UK&I Real Estate Lead

Centeno International; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Centeno International seeks a high-impact UK&I Real Estate Lead to own the regional strategy and drive a multi-location portfolio with an annual spend of hundreds of millions. You will partner with the executive leadership to shape workplace footprint, investments, and future-of-work initiatives across the UK & Ireland.

You will bridge strategy and execution, delivering capital projects, complex negotiations, and robust governance across 28 locations while preserving balance between growth and

Qualifications

• Leadership of corporate real estate portfolios and strategy implementation.
• Ability to influence senior leaders without direct authority.
• Track record delivering large-scale workplace capital projects from concept to benefits realization.

Responsibilities

• Serve as principal strategic real estate advisor to senior UK&I leadership.
• Lead UK&I real estate strategy aligned to growth, talent, sustainability, and hybrid work.
• Sponsor major capital workplace projects and business cases through governance gates.
• Direct multi-market transactions, lease renewals, restructures, and disposals.
• Own financial planning, occupancy cost modelling, and regional forecasting.

Skills

CRE Leadership

Executive Stakeholder Management

Strategic Programme Delivery

Commercial Negotiation

Matrix Leadership

Education

Real Estate/ Construction degree

Job description

The Opportunity: Move In-House. Own the Strategy. Drive the Programme.

Have you built a standout advisory or consultancy career, only to hit a ceiling where your involvement ends the moment the transaction closes or the deck is delivered? Are you ready to step in-house on the client side, sit at the leadership table, and retain true long-term ownership of an iconic corporate estate?

As the UK & Ireland Real Estate Lead, you will take the reins of one of our clients' most prestigious and commercially critical global territories. Overseeing 1.4 million square feet across ~28 locations and a significant annual occupancy budget, this is not a business-as-usual caretaker appointment.

This role positions you as the region's chief property strategist. You will bridge executive vision with operational reality, shaping workplace footprint, capital investment, and future-of-work transformation across the UK&I.

The Role: What You’ll Do

Reporting directly to the Director, Real Estate – EMEA, you will act as the principal strategic real estate advisor to the UK&I Executive Leadership, navigating complex commercial demands with executive finesse:

• Enterprise Programme Leadership & Diplomatic Engagement: Serve as a strategic partner and trusted advisor to Service Line Managing Partners, Practice Leaders, and Core Business Services heads. You will unify diverse stakeholder groups with competing priorities, using evidence-based scenario planning, data analytics, and market intelligence to drive consensus on contentious portfolio decisions.
• UK&I Property & Location Strategy: Lead the creation, continuous evolution, and execution of a progressive UK&I real estate strategy aligned to commercial growth, talent attraction, sustainability, and hybrid workforce behaviours.
• Capital Investments & Business Case Champion: Sponsor and govern major capital workplace projects, flagship refurbishments, and office relocations. You will author rigorous, board-level business cases, navigate enterprise approval gateways, and steer programme delivery from inception through to benefits realisation.
• Strategic Transactions & Commercial Value: Direct multi-market transaction roadmaps; oversee lease renewals, restructures, strategic acquisitions, and disposals, while optimising portfolio flexibility and mitigating risk.
• Financial Stewardship: Own full financial planning, occupancy cost modelling, regional forecasting, and performance metrics across the £112M annual spend profile.
• Ecosystem Leadership: Direct and extract maximum value from external partners, including tier-one brokers, workplace design consultants, cost managers, and legal advisors.

Who You Are

You are a sharp, commercially driven property leader who excels at stakeholder diplomacy. You thrive in matrixed, high-trust environments where you build success through gravitas, business acumen, and relationship capital rather than direct line authority.

Whether you are currently a Director / Partner in a global CRE advisory firm looking to make your definitive client-side transition, or a senior corporate occupier lead seeking larger strategic scope, you bring:

Must-Haves

• CRE Leadership: 10+ years of progressive leadership in corporate real estate, portfolio strategy, or commercial workplace advisory, backed by a degree in Real Estate, Construction, or a related discipline.
• Executive Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to influence senior business line heads, C-suite executives, and financial controllers without direct operational authority.
• Strategic Programme Delivery: Track record of orchestrating large-scale portfolio transformations, major workplace capital schemes, and multi-faceted property business cases from concept to sign-off.
• Commercial & Negotiating Weight: Deep knowledge of UK&I lease structures, landlord negotiations, asset management, and commercial property law.
• Matrix Agility: Proven comfort leading multi-disciplinary internal teams and external supplier ecosystems within complex, multinational environments.

Preferred Distinctions

• Experience driving forward-looking workplace agility, occupancy analytics, and ESG-led real estate initiatives.

Why Take This Seat?

• Real Ownership: Move from advising clients to making decisions that shape where and how over 250,000 global colleagues collaborate.
• Boardroom Exposure: Play a pivotal role advising executive partners who shape national and global business services.
• Scale with Balance: Lead high-profile, city-shaping capital projects within a culture committed to hybrid flexibility and personal lifestyle balance.