Senior Development Manager - Land Development

clark; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Camber Real Estate Solutions in McLean, VA, part of Clark Construction Group, seeks a Senior Development Manager to drive early-stage project success from vision through site selection, land assembly, and entitlements for turnkey industrial, commercial, and sports assets.

You will oversee horizontal due diligence, pro forma underwriting, public incentives negotiations, and coordination with civil engineering teams to deliver pad-ready, permit-ready sites for seamless vertical construction.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years in progressive real estate development leadership.
• Experience with land acquisition, horizontal development, and entitlements.
• Experience delivering sites for complex industrial or large-scale private enterprises.
• Strong ability to translate technical constraints into strategic business decisions.

Responsibilities

• Land Acquisition & Site Selection: lead comprehensive site selection, land assembly and due diligence across target markets.
• Horizontal Due Diligence & Feasibility: evaluate constraints, utilities, stormwater, traffic, and geotechnical factors before land closing.
• Pro Forma Underwriting & Cost Control: build and manage land budgets and pro formas for turnkey User requirements.
• Entitlements, Annexation & Public Incentives: navigate AHJs for zoning, amendments, annexations, incentives and P3s.
• Civil Engineering & Infrastructure Design Management: oversee engineers and planners to optimize grading, utilities, and pad sizing.
• Pre-Construction & Vertical Hand-Off: select contractors and ensure seamless hand-off to vertical construction teams.

Skills

Land Development

Site Acquisition

Financial Modeling

Stakeholder Communication

Entitlements

Education

Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Construction Management, or Architecture

Master's/MSRE/MBA preferred

Job description

From Diligence to Delivery. Camber Real Estate Solutions, a subsidiary of Clark Construction Group, is a full-cycle development platform that offers turnkey development solutions to clients. We take complex projects from initial strategy and design through complete construction.

As a Senior Development Manager, you are the strategic driver of early-stage project success. You will lead our clients from initial vision through complex site selection, land acquisition, horizontal land development, entitlements, and preliminary engineering design across a broad portfolio of turnkey user types-including advanced manufacturing, private commercial enterprises, sports and entertainment franchises, and more. You will act as the client's fiercest advocate, translating their operational footprint and expansion goals into fully derisked, entitled, and pad-ready land assets ready for seamless vertical construction and delivery.

This is an onsite role based in our McLean, VA office.

Responsibilities

• Land Acquisition & Site Selection: Lead comprehensive site selection, land assembly, and property due diligence across target markets. Evaluate physical, environmental, topographic, and legal conditions to negotiate option agreements, purchase contracts, and site control strategy for complex industrial, commercial, and sports assets.
• Horizontal Due Diligence & Feasibility: Direct pre-acquisition horizontal feasibility evaluations-assessing raw land constraints, utility capacity/extensions (water, sewer, heavy power, gas), stormwater management, access/traffic impacts, and geotechnical conditions prior to land closing.
• Pro Forma Underwriting & Cost Control: Conduct rigorous land development financial modeling. Build and manage land assembly budgets, horizontal infrastructure hard/soft cost conceptual budgets, and overall development pro formas tailored to turnkey user specifications and corporate hurdle rates.
• Entitlements, Annexation & Public Incentives: Navigate Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to secure zoning approvals, comprehensive plan amendments, annexations, utility district creations, and special use permits. Negotiate public-private partnerships (P3), infrastructure cost-sharing agreements, tax abatements, and economic development incentives with local and state municipalities.
• Civil Engineering & Infrastructure Design Management: Oversee civil engineering, environmental, and site planning consultants from preliminary land planning through final platting and civil construction documents. Drive Target Value Design to optimize mass grading, earthwork balance, site utility routing, and pad sizing for speed-to-market.
• Pre-Construction & Vertical Hand-Off: Lead contractor selection for bulk earthwork, utility installation, and site infrastructure development. Partner downstream with vertical construction teams to transition fully permitted, pad-ready site packages into active building construction and turnkey project execution.

Basic Qualifications

• Land Development & Cross-Industry Experience (Required): 8 to 10+ years of progressive real estate development experience, with a proven track record of directly managing land acquisition, horizontal land development, utility infrastructure, and complex entitlements. Experience delivering sites for advanced manufacturing, corporate facilities, sports facilities, or large-scale private enterprises preferred.
• Land Control & Incentive Fluency: Deep understanding of land acquisition mechanics, purchase contract negotiations, site control strategies, municipal infrastructure agreements, tax increment financing (TIF), and regional economic development incentive structures.
• The "Raw Land to Pad-Ready" Lens: Deep expertise in horizontal development (heavy earthwork, utility infrastructure extensions, environmental remediation, stormwater management, traffic mitigation, and rail/road access) paired with the ability to anticipate how early civil decisions impact vertical building costs and long-term facility operations.
• Strategic Translation: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex civil engineering constraints, zoning parameters, and land economics into clear strategic decisions for corporate executives, municipality leadership, utility providers, and private equity partners.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Construction Management, or Architecture. Master's/MSRE/MBA preferred.

The work environment and requirements described below are representative of those necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this role.

The Physical Side of the Role: Given that a good portion of your day will be spent at a desk, you should be comfortable with prolonged periods of focused work, whether it's collaborating with colleagues, analyzing data, or developing strategies. The role demands effective communication and sharp visual acuity for reviewing complex documents and performing det