Head of Property (Director of Real Estate & Development)

Location: London / Flexible (National Portfolio)

Remuneration: £170,000-£190,000, car, bonus and LTI's

The Opportunity

We are representing a household name in British infrastructure and logistics—a multi-billion-pound turnover organisation currently navigating one of the most ambitious operational transformations in the UK. With an estate spanning c.1,000 sites, the property portfolio is the backbone of their mission to modernise and scale.

Role Summary

The Director of Real Estate & Development will lead the strategic management, development, and optimisation of this vast property portfolio. This mandate includes the acquisition, design, construction, and delivery of new distribution offices, large parcel hubs, and local depots.

Crucially, you will drive the active management of the existing estate to identify and deliver disposals, redevelopments, and opportunities to unlock significant value. You will ensure the property strategy fully supports business growth, network efficiency, and sustainability objectives, while delivering substantial capital value back to the Group and its parent business.

Key Accountabilities

Reporting to the Group Property Director, you will hold direct accountability for a £100m+ budget and lead a high-performing team of 20 professionals (direct and indirect) to deliver a modern, sustainable, and commercially lean portfolio.

• Strategic Pipeline: Develop and execute a 1–5 year national real estate strategy that aligns with massive network growth and efficiency targets.
• Acquisitions & Development: Lead the end-to-end delivery of new-build logistics hubs and depots, from site identification and planning to design and construction.
• Asset Maximisation: Aggressively identify surplus assets for disposal or redevelopment, unlocking significant capital value.
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a high-performing property transactions function, fostering a performance-driven and commercially focused culture.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

This role sits at the heart of a complex corporate ecosystem. You will be a high-profile leader, navigating a diverse landscape of internal and external partners:

• Executive Leadership: Act as a key advisor to the Group and Divisional CFOs and the Chief Operating Officer, providing the commercial insight needed to support board-level decision-making.
• Operational Pillars: Partner closely with Engineering, Network Strategy, and Regional Directors to ensure the physical estate evolves in lockstep with operational demands.
• Corporate Functions: Collaborate with Finance, IT, Transformation, and Procurement SLTs to ensure governance, rigorous capital planning, and seamless project delivery.
• External Ecosystem: Manage critical relationships with the Pension Scheme, landlords, developers, and local authorities, as well as government and regulatory bodies.

The Candidate

• Experience: 10+ years of senior leadership in property/real estate, with a proven track record of managing massive, multi-site portfolios.
• Transaction Pedigree: Expert in high-value UK acquisitions, disposals, and complex planning landscapes.
• Stakeholder Gravitas: Exceptional at influencing at the EB/CFO level, translating complex property data into compelling business cases.
• Leadership: A proven developer of talent, capable of inspiring a mid-sized specialist team within a large, traditional organisation.

Apply below or reach out via email on rob.patterson@thejssgroup.com

Disclaimer: For roles at this level we receive extensive applications to advertised opportunities. As much as we endeavour to respond to each application, we would advise if you have not received communication within 14 working days that your application has been unsuccessful at this time.