Chief Development Officer

Soho House & Co; Greater London; On-site; GBP 250,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

Soho House & Co in London is seeking a Chief Development Officer to own the global development lifecycle from acquisition through to opening handover. The role requires on-site leadership at the Board level and a hands-on ability to manage complex, multi-site programs, including critical US markets.

Lead a unified global development organization, set standards, governance and reporting, and partner with Finance and Operations to ensure delivery on time, on budget and on brand across all sites.

Qualifications

• 20+ years' experience in property, real estate or hospitality development at Director or C-suite level
• Proven delivery of complex, global development programmes across multiple countries and markets
• Deep, current US development expertise essential
• End-to-end development background spanning acquisition, design and construction
• Multi-disciplinary development background with hospitality success
• Experience with premium real estate or luxury hospitality brands advantageous
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with multi-million-pound budgets
• Executive presence and stakeholder management at Board level
• Willingness to travel extensively, based in London

Responsibilities

• Own the full development lifecycle end-to-end for every project globally, including acquisitions, design and construction.
• Consolidate regional development functions into a single global operating model with governance and reporting to the Executive Committee and Board.
• Build and maintain a global pipeline tracker and reporting cadence for status, budget and risk.
• Establish and chair the global development approvals framework and sign-off on briefs and budgets ahead of Board submission.

Skills

Global development

Board liaison

Contract negotiations

Budget management

Cross-regional leadership

Job description

The Role

The Chief Development Officer (CDO) is the single point of accountability for all property development activity across Soho House & Co worldwide. Based in London, the CDO owns the development lifecycle end-to-end. Inclusive of, Acquisition, Design and Construction for every new House, hotel and mixed-use site globally. The role is accountable for turning the group's growth strategy into a deliverable, well-governed pipeline with accountability for overall timescales. This newly consolidated role gives the business clear ownership of development outcomes — on programme, on budget, and on brand — from site identification through to opening handover. Given the scale and complexity of the US pipeline, deep, hands‑on US development expertise is essential.

Key Responsibilities

Single point of accountability for global development

• Own the full development lifecycle end-to-end — Acquisition, Design and Construction — for every project globally, acting as the single escalation point for status, risk and decision-making.
• Consolidate currently fragmented regional development functions into one global operating model, with clear standards, governance and reporting into the Executive Committee and Board.
• Build and maintain a global pipeline tracker and reporting cadence that gives the CEO, CFO and Board a single, reliable view of every project's status, budget and risk.
• Establish and chair the global development approvals framework, including sign-off on development briefs and budgets ahead of Board submission, and set financial authority levels for regional development teams.

Acquisition & site strategy

• Lead site identification, feasibility and appraisal for new Houses and related developments, partnering with Real Estate, Finance and Operations.
• Structure and negotiate development agreements, leases, joint ventures and construction contracts with landlords, developers and investment partners.
• Own capital appraisal and investment‑case development for new sites, working closely with Finance on returns, funding and board approval requirements.
• Own legal due diligence and negotiate global Framework Agreements with preferred contractors, consultants and suppliers, ensuring consistent commercial terms across markets.

Design & construction

• Oversee design development and construction delivery across all markets, ensuring every project is true to Soho House brand, design language and member experience standards.
• Set and enforce global development standards, playbooks and specifications, adapted appropriately for local planning, building and cultural context.
• Manage architects, designers, general contractors and specialist consultants, ensuring robust project controls on programme, cost and quality.

Programme, budget and risk ownership

• Hold end-to-end accountability for capital budgets across the global development portfolio, including cost control, forecasting and variance management.
• Identify, own and mitigate development risk — planning, regulatory, construction and commercial — across multiple jurisdictions and legal frameworks simultaneously.
• Ensure robust health & safety, sustainability and compliance standards are embedded in every project from design through to completion.
• Establish and own a global change‑control framework, ensuring material scope, cost or programme changes are escalated, approved and tracked consistently across every project and region.
• Own the development‑to‑operations handover process globally, ensuring operational readiness and pre-opening requirements are consistently met before launch.

Global market leadership

• Act as the senior executive owner of the global development pipeline, bringing direct, current expertise in global planning, permitting, construction and delivery models.
• Build and maintain relationships with global developers, landlords, contractors and local authorities to support continued growth.

Leadership & stakeholder management

• Build, lead and develop a high‑performing global development team, including regional leads across EMEA, the Americas and APAC.
• Act as a credible, senior voice with the Board, investors, joint‑venture partners and external advisors on all matters relating to development.
• Partner closely with the CEO, CFO, Chief Membership Officer and regional Managing Directors to ensure development plans align with commercial and brand strategy.
• Chair a global development steering committee — bringing together regional leads, Finance and Operations — as the standing forum for reviewing pipeline status, risk and decisions.

Experience Required

We are looking for a senior development leader with a strong track record in complex, multi-site, global real estate or hospitality development, and genuine credibility operating at Board level.

• 20+ years' experience in property, real estate or hospitality development, including significant time at Director or C‑suite / Executive Committee level.
• Proven delivery of complex, global development programmes — multiple concurrent projects, across multiple countries, legal systems and construction markets.
• Deep, current US development expertise — planning, permitting, construction procurement and delivery models in key US markets — is essential, not preferred.
• End-to‑end development background spanning acquisition, design and construction (A/D/C), rather than a single specialism within the development lifecycle.
• Multi‑disciplinary development business with a proven track record of hospitality success. The individual will be able to showcase premium projects working with practical experience to bring to the table.
• Background from a comparable luxury or lifestyle hospitality brand would be advantageous (for example Rosewood, Four Seasons, Capella or Edition) or a major branded hotel group (for example Hilton or Marriott), or an equivalent premium real estate developer.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen — comfortable owning multi-million-pound capital budgets, investment appraisals and Board-level reporting.
• Demonstrated people leadership — has built and led global, multi-regional teams and can operate as a credible, unifying leader across a historically fragmented function.
• Executive presence and stakeholder management — able to represent development at Board level and manage relationships with landlords, JV partners, contractors and regulators.
• Willingness to travel extensively, with regular time in the USA and other regional markets, while being based full‑time in London.