Development Manager

Kingfisher Recruitment; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Kingfisher Recruitment in Melbourne is seeking an experienced Development Manager to lead Living Sector projects across Build-to-Rent, co-living, hotel and mixed-use developments. You will drive the full project lifecycle from feasibility and design through planning, procurement and handover.

You will report to a Senior Development Manager and work with internal teams, external consultants, authorities and operators to deliver value and maintain governance across multiple workstreams.

Qualifications

• Experience at Development Manager level on medium-to-large residential or mixed-use projects.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to sequence design, planning, procurement and delivery.
• Demonstrated capability in financial analysis and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Manage developments across feasibility, design, planning, funding, construction and handover.
• Own project feasibilities, budgets, cash flow and commercial reporting.
• Prepare and manage project and design briefs.
• Lead planning strategies, approvals and negotiations with councils and authorities.
• Coordinate consultant teams and maintain governance, risk, program and budget.
• Lead construction procurement and commercial negotiations.
• Collaborate with operators to integrate operational requirements into design.
• Manage relationships with government, community and development partners.
• Support sustainability, ESG and broader innovation objectives.
• Mentor and develop junior members of the development team.

Job description

An established Melbourne property group is seeking an experienced Development Manager to join its growing Living Sector team, with exposure across Build-to-Rent, co-living, hotel and mixed-use development.

This is a broad development role offering genuine ownership across the full project lifecycle, from feasibility and design through planning, procurement, construction and operational handover.

The Role

Reporting to a Senior Development Manager, you will take day-to-day commercial responsibility for allocated developments while working closely with internal design, marketing and asset management teams, external consultants, authorities and operating partners.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing developments across feasibility, design, planning, funding, construction and operational handover
• Owning project feasibilities, budgets, cash flow and commercial reporting
• Preparing and managing project and design briefs
• Leading planning strategies, approvals and negotiations with councils and authorities
• Managing consultant teams and maintaining project governance, risk, program and budget
• Leading construction procurement and commercial negotiations
• Working with operators to integrate operational requirements into project design and delivery
• Managing relationships with government, community, consultants and other development partners
• Supporting sustainability, ESG and broader innovation objectives
• Mentoring and developing junior members of the development team

About You

You will ideally bring recent experience operating at Development Manager level across medium-to-large residential or mixed-use developments. Experience within Build-to-Rent or co-living will be highly regarded, although strong candidates from comparable residential development backgrounds will also be considered.

You will have demonstrated capability across:

• Development feasibility and financial analysis
• Design management and consultant coordination
• Victorian planning and approvals
• Construction procurement and delivery
• Commercial and risk management
• Stakeholder and operator management
• Managing multiple workstreams autonomously

Just as importantly, you will have strong commercial judgement and the ability to balance revenue, cost, risk, design quality and operational requirements when making development decisions.

What's On Offer

• Exposure to an expanding pipeline across emerging Living Sector asset classes
• Broad responsibility across the complete development lifecycle
• Opportunity to work closely with experienced senior development professionals
• Clear scope to build capability and progress over the coming years
• Progression pathway to senior leadership