Senior Land Manager

Cobalt Recruitment; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days’ annual leave

Private medical cover and health scree

Group personal pension plan and life-

Job summary

Cobalt Recruitment is partnering with a well-established UK property developer in the West Midlands to appoint a Senior Land Manager to take ownership of identifying, negotiating and securing new development opportunities. You will manage acquisitions through the lifecycle with in-house support teams and report to the Land Director.

You will have autonomy to build your pipeline, foster relationships across the region, and contribute to delivering the regional land strategy while benefiting from

Qualifications

• Strong experience of land or property acquisition, including identification, appraisal and transaction management.
• Proven ability to proactively source opportunities beyond marketed sites.
• Good commercial understanding and experience of site appraisal.
• Strong negotiation skills and ability to progress transactions to exchange.
• Established ability to develop relationships with agents, landowners and other professionals.
• Experience and credibility to work with senior stakeholders and internal specialists.
• Ability to guide and support less experienced colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Source and progress land opportunities from identification through negotiation and exchange.
• Identify development sites via networks, direct approaches, market intelligence and research.
• Build and maintain relationships with landowners, agents and key contacts in the region.
• Assess opportunities and conduct site appraisals to establish viability.
• Prepare and present acquisition proposals for decision makers.
• Lead negotiations and progress transactions to exchange.
• Collaborate with planning, technical, commercial and legal teams to secure opportunities.
• Support the Land Director in delivering regional acquisition strategy.
• Share market knowledge and mentor junior land team members.

Skills

Land acquisition

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Market research

Job description

Cobalt is partnering with an established UK property developer to appoint a Senior Land Manager to its West Midlands team.

This is an opportunity for an experienced land professional to take real ownership of identifying, negotiating and securing new development opportunities across the region.

Working closely with the Land Director, you’ll manage acquisitions through the full lifecycle, supported by established in‑house planning, architecture, technical, legal, commercial and construction teams.

The opportunity

Land acquisition is fundamental to the continued growth of the business, and the land team has strong support and visibility at senior leadership level.

You’ll have the autonomy to build and progress your own pipeline, develop relationships across the West Midlands market and play an important part in delivering the regional land strategy.

Alongside a competitive basic salary, the package includes:

• Attractive commission on successful land acquisitions, plus additional deal incentives and a team bonus scheme.
• 25 days’ annual leave.
• Private medical cover and health screening.
• Group personal pension plan and life assurance.

The role

As Senior Land Manager, you’ll take responsibility for sourcing and progressing land opportunities from initial identification through to negotiation and exchange.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Proactively identifying potential development sites through professional networks, direct approaches, market intelligence and research.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with landowners, agents and other key contacts across the region.
• Assessing opportunities and undertaking site appraisals to establish commercial viability.
• Preparing and presenting acquisition proposals.
• Leading negotiations and progressing agreed transactions through to exchange.
• Working closely with planning, technical, commercial, legal and other internal teams to assess and secure opportunities.
• Supporting the Land Director in the delivery of the regional acquisition strategy.
• Sharing market knowledge and providing guidance and support to more junior members of the land team.

About you

Residential development experience would be advantageous, but is not essential. The business is open to considering experienced acquisition professionals from other property sectors, including commercial property, retail, hospitality and land agency.

You’ll need:

• Strong experience of land or property acquisition, including identification, appraisal, negotiation and transaction management.
• A proven ability to proactively source opportunities rather than relying solely on marketed sites.
• Good commercial understanding and experience of site appraisal.
• Strong negotiation skills and the confidence to progress transactions through to exchange.
• An established ability to develop relationships with agents, landowners and other professional contacts.
• The experience and credibility to work effectively with senior stakeholders and internal specialist teams.
• The ability to support and provide guidance to less experienced colleagues.

Why consider it?

For an experienced land professional, this offers the combination of autonomy, strong in‑house expertise and a reward structure that recognises successful acquisitions.

It could also be an excellent opportunity for someone with substantial acquisition experience in an adjacent property sector who is looking to make the move into residential development.

Applications are being reviewed as they are received and interviews are expected to progress quickly.

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.