant legal experience, gained in private practice and/or in-house.
• Qualified lawyer from a Commonwealth jurisdiction.
• Strong experience in hospitality development, hotel management agreements, franchising and/or branded residential transactions.
• Demonstrable experience handling complex commercial transactions across multiple jurisdictions, ideally in Southeast Asia and Korea.

Required skills

• Excellent drafting, negotiation and stakeholder management.
• Strong commercial judgment and ability to advise independently in a fast-paced international environment.
• Comfortable adopting new technologies and AI-enabled tools to improve legal workflows.