residential conveyancer lawyer

Residential Conveyancer (UK Property) — Remote, South Africa

Company: Smart Legal (smartlegal.co.uk) Location: Remote — South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg/Pretoria, Durban or anywhere in SA with reliable connectivity) Job type: Full-time, independent contractor engagement (or via Employer of Record) Working hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00am–5:30pm UK time (10:00am/11:00am–6:30pm/7:30pm SAST depending on season) Salary: R15,000 – R25,000 per month, depending on experience (paid in ZAR; reviewed annually)

About us

Smart Legal is a residential conveyancing practice based in London, regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). We act for buyers, sellers and lenders on residential property transactions across England and Wales. We are building a remote legal team in South Africa to run casework alongside our UK-qualified lawyers and Technical Supervisors.

This is a substantive fee-earning legal role, not an admin or call-centre position. Full, structured training in English residential conveyancing law and procedure is provided — we hire for legal ability, drafting quality and client-handling skill, not prior knowledge of English property law. If you have worked for a UK conveyancing firm, that would be amazing.

Job overview

We seek a meticulous conveyancer — an admitted South African attorney with around 2–3 years' post-admission experience, ideally in property, notarial or commercial practice — to manage the legal aspects of buying and selling residential property in England and Wales, under the supervision of a UK Technical Supervisor.

Duties

• Manage comprehensive property transactions: Handle the complete process for a range of property types, including registered and unregistered titles, freehold and leasehold, grants of leases, assignments, enfranchisement, auctioned properties and repossessions (training provided on all English-law aspects).
• Caseload management: Efficiently run approximately fifty-five pre-exchange files at any given time, ensuring each case is progressing towards exchange and completion.
• Effective communication: Maintain proactive, prompt email and telephone communication with solicitors, clients, estate agents, mortgage advisors and lenders to expedite case progress.
• Expectation management: Skilfully manage the expectations of clients and referrers, ensuring transparency and clarity at every stage.
• Case management systems: Operate within our cloud-based case management system to manage cases efficiently from initiation to completion.
• Relationship building: Build and maintain strong working relationships with estate agents and mortgage advisors (by phone, email and video) to secure high levels of service recommendation.
• Compliance adherence: Address any issues raised by the Compliance Officer swiftly and effectively, and keep files compliant with our AML and CLC regulatory requirements.
• Continuous learning: Participate in structured training in English conveyancing law, practice and procedure, and stay current with changes in the law.
• Team management (experience-dependent): Based on your experience, you may be asked to manage a small team of assistant conveyancers working on cases under your supervision and guidance.
• Training and presentation: Contribute to knowledge sharing by delivering presentations and training sessions to colleagues on conveyancing practice, procedure and legal updates.

Skills and attributes

• Exceptional communication skills: Excellent command of English, written and verbal, with strong listening skills. Clear, precise professional drafting is at the core of this role.
• Professional demeanour: Polite, confident and friendly in all interactions.
• Organisational prowess: Highly organised and disciplined in managing a substantial multi-file caseload.
• Rapport building: Quickly establish and maintain rapport with clients and professional contacts.
• Client-focused approach: Enjoy working with clients and building lasting relationships.
• Positive outlook: Maintain a positive attitude, even in challenging situations.
• Resilience: Stay organised, thorough and accurate under pressure.
• Team player: Thrive in a dynamic, target-driven team environment.
• Management ability: Capable of overseeing processes and coordinating team members to ensure efficient case handling and excellent client service.

Requirements (remote working)

• LLB from a South African university and admission as an attorney (approx. 2–3+ years post-admission), ideally with property/notarial/commercial exposure
• A quiet, dedicated home working space
• Reliable fibre internet (minimum 50 Mbps) and backup power (inverter/UPS/generator) sufficient to work through load-shedding
• Availability to work UK business hours (only 1–2 hours behind SAST)

You might want to know

Exclusions from your role — you will NOT be responsible for:

• Quoting clients
• Applying for searches
• Handling post-completion applications

You will have administrative support handling all of the above, allowing you to focus on the technical legal and relational aspects of your caseload.

What we offer:

• Salary above South African market rate for your experience, paid reliably every month in ZAR
• Structured training in English residential conveyancing — a genuinely transferable international specialism
• Long-term career progression to senior conveyancer and team-leader level
• Direct supervision and support from UK-qualified lawyers
• No night shifts — ever

How to apply

Apply through Indeed with your CV and answer all screener questions — incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Shortlisted candidates complete a short written drafting exercise (approx. 45 minutes), followed by a video interview.

Screener questions (for Indeed's screening tool)

• Are you an admitted attorney in South Africa? (Yes / No) — deal-breaker: No
• How many years of post-admission legal experience do you have? (0–1 / 1–3 / 3–5 / 5+) — deal-breaker: 0–1
• Do you have experience in property, conveyancing or notarial practice? (Yes / No)
• What is your home fibre/internet download speed in Mbps? (Free text)
• Do you have backup power (inverter, UPS or generator) that allows you to work through load-shedding? (Yes / No) — deal-breaker: No
• Are you able to work Monday–Friday, 9:00am–5:30pm UK time? (Yes / No) — deal-breaker: No
• Are you willing to be engaged as an independent contractor or through an Employer of Record (e.g. Deel/Remote)? (Yes / No)
• What are your monthly salary expectations in ZAR? (Free text)
• In no more than 100 words, describe your experience of managing a caseload and drafting legal documents in English. (Free text — doubles as a writing sample)

Pay: R15 000,00 - R25 000,00 per month

Work Location: In person