Property Portfolio Manager 

London (Hybrid)

Workplace Services Team

 

Pearson’s Workplace team are responsible for ensuring that our real estate portfolio and associated services are effectively managed to enable our people to do their best work in healthy and productive environments.

The Portfolio Manager is a critical member of the central Workplace team ensuring Pearson professionally and efficiently manage real estate acquisitions and disposals in collaboration with our third-party brokers and regional Workplace colleagues.

The Portfolio Manager is responsible for identifying and driving value through the design and implementation of real estate asset strategies across the portfolio (approx. 80 buildings globally). The wider portfolio currently comprises c.1,000 leasehold and freehold assets (including corporate offices, warehouses, schools, testing centres, and other real estate assets that support the business), located in c.70 countries across the Americas, EMEA, India, China, and APAC. The primary scope of the role is oversight of the corporate portfolio, but advisory and support is also expected in relation to Pearson’s direct delivery/retail business.

Principal Accountabilities

The Portfolio Manager will work with Pearson’s third-party brokers, regional Workplace colleagues and enabling functions (including finance, legal, risk, and sustainability) to monitor, track and manage real estate acquisitions and disposals in line with our strategy.

The Transactions Portfolio Manager’s role will cover:

Transaction Management. The Portfolio Manager shall be accountable for ensuring that the commercials agreements and legal documents associated with transactions are appropriately reviewed (by internal and external key stakeholders) and negotiated, working with the real estate legal lead to ensure documents are approved, and stored correctly.  Business Case Development. The Portfolio Manager shall be responsible for overseeing all business cases supporting acquisitions and disposals, working closely with finance and regional Workplace leads. Broker Engagement. The Portfolio Manager shall be accountable for managing the relationship with our real estate brokers working with regional colleagues to ensure that we maximise value for the organisation. The Transactions Portfolio Manager shall be accountable for ensuring that Pearson maximises the value from its associated spend.  Portfolio Benchmarking. Understand performance of the property portfolio, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of key trends and international market drivers. Processes & Ways of Working. The Portfolio Manager shall be responsible for defining standards, templates and processes to support real estate portfolio management ensuring that business cases and associated documentation is standardised across the function.  Governance. The Portfolio Manager will be accountable for ensuring the 3rd party TM and brokers are fully compliant with the MSA and that all fees, rebates, etc are correctly administered and accounted for. In addition, and working with the central team, the Portfolio Manager will establish appropriate QBR’s and meetings to regularly review the performance of the contract and undertake KPI scoring etc. Market Assessments. In conjunction with Pearson’s brokers the Portfolio Manager shall be accountable for ensuring that market options and location strategy are considered in a timely manner to inform business cases and that the relevant stakeholders (including health and safety, risk and legal) are brought in to assure such decisions.  Mergers & Acquisitions. The Portfolio Manager shall support corporate acquisition and divestment activity to ensure a thorough understanding of the strategy for any real estate assets associated with any such transaction.

Qualifications & Experience

Minimum 5 years directly relevant experience in equivalent roles Bachelor’s degree or equivalent Relevant professional real estate qualification e.g. MRICS favoured Highly analytical with strong financial modelling skills incl DCF, NPV analysis, asset valuation principles and knowledge of accounting for leases Active interest in and knowledge of current trends and conditions in the global real estate markets  Highly organised with experience of managing and prioritising a diverse portfolio Strong communication and relationship building skills with the ability to effectively influence at all levels – both internally and externally Evidence of managing global suppliers and driving performance Strong financial, contractual and operational acumen Excellent written and oral presentation skills including proficiency in relevant PC skills (Microsoft Office, Excel, Project Management tools etc) Proactive, outcome focused and accountable