Real Estate Tax Director (Law Practice)

Our client, a real estate owner, developer and investment manager in New York, is hiring a transactional tax lawyer or real estate tax specialist for its in-house tax advisory group.

This is a deal-side seat. You’ll work directly with investment, legal and finance leadership on acquisitions, dispositions, fund formations, joint ventures and refinancings. You’ll advise on structure and tax risk while deals are being shaped, not after the fact. The work is advisory and transactional rather than compliance. It covers REIT, partnership, FIRPTA and inbound investment issues on U.S. and cross-border deals with significant foreign investor capital.

For lawyers and transaction tax advisors who want to stay in sophisticated real estate structuring but move closer to the business, with a hand in execution and follow-through, this is a real step into the principal’s seat.

Location : NYC (full-time onsite)

Compensation : $300,000 to $365,000 base, + bonus

What You’ll Do

• Structure and execute acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and fund formations, analyzing every deal from a U.S. tax perspective, including deals with assets outside the U.S.
• Advise deal teams in real time on REIT, partnership, FIRPTA and inbound issues, and contribute tax analysis to investment committee discussions.
• Review purchase and sale agreements, partnership agreements and JV documents, with a focus on tax allocations and other tax provisions.
• Structure U.S. and cross-border fund and JV vehicles that bring in U.S. and non-U.S. capital, including sovereign wealth and other foreign investors.
• Work through debt modifications, refinancings and tax deferral strategies, and assess whether they can be implemented.
• Direct outside law and accounting firms: scope the work, review and challenge their advice and opinions, and negotiate firm representations.
• Quantify tax exposure and explain it plainly to senior management so they can make decisions.
• Oversee entity diligence, third-party REIT diligence, and quarterly and annual REIT testing.
• Track new legislation affecting partnerships, REITs and inbound and outbound investment.

What We’re Looking For

• A JD with transactional tax experience in a law firm real estate tax practice, or a real estate transaction tax specialist from a Big 4 or national accounting firm at the director or partner level.
• 5+ years of transactional tax experience focused on real estate.
• Strong technical grounding in both partnership taxation and REIT taxation, applied to live transactions. Depth weighted more toward one side is fine.
• Working knowledge of FIRPTA, inbound investment and U.S. withholding tax rules.
• Experience structuring real estate funds and joint ventures, domestic and cross-border.
• The ability to run several transactions at once and keep work moving across legal, finance and outside advisors.
• The presence and communication skills to advise senior investment professionals directly and turn technical issues into business recommendations.

Preferred

• LLM in Taxation.
• Experience advising sovereign wealth funds or other foreign investors on U.S. real estate investment.
• Experience with commercial real estate debt modifications and refinancings.
• Fund-level real estate transaction experience, beyond single-asset deals.
• Hands-on use of AI or automation tools in a tax or legal practice.
• Experience mentoring junior lawyers or tax professionals.

The Environment

This is an in-house seat in Manhattan, fully in the office five days a week. The team has full support from outside accounting and law firms, so this role concentrates on structuring, judgment and execution rather than producing opinions around the clock.