Kennedys is looking for an interim Commercial Property Manager to join our Facilities team. The successful candidate will support creation and implementation of the global office footprint strategy and drive continuous improvement of the property portfolio globally. The role will deliver commercial portfolio management by leading office lease negotiations; selecting and managing brokers; leading on estate and lease management matters including leading dilapidations negotiations; supporting project management and budget management; supporting offices acquisitions, moves and closures.
The role will support the Global Facilities Director with their vision and will be required to forge strong regional relationships with key leaders within the Firm, promoting a clear understanding of the Firm's core business and values.
We are seeking someone who is innovative, creative and solution-orientated to achieve the business objectives of the Firm. This is an exciting time to join a growing global law firm during a period of transformation.
Team
Kennedys Facilities team ensure that the firm's offices are maintained and delivered consistently to a high standard. They drive the continuous improvement of all aspects of Kennedys facilities management and property portfolio globally.
The Facilities team deliver the full spectrum of office services, manage suppliers and budgets, lead deals and negotiations, support projects, and ensure the firm operates within Health & Safety policy and regulations.
The Facilities team have presence in all Kennedys offices.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and implement a global office footprint strategy aligned to the firm's growth objectives and operating model.
- Lead all lease negotiations, renewals, acquisitions and exits across the global property portfolio.
- Manage relationships with landlords, agents, legal advisors and external property consultants.
- Conduct detailed property portfolio analytics, including occupancy, utilisation, cost benchmarking and scenario modelling to support strategic decision-making.
- Identify opportunities for optimisation, consolidation and cost efficiency across the estate.
- Oversee office fit-out, refurbishment and relocation projects in partnership with internal stakeholders and external project teams.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant property, lease and health & safety obligations across jurisdictions.
- Partner with Finance, HR, IT and Operations teams to ensure workplace strategy supports business and employee requirements.
- Support preparation and and management of annual property budgets, forecasts and long-term capital planning.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders: Team Leaders, Divisional Heads, Business Services Leadership Team members and Local Managing Partners to provide commercial, solution-oriented advice and guidance, in line with the Firm's strategy.
- Provide regular reporting and strategic recommendations to senior leadership on portfolio performance and market trends.
- Manage broker partnerships, including executing clear governance processes, with regular performance reviews and ongoing monitoring of KPIs.
- Develop and implement standards, policies, procedures and tools to support Facilities delivery. Bring thought leadership to the role, sharing best practices from across the industry.
Required Experience
- Significant experience in corporate real estate, property portfolio management or workplace strategy within a professional services or international law firm environment.
- Proven track record of leading complex lease negotiations and managing multi-jurisdictional property portfolios.
- Experience in green lease negotiations and green lease clauses.
- Strong analytical capability with experience in portfolio analytics, utilisation modelling, financial modelling and property performance reporting.
- Experience developing office footprint and workplace strategies within a global organisation.
- Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance operational, financial and cultural considerations.
- Excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills, with experience engaging at senior executive level.
- Knowledge of real estate market dynamics, lease structures and property risk management.
- Experience of sourcing and managing external brokers, advisors, consultants and project delivery teams.
- Degree qualified in Real Estate, Property, Surveying or a related discipline; professional qualification (e.g. MRICS) preferred.
- Experience in managing projects and people across different offices and in virtual teams
About Kennedys
Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 3,000 people in 45 offices across 18 countries around the world we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.
Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.
We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.
What do we have to offer?
We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.
Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive, distinctive and ambitious. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.
The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles. A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.
We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority. We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work. Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.
Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.
