Head of Sustainable Operations, EMEA

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated; Greater London; Remote; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated in London, Remote across the EMEA region, seeks a Senior Director of Sustainable Operations to lead a large, cross‑functional team delivering sustainable services for enterprise clients. You will shape strategy with global and regional heads, manage a multi‑million P&L, drive transformation and client satisfaction, and mentor diverse teams across geographies.

The role requires strong commercial acumen, excellent communication, and a proven track record in

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of large, diverse teams across multiple locations.
• Strong background in sustainability within commercial real estate.
• Experience with multi‑regional enterprise accounts and complex programs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver the Global Sustainable Operations strategy with regional heads.
• Oversee client accounts and delivery of sustainability programs, data and reporting.
• Lead and develop a high‑performing regional team with a focus on growth and client satisfaction.

Skills

Sustainability leadership

P&L management

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Change management

Job description

JLL empowers you to shape a brighter way. Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people and empowering them to thrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong. Whether you’ve got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you’re looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward. JLL supports the Whole You, personally and professionally. Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology to our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people in our industry; and we support them through professional growth, flexibility, and personalized benefits to manage life in and outside of work. Whether you’ve got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades, and technology, or you’re looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, we empower you to shape a brighter way forward so you can thrive professionally and personally.

Senior Director, Sustainable Operations – EMEA Region

The Senior Director, Sustainable Operations will play a crucial role in creating and leading a strong Workplace Management Sustainable Operations team across the geography, as well as with JLL large enterprise clients. The role oversees a regional team of approximately 50 (and growing) sustainability professionals that will deliver Sustainable Operations products, solutions and tools for a wide variety of real estate clients.

This role will have operational oversight of client accounts. This team oversees 30+ clients sustainability programs that range from data and reporting to fully outsourced sustainability teams. This role is a part of the Technical Services and Sustainable Operations (TSSO) Workplace management team at JLL.

Key responsibilities include:

• Strategy Development/Execution: Develop and deliver, together with the Global Head of Sustainable Operations and the other Regional Heads, the Global Sustainable Operations strategy & business plan.
• Input into the design and implementation of the global platform delivery model that will meet client needs, delivery and quality targets.
• Work in partnership with Strategic Account executives to develop account delivery plans to support client retention, cross selling, client satisfaction, and account growth.
• Partner with TSSO leadership and platform team on the development of an innovative Sustainable Operations product strategy for the responsible region and/or Market Vertical.
• Leadership: Create a solution-oriented environment whereby the team is consistently seeking to identify leading edge best practices focused on delivering value to the client while working within the process requirements of the account and JLL.
• Partner with Client-Facing and Sales teams to ensure that appropriate renewal strategies are in place.
• Drive consistency of delivery of Sustainable Operations across the region including reporting requirements, policies and procedures.
• Collaborate with Sustainable Operations Excellence to implement guidelines/tools for and monitor performance of client satisfaction.
• Business Development and Growth: Partner with Sustainable Solutions Lead and Sustainable Operations Growth team to co-create a business growth strategy for the regional practice.
• Enable a commercially minded leadership team that identifies business growth opportunities with their respective clients and/or services.
• People Management: Lead existing team of sustainability practitioners and grow the organization in lock‑step with our rapid growth trajectory and increasing client demand.
• Develop a culture focused on clients, people and teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement and innovation.
• Responsible for end‑to‑end employee management including hiring, onboarding, leading, developing and mentoring team members.
• Diversify and develop workforce to meet evolution of client demand with a strong focus on technology.
• Relationship Management / Client Service: Develop and maintain strong working relationships with key clients and with key internal stakeholders (including Business Line Leads, Client Relationship Managers, Sales teams, Account Directors).
• Ensure high level of execution and client satisfaction for all services performed and that the team exceeds targets.
• Effective mobilization (transition) of new client accounts.
• Budget & Financial Performance Management: Accountability for cost management applicable to Platform elements and accountability for cost of Platform elements as percent of revenue.
• Responsible for line‑item revenue and cost management (full P&L) oversight for accounts under management with an expectation of “knowing your numbers” as related to cost control, expenditures, revenue forecasting, and key financial metrics across the business.
• Fully responsible for “cost-to-serve” and profit metrics for regional Sustainable Operations business.

The Candidate

The successful candidate will have a strong combination of operations leadership experience, executive presence, transformation skills, the ability to lead multiple & diverse teams across a large region and locations, and an ability to collaborate effectively across functions to deliver strategy and business plan. The candidate needs a demonstrable and highly commercial mind‑set, strong financial acumen. A logical, structured approach to problem solving and common sense are key.

Experience

• Demonstrated ability to lead large & diverse teams, and to steer partners and collaborators through influence.
• Background in Sustainability in the commercial real-estate environment, including energy efficiency, water and waste reduction, social value, carbon accounting and reporting, energy procurement, and holistic corporate sustainability initiatives.
• Strong experience with sophisticated enterprise customers, with a focus on multi-regional complex organizations facing multi-constituent sustainability challenges.
• Experience in designing, aligning and successfully executing significant transformation change initiatives from project start to finish.
• Commercially and financially astute, strong experience in managing a P&L within a fortune 500 environment.
• Excellent analytical and program management skills.
• Experience working in a matrix leadership structure and building strong relationships across diverse stakeholder groups.

Key Competencies

• A leader with exceptional communication skills. Ability to clearly articulate messages to a variety of audiences. Establish and maintain strong relationships on all levels of organization.
• Strong cultural alignment: unwavering ethical standards; drives excellence and innately collaborative.
• Strategic in nature, with a strong bias towards transformation and execution.
• Business first - Focuses on customers and clients, business/financial acumen, JLL first.
• Operates with a sense of urgency and is decisive.
• An authentic leader, stimulates action with a balanced leadership style of control and influence.
• Project Management Skills: Knows how to effectively structure, staff and manage projects and teams to insure there is clarity of expectation, timely execution, corrective action when needed and successful outcomes.

Location: Remote –London, GBR

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