CBRE UK
Associate Director - Portfolio and Commercial Strategy
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About the Role
As an Associate Director within PCS, you run client projects and the people on them, holding client relationships and leading consulting engagements end to end for national and global corporate occupiers, principally across office and R&D assets. Alongside delivery, you carry real business development responsibilities and support the practice's growth ambition. This is a key role in the practice group, leading our accounting and capital structuring advice for occupier clients.
What You'll Do
- Lead the practice on accounting. You are the practice's authority on how real estate decisions land in the accounts: lease classification and recognition, and the effect of a strategy on the balance sheet, P&L, EBITDA and business health measures. You give clients that advice directly.
- Lead engagements on real estate capital structuring. Advise clients on whether to own, lease or use a sale-and-leaseback, weighing the balance sheet, cost of capital, flexibility and market conditions, and stand behind the recommendation
- Develop strategic solutions. Run projects end to end. Produce high-impact client deliverables that enable senior stakeholders to make informed, transformational decisions. Own the approach, the plan, the client relationship and the quality of what goes out. You're the person accountable for the engagement.
- Carry business development responsibilities. Convert client opportunities into project work, pursue new targets, and build a pipeline. Lead proposals and fee scoping and raise the practice's profile through internal and external events and networks.
- Lead the team on the work. Direct juniors and offshore team members, set the standard, and develop the people below you towards their next level.
- Hold the client at decision level. Be the senior contact the client trusts and manage the relationship through the project lifecycle.
- Partner with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders across disciplines including Transaction Management, Account Management, Digital Solutions, Investment, and Asset Management. Cultivate strong working relationships and facilitate collaborative informed decision-making and integrated solutions.
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What We're Looking For
- A recognised accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), applied in a real estate context. The role leads to the practice's accounting input, so both the qualification and hands-on experience of how real estate decisions impact company accounts are requirements, not preferences.
- Capital markets experience is a requirement: real estate ownership and financing structures, and the authority to advise on own or lease decisions.
- Strategic mindset, able to connect data-driven insights to broader business objectives and craft recommendations that drive long-term value.
- An excellent understanding of cashflow, P&L, balance sheet principles and corporate finance and lease accounting nomenclature.
- Proactive working style and bias for innovation.
- A track record of running engagements end to end, accountable for delivery, client relationships and quality assurance.
- Exceptional attention to detail is a must, ensuring accuracy and precision in your own work and that of your teams, in all client deliverables.
- Clear and confident communication skills (written and verbal), with demonstrated ability to effectively present complex strategic recommendations to senior client stakeholders.
- Collaborative mindset with the ability to work independently and at pace in evolving client environments.
- Advanced, deliberate use of AI. You don't just use these tools, you shape how the practice group uses them.
- Fluent English; additional languages are a benefit.
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What We Offer
- Ownership of client engagements and the room to grow the work you win.
- Opportunity to work on high-impact projects shaping the future of occupier real estate.
- Exposure to senior client stakeholders and complex, multi-asset portfolios.
- A dynamic, international team environment with clear career progression pathways.
- Opportunity to influence decisions at the intersection of people, assets, and business performance
- Access to leading tools and methodologies for strategic decision-making. We're a practice investing in our suite of enablement tooling, so your time and your team's goes into judgement and clients, not manual production.
Career Progression
We champion internal promotion. Associate Directors in Portfolio Strategy typically progress into Leadership roles within the practice group; shaping the future of the team and the way we show up in the market.
Why CBRE
When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward-thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values - respect, integrity, service and excellence - and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realize your potential. We welcome all applicants.
Applicant AI Use Disclosure
We value human interaction to understand each candidate's unique experience, skills and aspirations. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make hiring decisions, and we ask that candidates disclose any use of AI in the application and interview process.
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