Director, Real Estate

About the role

Willscot is seeking a Director of Real Estate who will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight of the organization’s portfolio of owned and leased properties within the assigned territory. This role is responsible to assist in developing and leading the company’s multi-year real estate strategy and execution across new development, renewals, relocations, and portfolio optimization in alignment with corporate financial and operational objectives including site selection and portfolio management, lease negotiations, renewals, property valuations, P&L optimizations, property assessments, and other real estate related issues.

Responsibilities

• Partnering with cross-functional teams to forecast space needs based on business projections and market opportunities.
• Develop and execute comprehensive corporate real estate strategies aligned with operational requirements and financial objectives.
• Sourcing opportunities, analyzing existing and potential new locations, determining market requirements, building business models with financial sensitivities, providing feasibility options and business justifications, identifying risks, and recommending the best options that align with the overall organizational strategy.
• Proactively managing the real estate portfolio by tracking and reporting on upcoming lease events, critical project milestone dates, and other initiatives that require real estate involvement to deliver.
• Continuously evaluating market conditions, operational performance, and portfolio trends to revise strategy and provide data-driven recommendations to senior leadership.
• Overseeing all real estate transactions within assigned territory including lease negotiations, acquisitions, renewals, dispositions and M&A due diligence.
• Serving as a senior escalation point for deal, landlord, operations and execution challenges, providing guidance and decision-making support to the team.
• Negotiating favorable lease agreements, amendments, purchase contracts, and other real estate documentation.
• Ensuring compliance with zoning laws, regulatory requirements, and environmental considerations.
• Leading the entire real estate life cycle of the portfolio including site identification, layout design, entitlements, capital expense budgeting, lease execution, landlord delivery, tenant improvements, lease administration and surrendering the premises at end of term.
• Demonstrating strong financial aptitude in evaluating real estate opportunities and portfolio decisions including partnering with finance team to evaluate ROIs, New Facility Justifications, and Lease vs. Own analyses.
• Ensuring real estate strategies and projects are fully integrated and compliant with zoning laws, regulatory requirements, environmental considerations and enterprise objectives.
• Supporting field leadership with market insights, portfolio updates, and strategic recommendations.
• Establishing clear goals, performance metrics, and development plans for direct reports and extended team members ensuring a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant area of study (business, real estate, finance, economics); MBA preferred
• 10+ years of experience in real estate transactions (corporate real estate experience preferred) with a solid understanding of design, development and construction processes for tenant build-out.
• Strong track record of successful real estate transactions including site selection, lease and purchase/sale negotiations, property administration, and property management.
• Extensive expertise in negotiations, reviewing legal contracts, financial modeling, project management, lease optimization, issue resolution, planning, and reporting.
• Strong computer skills with experience managing large amounts of data, analyzing complex datasets and working with data in GIS systems.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex problems and information, then summarize recommendations to senior leaders in a clear and digestible format.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget management, financial analysis, P&L understanding, and ROI evaluation.
• High attention to detail with strong analytical and organizational capabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; able to work across departments and with external stakeholders.
• Able to create presentations and communicate effectively with senior level executives required.
• Prior experience managing a team and empowering associates to achieve goals and objectives.
• Real estate project management experience, including managing multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
• Strategic and critical thinking with strong business judgment and decision-making capabilities.
• Collaborative mindset and team-oriented approach to problem-solving.
• Adaptable and effective in dynamic, fast-paced business environments.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, specifically Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to travel up to 30% required.

Benefits

All regular WillScot positions offer a generous benefits package to help our employees and their families Be Well. This includes medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, paid time off (including Company holidays), tuition reimbursement, a retirement savings plan with company match, and more! More information about benefits may be found here.