High Speed 2’s Commercial Development business is accountable for the identification and prioritised delivery of £5bn of property development and commercialisation opportunities in, above and around HS2 stations.  This small department within HS2, team of 7, is essentially a commercial property startup development company tasked at maximising and delivering cash back to HM Government – ‘maximise social and economic value and deliver timely commercial returns’.

We are recruiting for a 6 month Contract (potential for extension) a Senior Commercial Development Manager (SCDM) who will take responsibility for managing 2 specific sites in Manchester for the Commercial Development Directorate – the first one being at Manchester Airport the second Manchester Piccadilly.

The role will encompass taking sites from the preparation stage through to revenue realisation, as well as other tasks necessary to maximise value.  The 2 sites represent £100’million of commercial development opportunity.

The successful candidate will be a market-oriented Surveyor or Town Planner with a commercial development background with good market knowledge. Impeccable stakeholder management skills and best in class practices in relation to preparation of sites to take to market – your first task will be to a property development appraisal report.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Oversee the development of site-specific property development plans (Manchester and manage day to day property development matters.
• Support the Head of Commercial Development to manage various contracts.  Key tasks under this role will include, but are not limited to: -
  • Support delivery of the Directorate’s business plans and annual budgets, producing cost, value and risk projections to inform them, and well-structured and reasoned financial analysis and board papers in support of measuring performance of the Directorates targets against the business plans, with support from the Finance Business Partners.
  • Monitoring the implementation and delivery of the approved project business plans, comprising: administration of contracts; monitoring and securing internal approvals for the preparation of the development business plans and development of masterplan options; monitoring and securing internal approvals for the preparation of the outline planning applications;  monitoring any draw-down conditions for development phases and obtaining the necessary internal approvals; and monitoring the construction and sale/letting of the completed development phases.   
  • Lead financial due diligence and appraisal analysis to identify individual projects and options to allow informed decision making, clearly differentiating those assets that are better to develop and/or dispose from those to hold/invest in for income.
  • Undertake 3rd party supplier management and contractor management for specialist skillsets (e.g. architects, town planning, technical, commercial, legal and property valuation advisers)
  • Interface regularly with key stakeholders, landowners, Department for Transport (DfT) & Network Rail (NR), to drive the development programme forward.
  • Interface with town planning specialists and ensure delivery of appropriate planning applications and consents that are fit for purpose and aligned with the business plan and wider strategic plans.
  • Prepare necessary plans, business cases and financial reports to support identification of suitable delivery mechanisms (e.g. disposals, revenue share and profit share mechanisms) to deliver approved property development projects.
  • Where relevant, work closely with the appointed partners for schemes, ensuring delivery against defined contractual and business plan requirements.

• Take line management responsibility for the supervision, motivation and development of any support staff allocated to this role.

Role Criteria.

The successful candidate will be a market-oriented Surveyor or Town Planner with a commercial development background (will have worked on commercial development opportunities at least to £10m) with good market knowledge. Impeccable stakeholder management skills and best in class practices in relation to preparation of sites to take to market – your first task will be to a property development appraisal report.

You could be from a general practice, consultancy, background or could have worked for a development corporation or arm’s length management organisation such as Network Rail managing commercial development opportunities.

Skills:

• Financial and property project management skills to manage substantial project budgets and milestones, and oversee sensitivity testing, risk management, etc.
• Ability to develop and maintain a wide network of internal and external relationships, and act as ambassador for HS2 Ltd, and the Commercial Development Directorate where appropriate.
• Ability to work with and win the confidence of a multiple internal and external stakeholders, including the HS2 station delivery teams.
• Effective IT and financial appraisal skills encompassing both standard business desktop packages and property specific packages such as ‘Argus Developer’ and the preparation, and interrogation of development appraisals and discounted cash flows using Microsoft Excel.
• Effective presentation and communication skills

Knowledge:

• Surveyor (general practice) or Town Planner -MRICS or MRTPI professional qualification a benefit but by no means essential
• Knowledge of the wider commercial Development market ideally within the Manchester region and best in class practices in relation to preparation of sites to take to market.
• Understanding of core property development concepts and delivery techniques, inter alia; town planning, property law (development agreements, building agreements, investment leases, planning and GDV overage deeds) construction and engineering principles, procurement, project management etc. - Town and country planning.
• Knowledge of core property valuation and development appraisal techniques and able to undertake robust evaluations, financial modelling and risk evaluation studies.
• Monitoring and managing live project development accounts.
• Commercial legal knowledge to instruct solicitors in relation to disposals, structuring joint ventures, development agreements, timely and correct service of notices, leases, sub-letting, assignments, acquisitions, etc
• Knowledge of Town Planning issues and requirements.

Type of Experience

• Experience of developing rapport and influencing across a range of stakeholders.
• Experience of overcoming constraints and multi-disciplinary organisational complexity in order to deliver results.
• Experience in supporting procurement and implementation of development agreements & variations, lease and building agreements, effective contract management and budget management experience, including risk management and continuous focus on business direction.

• Experience of reporting, presenting information and gaining formal approvals at senior management level.

• Experience of negotiating and delivering property development projects and transactions from inception to completion without day-to-day supervision.