Real Estate Programme Manager - Transactions (12 months FTC)

Cushman & Wakefield; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Cushman & Wakefield is seeking a Real Estate Programme Manager - Transactions (12 months FTC) to lead end-to-end lease and portfolio transactions on behalf of the client, coordinating internal stakeholders and external advisers to deliver value-driven outcomes.

The role combines transaction leadership with programme management, owning governance, budgeting, and approvals from requirement through to handover and post-completion review, while driving efficiency across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering complex commercial real estate transactions on client-side or advisory basis.
• Strong programme and project management capability across multiple workstreams.
• Experience leading negotiations and coordinating external advisers and partners.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the complete transaction lifecycle for lease renewals, regears, relocations, consolidations, expansions and other portfolio transactions.
• Translate business requirements into property strategies, scopes, delivery plans, milestones and budgets.
• Act as the primary client-side contact coordinating stakeholders across operations, finance, legal, procurement, risk and senior leadership.
• Lead programme governance, service levels, budgets, approvals and executive reporting.
• Develop robust options appraisals and business cases with clear commercial and risk implications.
• Direct external advisers, lawyers, surveyors, and landlords to secure optimal client outcomes.
• Ensure governance and approvals are followed for each transaction within the portfolio.
• Oversee portfolio-wide transaction pipeline and lease-event governance.

Skills

Programme management

Real estate transactions

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Lease and portfolio strategy

Governance and reporting

Education

Degree in real estate or related

5+ years real estate transaction experience

Job description

Real Estate Programme Manager - Transactions (12 months FTC)

Job Description Summary

The Real Estate Programme & Transaction Manager leads the end-to-end delivery of the client’s real estate transactions and associated property projects. The role combines transaction leadership with programme management and acts as the central client-side link between internal business stakeholders, external advisers and outsourced delivery partners. The postholder will take full accountability from initial requirement and business case through governance, commercial negotiation, approvals, implementation, handover and post-completion review. Managing portfolio wide lease event governance and the transaction pipeline, you will drive a programmatic approach to transaction management, continuously identifying and realising opportunities for efficiency in both execution and the portfolio itself.

Job Description Key Accountabilities

• Own and lead the complete transaction lifecycle for lease renewals, regears, relocations, consolidations, expansions and other portfolio transactions from initial requirement through completion, mobilisation, handover and post-completion review.
• Translate business requirements into clear property strategies, project scopes, delivery plans, milestones, budgets and decision points.
• Act as the principal intelligent client-side point of contact for all leasehold transaction activity, coordinating stakeholders across operations, finance, legal, procurement, tax, risk, sustainability, workplace, facilities, IT and senior leadership.
• Lead programme governance, ensuring outsourced providers deliver against agreed service levels, performance measures and strategic objectives including project plans, critical paths, dependencies, risk and issue logs, change control, budget tracking, approvals and executive reporting.
• Develop and present robust options appraisals and business cases that clearly set out commercial, operational, financial, risk and timing implications.
• Lead commercial negotiations and direct external advisers, agents, lawyers, surveyors, project managers, consultants and landlords to secure the best overall outcome for the client.
• Build stakeholder alignment around property strategy and ensure each transaction progresses through the required Property governance, delegation of authority, financial and legal approval processes.
• Lead programme governance and oversee outsourced-provider performance against agreed service levels, governance requirements, performance measures and strategic objectives. Maintain clear plans, critical paths, dependencies, budgets, risks, issues, change controls, approvals and executive reporting, intervening promptly where delivery is at risk.
• Own the portfolio-wide transaction pipeline and lease-event governance, ensuring renewals, rent reviews, break options, regears and expiries are identified early, supported by documented occupancy strategies, appropriately resourced and delivered in line with business priorities.
• Develop forward-looking transaction strategies that identify opportunities to optimise the portfolio, reduce cost, manage risk and support business growth and wider organisational objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement in transaction processes and support the implementation and ongoing development of the Property Operating Model, embedding consistent governance, processes, controls and ways of working across internal teams and outsourced partners.

Core Skills & Experience

• Proven experience delivering complex commercial real estate transactions in a client-side, corporate occupier or advisory environment.
• Strong programme and project management capability, with a track record of managing multiple concurrent workstreams from inception to completion.
• Demonstrated ability to take independent ownership of complex outcomes, exercise sound judgement, drive timely decisions and resolve delivery obstacles.
• Commercially astute, with strong negotiation, financial analysis, options appraisal, business case and risk management skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, including the ability to align diverse internal functions and communicate effectively with senior decision-makers.
• Experience directing multidisciplinary external advisers and outsourced delivery partners, with clear expectations, accountability and performance oversight.
• Experience implementing process improvement, operating model change or business transformation programmes.
• Strong understanding of leases, heads of terms, transaction documentation, property due diligence and the interaction between real estate, legal, finance and operational requirements.
• Knowledge of lease event management, rent reviews, lease renewals, regears and occupier transaction strategy.
• Highly organised and detail-focused, with disciplined governance, reporting and document management.
• Confident using portfolio, project and financial data to support decisions and communicate progress clearly.

Behaviours & Personal Qualities

• Accountable and delivery-focused, with the resilience to see complex activity through to a clear outcome.
• Proactive, pragmatic and solution-oriented, while maintaining appropriate governance and controls.
• Clear and credible communicator who adapts their style operational, technical and executive audiences.
• Collaborative and able to build trust across internal teams and external partners.
• Comfortable working with ambiguity, competing priorities and time-critical decisions.
• Acts with integrity, sound judgement and a strong client-side commercial mindset.

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in real estate, surveying, business, project management or a related discipline is preferred.
• Typically, at least five years’ relevant commercial real estate transaction or programme delivery experience.

Equal Opportunity

Cushman & Wakefield is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, marital status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Cushman & Wakefield is committed to equity in employment, and our goal is to have a diverse, inclusive and barrier-free workplace.

If you are a person with a disability and need any other accessible accommodations during the hiring process, you are invited to bring this to the Talent Acquisition Advisor’s attention once they have made contact.

INCO

“Cushman & Wakefield”

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm for occupiers and investors with approximately 53,000 employees in over 350 offices and nearly 60 countries. In 2025, the firm reported revenue of $10.3 billion across its core service lines of services, Leasing, Capital markets, and Valuation and other. Built around the belief that Better never settles, the firm receives numerous industry and business accolades for its award-winning culture. For additional information, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com