Acquisitions Associate, Asset Management Services

JLL; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

JLL in New York seeks an Acquisitions Associate, Asset Management Services, to support a client mandate across a regional investment team. You will focus on underwriting, market analysis, due diligence, closing execution, and data governance to deliver actionable investment outcomes for clients.

You will collaborate with client acquisition officers, cross-functional teams, and the Asset Management Services group, developing increasing independence on defined workstreams while maintaining

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 3-5 years in a transaction-focused real estate role or similar analytical capacity.
• Experience underwriting CRE deals and building property-level cash flow models.
• Proficiency with Argus, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Strong writing, presenting and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Underwrite acquisitions and conduct market research to inform investment decisions.
• Lead diligence workstreams from award to closing, coordinating with internal and external parties.
• Prepare investment committee materials and closing documentation.
• Input and manage data across models and asset information systems.
• Ensure compliance with client guidelines and maintain data accuracy.

Skills

Underwriting

Financial analysis

Quantitative analysis

Communication

Real estate market analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Argus

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

The Commercial Real Estate industry (CRE) is at an inflection point driven by several macroeconomic factors including on-going market volatility, changing demographics, rapid evolution in technology and data analytics, and the implications of ESG regulations. These factors are contributing to increased complexity and cost in owning, managing, and occupying real estate assets. Investors are requiring faster, data-driven insight, consistent reporting and an integrated view of risk, return and operational performance. JLL is evolving its advisory approach to key clients by drawing together current complementary skill sets into a newly formed team focused on Strategic Value Advisory within the Value & Risk Advisory group. The team will deliver advice to clients alongside the Valuations business through three Advisory service pillars – Investor, Credit and Asset (including Asset Management Services). The Strategic Value Advisory offer is powered by JLL's market-leading \"quants-driven\" approach, combining proprietary analytics, predictive modelling, and execution capability to deliver measurable asset and portfolio performance for clients and compelling commercial outcomes for JLL. Within JLL Asset Management Services, we are reimagining how Asset Management solutions are conceived and executed: building a data-enabled, capital-aware and globally consistent platform that connects real estate operations directly to investment strategy in a streamlined and scalable way. The Asset Management Services offer combines established strategic Asset Management expertise, optimized analytical processes, and JLL's \"quants-driven\" approach to enhance asset-level performance and equip clients to make confident, well-informed investment decisions.

The Role

The Acquisitions Associate, Asset Management Services will support the delivery of a client mandate across a generalist, regional investment team evaluating opportunities across property types, markets, and investment strategies. This role will focus on underwriting, market analysis, client investment committee materials, due diligence, closing execution, and transaction data governance in service of the client mandate. The Analyst will work closely with client acquisition officers, client cross-functional teams, and Asset Management Services team, while developing increasing independence on defined workstreams.

JLL Key Responsibilities

Financial Analysis and Modelling

• Construct, maintain, and audit cash flow models at the property level in Argus and Excel
• Apply discounted cash flow and deal-specific valuation approaches to underwrite acquisition opportunities
• Model a range of scenarios, from base case through alternative, downside, and upside outcomes, stress-testing assumptions such as rent growth, tenant rollover, leasing costs, capital expenditures, financing terms, hold period, and exit pricing
• Lead independent reviews of models, working through discrepancies to keep underwriting accurate
• Revisit and adjust underwriting as due diligence surfaces new operating, leasing, market, capital, financing, tax, insurance, or transaction-cost information
• Ensure underwriting at closing aligns with approved deal structure, final capital stack, closing statement, lender budget, and related investment records

Market and Investment Research

• Evaluate market, submarket, and capital-market dynamics affecting each investment
• Analyze comparable sales and leases, competing properties, replacement cost, and how in-place economics compare to market, to inform property positioning
• Gauge tenant or resident demand, functionality of the asset, leasing assumptions, competitive positioning, market liquidity, and risk at exit

Transaction Diligence and Execution

• Lead assigned diligence workstreams from award through closing, spanning kickoff, gathering documents, coordinating third-party reviews, tracking issues, securing internal sign-off, and completing checklists
• Keep the transaction timeline current, covering site access, contract execution, deposits, expiration of diligence periods, approvals, financing, and closing milestones
• Examine financial and operating diligence items, such as leases, lease abstracts, estoppels, historical operating statements, expense recoveries, other income, receivables, payables, deposits, prepaid rent, service contracts, warranties, tenant credit, and reports from third parties
• Coordinate with client engineering team to assess physical, environmental, development, capital, zoning, and permitting-related findings, folding their financial implications into underwriting
• Assist with reviewing closing statements, prorations, invoices, estoppels, sign-offs, completed checklists, and closing paperwork
• Stay ahead of open items, spot execution risks early, and raise them promptly

Approval and Closing Documentation

• Build out investment committee memoranda and presentation materials from established templates
• Write clear, focused analysis that lays out key assumptions, flags priority risks, and backs the investment recommendation
• Put together closing memoranda that tie closing underwriting back to investment committee underwriting and call out material changes
• Log outstanding action items and transition matters for handoff to the asset management team

Deal Data Management and Coordination

• Take ownership of data accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness across the deal pipeline tool and asset information system
• Cross-check data across models, investment committee materials, closing memoranda, source documents, pipeline entries, and the asset information system
• Input closing underwriting figures, capitalization, projected returns, and final costs into the asset information system
• Keep acquisition records organized and current in designated document-management and workflow platforms
• Coordinate handoff of finalized models, diligence findings, action items, transition matters, and supporting files to the asset management team and other relevant groups
• Look for ways to strengthen data quality, controls, process consistency, and reporting on transactions

Collaboration and Compliance

• Partner effectively with client senior investment professionals, functional teams, operating partners, brokers, lenders, consultants, service providers, and outside counsel
• Manage multiple assignments at once, respond quickly to requests, and deliver models, memos, reports, and updates on schedule
• Spot and raise potential issues tied to investment, execution, guidelines, compliance, data, or controls
• Adhere to client risk controls, policies, procedures, and documentation requirements
• Act as a final check on the analytical accuracy and data quality of assigned deliverables
• Manage relationships across multiple client and JLL stakeholders, and share insight into client processes gained through this work to help inform how JLL's service model evolves over time
• Ensure all activities comply with JLL's ethical, legal, and operational standards

Candidate Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required
• 3-5 years in a relevant transaction-focused role, whether in acquisitions, asset management, investment banking, real estate private equity, or a similar analytical capacity
• Track record underwriting commercial real estate deals and constructing property-level cash flow models
• Comfortable working in Argus alongside Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Grounded in real estate financing structures and standard modelling conventions
• Familiar with leasing fundamentals, spanning contractual versus market rent, escalations, renewal assumptions, tenant improvements, leasing commissions, free rent, expense recoveries, and tenant options
• Able to weigh market evidence, pinpoint the underwriting variables that matter most, and form an independent view on the investment
• Solid quantitative and analytical capability paired with strong writing, presenting, and verbal communication
• Careful and disciplined about keeping data accurate across models, memos, pipeline systems, and asset information platforms
• Capable of juggling several assignments and transaction deadlines with minimal oversight
• Works well both internally and with external transaction counterparties

Preferred Qualifications

• Has run acquisitions end to end, from underwriting through investment committee approval, diligence, closing, and handoff to asset management
• Background spanning different property types, markets, or investment strategies
• Familiarity with underwriting development or redevelopment deals
• Some exposure to joint ventures, incentive-management structures, promote waterfalls, and how transaction documents translate into modeled economics
• Working knowledge of physical, environmental, lease, title, survey, zoning, tax, insurance, regulatory, financing, and closing considerations
• Curious, resourceful, and willing to challenge unsupported assumptions

Performance Metrics

• Delivers underwriting models and return analyses that are accurate, internally consistent, and free of errors, on schedule
• Communicates