Land Manager or Senior Land Manager

Cobalt Consulting (UK) Ltd; St Albans; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Cobalt Consulting (UK) Ltd is seeking a Land Manager or Senior Land Manager to drive acquisitions for retirement‑living developments across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, East Anglia and Northamptonshire. The role involves hands‑on sourcing, negotiating with agents and landowners, and progressing sites to exchange, with regular travel across the patch and a hybrid working pattern.

Senior hires will analyse opportunities independently, defend appraisals, and support a regional acquisition strategy

Qualifications

• Proven end-to-end land acquisition experience.
• Experience building relationships with agents and landowners.
• Ability to conduct site appraisals and assess viability.

Responsibilities

• Generate opportunities through an established network of contacts and direct approaches.
• Identify potential sites through targeted direct marketing and landowner outreach.
• Build productive relationships with agents, landowners and advisers.
• Conduct desktop research, data analysis and Land Insight searches.
• Visit target towns and assess sites against customer and development requirements.
• Complete site appraisals and prepare acquisition reports.
• Manage offers, negotiations and contracts through to exchange.
• Support regional acquisition strategy with Land Director.
• Guide and support Land Buyers and Land Coordinators as needed.

Skills

End-to-end land acquisition

Relationship building

Negotiation skills

UK driving licence

Site appraisal knowledge

Tools

Land Insight

Job description

Cobalt is working with an established national retirement-living developer to appoint a Land Manager or Senior Land Manager following a recent reorganisation of its regional structure.

Covering Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, East Anglia and Northamptonshire, this is a hands‑on acquisition position for someone who enjoys finding opportunities, developing agent and landowner relationships and progressing sites through to exchange.

The business combines a structured approach with the freedom to pursue opportunities across the region, alongside flexible hybrid working with typically one day per week.

The Organisation

Our client is a retirement‑living developer operating across the UK through a network of regional offices and the business is strengthening its land function with this appointment.

The developer focuses on independent‑living schemes, typically acquiring brownfield sites of approximately 0.5 to 2 acres for developments of around 45 apartments.

Its acquisition model is predominantly transactional, with option and subject‑to‑planning agreements. Transactions will typically follow a straightforward subject‑to‑planning process of approximately 24 months, although unconditional acquisitions may be considered where appropriate.

The business is also increasing its work with complementary users, including supermarkets and care‑home providers, creating further opportunities to unlock suitable sites through partnerships.

The Role and Responsibilities

The Land Manager or Senior Land Manager will manage land acquisitions for retirement‑living developments, working with internal architecture, planning, technical, legal, commercial and construction teams.

This is a sourcing‑led position where you will spend time across your territory identifying opportunities, meeting agents and landowners and developing a regional pipeline.

• Generating opportunities through an established network of contacts.
• Identifying potential sites through targeted direct marketing and approaches to landowners.
• Building productive relationships with agents, landowners and professional advisers.
• Conducting desktop research, data analysis and Land Insight searches.
• Visiting target towns and assessing potential sites against customer and development requirements.
• Completing site appraisals and preparing acquisition reports and proposals.
• Managing offers, negotiations and contracts through to exchange.
• Working with the Land Director to help formulate the regional acquisition strategy.
• Guiding and supporting Land Buyers and Land Coordinators where appropriate.

The territory covers Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, East Anglia and Northamptonshire. The successful candidate will combine regular travel across the patch with home working and typically one day per week in office.

At Senior Land Manager level, you will be expected to analyse opportunities independently, produce and defend your own appraisals and progress deals without close supervision.

The appointed land professional will manage acquisitions through to exchange, when the relevant bonus becomes payable. The subsequent legal process is overseen by senior leadership, supported by the client’s in‑house planning team.

The Skills and Experience Needed

This opportunity could suit an established land professional or a Senior Land Buyer ready to take the next step. Those joining at senior level will need to demonstrate greater independence across appraisal, analysis and decision‑making.

Previous experience or a specialism within retirement living would be particularly welcome, although candidates from relevant property backgrounds with strong hands‑on acquisition experience will also be considered.

You will need:

• Proven end‑to‑end land acquisition experience, from identifying sites through negotiation to exchange.
• A working knowledge of site appraisal and assessing the commercial viability of an acquisition.
• The ability to source opportunities directly through agents, landowners, targeted approaches and an established network.
• Effective relationship‑building and negotiation skills.
• The willingness to spend substantial time visiting sites, agents and target locations across the region.
• A valid UK driving licence.

Your wider background could include residential development, commercial property, retail, hospitality or land agency, with retirement‑living experience considered particularly advantageous.

The position will suit someone comfortable with a traditional approach to land buying: building relationships, contacting landowners directly and personally progressing opportunities from initial identification through to exchange.

Due to the volume of applications received, if you don’t hear back from us, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

If you require any adjustments or additional support during the recruitment process for any reason whatsoever, please let your Cobalt consultant know.