Commercial lead

Job Title

GRE Commercial Lead

Job Description Summary

Lead the commercial and financial strategy for global real estate operations, supporting portfolio optimization, capital planning and lease administration.
Partner with internal teams (finance, legal, procurement, facilities) and external vendors to drive value across real estate transactions and service agreements.
Manage global supplier relationships and performance across FM, construction, and CRE partners, ensuring cost efficiency and SLA adherence.
Oversee budgets, forecasts, and contract negotiations for owned and leased properties, aligning with enterprise objectives.
Support executive decision-making with analytics on total cost of ownership, occupancy metrics, and scenario modeling.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Real Estate Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Support and execute global real estate strategy, ensuring alignment with business growth and operational needs.
• Oversee site selection, lease negotiations, acquisitions, and divestitures to optimize portfolio performance.
• Conduct financial modelling for lease vs. buy, stay vs. relocate, and asset disposal opportunities.
• Evaluate property transactions, ensuring competitive lease renewals and strategic protections for the organization.
• Assess occupancy trends and develop long-term plans for efficient space utilization.
• Develop and implement real estate transition plans related to mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs, ensuring minimal operational disruption.

Financial Oversight & Transactions

• Oversee a global real estate portfolio exceeding $300M for facilities, construction, and lease costs.
• Direct OPEX & capital management of 6 corporate locations & 20+ subordinates and contractors.
• Develop and execute short-, mid-, and long-term financial plans to optimize the real estate portfolio.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities through strategic negotiations, benchmarking, and vendor management.
• Conduct financial due diligence for major real estate decisions, including lease commitments and asset valuations.

Facilities, Construction & Workplace Optimization

• Oversee all global construction projects, including planning, technical specifications, budgeting, and execution.
• Establish a standardized approach for site design, workplace standards, and facility maintenance programs for corporate locations.
• Ensure alignment with office work models and optimize workplace design for efficiency.
• Implement a 36-month look-ahead plan for real estate and construction projects.
• Manage capital and expense budgets related to real estate operations and maintenance.

Risk Management, Compliance & Sustainability

• Ensure compliance with local, national, and international real estate regulations.
• Conduct due diligence for leases, acquisitions, and site evaluations to mitigate risks.
• Develop contingency plans for business continuity, including real estate-related disruptions.
• Implement sustainability initiatives such as energy efficiency, carbon footprint reduction, and green building standards (as applicable).
• Ensure all leases adhere to delegation-of-authority requirements and lease audit standards.

Stakeholder Engagement & Vendor Management

• Serve as a key liaison with senior executives, ensuring transparency in real estate decisions.
• Build and maintain relationships with landlords, brokers, and internal business stakeholders.
• Oversee external vendors, including architects, engineers, and contractors, to support construction and operational initiatives.
• Facilitate benchmarking and market analysis with global brokerage firms to identify real estate trends.
• Partner with legal, finance, and operations teams to ensure real estate transactions align with broader corporate objectives.

Leadership & Team Development

• Support and manage a global real estate team of 20+ and external vendors across Construction, Lease Management, Transactions, and Facility Management.
• Foster collaboration across departments to align real estate initiatives with corporate objectives.
• Promote a high-performance culture, driving innovation and operational excellence.

YOUR BACKGROUND

Key skills and competencies for succeeding in this role are:

• Business/Finance experience in Real Estate transactions within industrial/manufacturing.
• Ability to create business cases
• Extensive experience in corporate real estate, lease negotiations, site selection, and facilities management.
• Strong financial and analytical skills, with expertise in portfolio optimization and capital project management.
• Ability to lead large-scale real estate transactions while driving cost efficiencies.
• Expertise in sustainability initiatives, risk management, and regulatory compliance.
• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, and leadership skills.
• Experience managing real estate aspects of corporate growth and restructuring initiatives.
• Legally able to work in the U.S. without requirement for any type of visa sponsorship/transfer now, or at any time in the future.
• This role requires a strategic leader who can balance high-level real estate planning with operational execution while ensuring financial discipline, risk mitigation, and alignment with corporate objectives.

Cushman & Wakefield also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life, and disability insurance programs, and paid and unpaid time away from work. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, Cushman and Wakefield provide eligible employees with competitive pay, which may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, total hours worked, job type, business line, and applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

The compensation that will be offered to the successful candidate will depend on factors such as whether the position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the geographic area in which the work will be performed, market pay rates in that area, and the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

The company will not pay less than minimum wage for this role.

The compensation for the position is: $ 114,750.00 - $135,000.00

Cushman & Wakefield is an Equal Opportunity employer to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Discrimination of any type will not be tolerated.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position at Cushman & Wakefield, please call the ADA line at 1-888-365-5406 or email [email protected] . Please refer to the job title and job location when you contact us.

INCO: “Cushman & Wakefield”