Chief Property Officer

The Company:

Our client is one of the largest independent retail businesses in its region, is very well established and continues to grow with passion and purpose.

The Position:

They are looking for a Leader who can

• Maximise the potential of their investment property portfolio
• Grow the number of food stores and retail outlets that they operate
• Execute their net zero roadmap

The prime purpose of this role is to:

• Provide strategic leadership to the new store / branch acquisition programme and ensure it is managed and controlled effectively in order to achieve its intended benefits.
• Oversee a diverse portfolio of real estate assets and to maximise each asset's potential in the areas of revenue generation, net operating income, and asset preservation.
• Lead for decarbonisation and their approach to sustainability, providing expertise and innovation in this area

Principal Accountabilities:

• As a member of the Senior Leadership team (SLT), contribute to the execution and development of our Client’s strategy, vision, mission, and objectives, helping to deliver a joined-up commercial business approach.
• To inspire and connect with colleagues at all levels, to instil a culture that is characterised by collaboration, continuous improvement, and commitment to high performance.
• To set the vision and objectives to maximise the potential of the investment property portfolio, over the long-term, continually reviewing and implementing measures to improve performance.
• Leading their new store acquisition programme, maintaining a substantial development pipeline of viable new food store and other retail branches.
• Leading the execution of their net zero roadmap.
• Develop talent and upskill capability and to contribute to the development of the next generation of leaders across the organisation, ensuring that they are supported and given every opportunity to flourish.
• As part of the Senior leadership team, attend Board and relevant Governance meetings to provide business updates, propose capital expenditure and apprise the Board of any relevant risks or issues.
• Actively promote and enhance our Client’s reputation and externally with members, customers, media, colleagues, region opinion formers etc.

A Head of Estates with a team of 10 plus a Head of Sustainability with a team of 4 will report directly to the Chief Property Officer.


The Role of Property in achieving their growth ambitions:

• Their aim is proactively manage, redeploy capital and develop a resilient property portfolio that provides essential services and supports the development of thriving communities across the regions they operate in.
• Their property strategy must ensure that they have a resilient portfolio for the long-term which in turn allows them to deliver their key objective of 25% growth.
• To achieve their desired level of growth they need to increase their impact and profitability, through a proactive approach to portfolio management, by:
  1. Generating further rental growth from optimising, disposing of underperforming assets, redeploying capital and continually managing the £122m investment property portfolio of 270 commercial and 250 residential properties together with the development of a number of sites.
  2. Driving acquisitions, delivering new food and other branches.
  3. Accelerate achievement of net zero carbon targets by reducing their energy costs and assist their Head of Sustainability in identifying various projects to generate their own energy and reduce consumption.
  4. This proactive asset management strategy is essential to support the delivery of sustainable and growing returns.

The Person Specification

They are seeking a highly experienced Property Professional with relevant experience in a multi-site retail, leisure, hospitality or other commercial environment MRICS qualifications are beneficial but not essential.

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• A real feel/empathy for their business model and its complexity, along with its culture, principles and values.
• Inspirational and inclusive leadership style, who brings experience of delivering positive change in an organisation of similar complexity to theirs.
• Experience of successfully delivering large-scale property development and estate management.
• Ability to coach, develop and grow a high performing and diverse team.
• Ability to collaborate cross functionally to make decisions that are right for the business.

The Salary & Supporting Benefits:

An excellent base salary, a Car Allowance of £13k, Pension, Health Insurance, 3 x Death in Service, 30 days holiday and Bank Holidays. Our client will also support relocation costs for a move into their Trading Region within HMRC limits.

The above are principal elements in an attractive and comprehensive package reflecting our Client’s determination to appoint a first class candidate.

It is our policy to practice equal opportunities in recruitment and selection for all candidates.

We have a responsibility to avoid unlawful discrimination.