Senior Advisor Real Estate & Special Projects - City of Boston

The Real Estate Division in the Planning Department is responsible for managing a portfolio of over 13 million square feet of land across Boston neighborhoods, including signature properties such as the Charlestown Navy Yard, Long Wharf, the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park as well as significant neighborhood based holdings across Boston. Under the direct supervision of the Director of Real Estate and in collaboration across the Department, the Senior Advisor will be responsible for leading, implementing, and coordinating real estate strategy and special projects. The Senior Advisor will work closely with the Director of Real Estate to focus on the strategic direction of the Real Estate Division’s work and to implement the Department’s strategic roadmap. The Senior Advisor will be involved in strategic projects in the fields of portfolio management, change management, and process and operational management. In this role, the Senior Advisor will provide technical and financial support to advance the City of Boston’s goals of affordability, equity, and resiliency.

Strategic Planning:

• Lead strategic initiatives that require significant cross-departmental collaboration and support.
• Improve the division’s strategy and organization by providing fact-based support with portfolio choices.

Financial and Technical Expertise:

• Deliver project management support by working closely with the Disposition, Leasing, Capital Construction, and Coastal Resilience teams.
• Conduct financial analysis of responses to RFPs from potential ground lessees/purchasers/licensees.
• Support the Leasing team in the drafting, negotiating, and executing term sheets, ground leases, and purchase and sale agreements.
• Strategize and perform analysis on property acquisitions.
• Provide real estate transactional expertise to support the Coastal Resilience team in implementing its resiliency goals, particularly those that address sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
• Analyze typical ground lease terms and provide and implement recommendations to advance the City’s resiliency efforts.

Operations & Process Management:

• Establish and oversee systems to track the project management tasks and responsibilities of staff members involved in real estate dispositions and leasing, ensuring that said systems are closely aligned with Development Review for seamless project handoff.
• Oversee management systems that maintain an accurate up-to-date reporting of the BPDA real estate portfolio and the status of projects across the portfolio.
• Analyze processes and policies for the disposition of real estate and identify opportunities to further achieve the City’s results of affordability, equity, and resiliency.

Special Project Leadership:

• Manage analysis, reporting, and communications on how BPDA real estate assets contribute to the overall economic and community development goals of the City of Boston.
• Procure and manage consultants to support real estate strategy work and special projects.
• Organizes, leads, and executes projects that fall outside the scope of the Planning standard operations but enhance the department’s mission and efficiency.
• Coordinate with other City of Boston Departments on projects intended to advance the City’s priorities.

Personnel & Team Building:

• Support the development of new initiatives to bolster in-house real estate expertise and professional development opportunities.
• Create recommendations that will promote the growth of the Real Estate team and expand opportunities to utilize public land for public good.
• Build collaborative relationships that drive greater efficacy in project delivery and source new project opportunities for the department.

In addition to the tasks above, the Senior Advisor for Real Estate Strategy & Special Projects may also perform other duties as assigned to advance the real estate priorities of the department.

• Work requires a Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, Business Administration, Real Estate, Public Administration, or a related field or equivalent, plus a minimum of five (5) years of directly relevant real estate development experience. Masters degree is preferred and may be used to substitute for three (3) years of the required experience.
• Strong financial modeling skills and the demonstrated ability to build accurate conceptual real estate development proformas.
• Experience with real estate transactions exceeding $10 million is strongly preferred.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Self-motivated team player who is curious and able to lead cross-functional groups through complex work.
• Big picture, strategic thinker balanced with detail-oriented project management skills.
• Strong critical thinking skills are required to continuously review internal policies and procedures in order to improve upon and standardize processes.
• A values-driven leader who prioritizes diversity, inclusivity, and the public good.
• Must exercise discretion and sound judgment and be capable of handling confidential and highly sensitive information with professionalism and unquestionable integrity.

BOSTON RESIDENCY REQUIRED

Terms:
Union/Salary/Grade: EXM/($100,000 - $125,000)
Hours per week: 35