Commercial Property Director in St Albans

Location: Home Counties & Regional UK Towns/Cities (hybrid with regular travel) (Wednesday's in the office in St Albans).

About Co-Space

Co-Space is a design-led flexible office business changing the way flexible office and associated services are delivered across the Home Counties and regional towns and cities. We currently operate 4 sites, with a further 2 in delivery that will take us to over 120,000 sq ft. Our ambition is to add a further 12 sites over the next five years, through a blend of management agreements, leases and acquisitions—building a scalable platform that delivers excellent member experience, attractive economics and long-term value.

Role Summary

Co-Space is hiring a Commercial Property Director to originate and execute growth deals, with a specific focus on partnering with local authorities/public sector Landlords and acquisitions of distressed and opportunistic sites. This is not a public sector role: you will be employed by Co-Space and will use your experience and relationships with councils and the wider real estate sector to secure buildings and sites for Co-Space to operate under management agreements or leases, or with a view to acquire.

We are looking for someone already well-connected in the council/public sector commercial property ecosystem—someone who has executed transactions with councils, understands how to navigate governance and stakeholder complexity, and can replicate and scale the model Co-Space has been building. This is a rare opportunity to join a small, growing and dynamic business where you will have a high level of autonomy, real influence and visible impact. You will build the public sector landlord and acquisition site origination capability from the ground up—defining the pipeline, playbooks, reporting, target lists and internal rhythms that will underpin our next five years.

It will be hard work. Public sector landlord deals can be slow and process-heavy and acquisitions can be challenging. Success requires persistence, resilience and dedication—plus the ability to keep multiple stakeholders aligned while driving to a clear commercial outcome.

What we mean by ‘Public Sector Landlord Partnerships’

• Councils, combined authorities, public sector pension funds and other public bodies that own commercial property and can contract with Co-Space as landlord/asset owner.
• Opportunities linked to regeneration, town-centre activation, SME support, meanwhile use and repositioning of under-utilised buildings.
• Transactions where Co-Space operates the workspace and service model, under a structure that works for both parties (management agreement, lease or acquisition).

Key Responsibilities

• Origination: Councils & Public Sector Landlords and acquisition opportunities:

• Build and own Co-Space’s pipeline of council/public sector landlord opportunities across target geographies and asset types.
• Leverage existing relationships and create new senior connections across council estates/property, regeneration, economic development, asset management and finance teams.
• Identify suitable council/public sector-owned commercial buildings and sites and secure access to decision-makers early (sponsor-building).
• Prioritise direct-to-landlord engagement wherever possible, reducing intermediary reliance and improving speed and terms.
• Identify distressed and opportunist acquisition opportunities where Co-Space can acquire buildings to operate under its model.

• Map stakeholders, decision routes and approval pathways for each opportunity and run a structured engagement plan.
• Navigate governance processes (delegations, cabinet/committee cycles, internal approvals, valuation requirements and documentation expectations).
• Anticipate and manage non-commercial drivers (political considerations, community outcomes, optics, internal alignment) without losing commercial discipline.
• Lead feasibility and commercial appraisal (demand, product fit, capex, programme, operational constraints, returns).
• Create clear investment papers for Co-Space leadership, coordinating input from design, operations and finance.
• Negotiate and structure value-accretive agreements aligned to public sector landlord constraints (management fee/performance models, capex-sharing, phased delivery, stepped economics, incentives, break options).
• Lead negotiations from first approach through heads of terms, legal completion and handover into delivery.
• Manage advisers (agents, legal, technical) and internal stakeholders to maintain momentum and protect outcomes.
• Ensure risks are understood and appropriately allocated, and that transactions are executable and deliverable.

• Create repeatable ‘public sector landlord’ and acquisition playbooks: target lists, outreach cadences, stakeholder maps, approval pathway templates, and standard packs.
• Own pipeline reporting and forecasting (probabilities, timelines, risks, next actions) to support growth planning.
• Help define Co-Space’s target site acquisition criteria and preferred public sector deal structures based on learnings and market realities.

Candidate Profile

• Essential (public sector landlord track record)

• Proven track record doing commercial property transactions, ideally with councils/public sector bodies as landlords/property owners (e.g., leases, management agreements, repurposing, disposals/acquisitions).
• Established network of council/public sector commercial property decision-makers and/or trusted advisers in this space.
• Strong working knowledge of how councils make decisions on property (governance, approvals, stakeholder dynamics) and how to drive deals through those pathways.
• Commercially rigorous and confident negotiating heads of terms, risk allocation and complex stakeholder-led negotiations.
• Experience supporting town-centre regeneration/activation initiatives, meanwhile use, or mixed-use repositioning involving public sector landlords.
• Understanding of flexible workspace / serviced office / hospitality-adjacent operating models and unit economics.
• Experience structuring performance-linked agreements and capex-sharing frameworks with institutional or public sector landlords.

• Relationship-led and credible with public sector stakeholders, while remaining commercially decisive on Co-Space’s behalf.
• Persistent, resilient and process-driven—comfortable with long sales cycles and multiple approval layers.
• Highly organised with strong pipeline discipline and follow-through.
• Hands-on builder mindset; happy to create the function and do the work personally.

What Success Looks Like (12–24 Months)

• A qualified pipeline of council/public sector landlord opportunities and acquisition potentials with clear stakeholder maps and governance pathways.
• Multiple executed transactions with councils/public sector landlords across a mix of management agreements, leases and/or acquisitions.
• A repeatable public sector landlord origination engine (playbooks, reporting, cadence) that consistently generates proprietary or semi-proprietary deal flow.

Reporting Line:

Reporting directly to the Directors of Co-Space

Package:

Competitive base salary + company car and performance-related bonus (and potential long-term incentive, subject to structure).

Practical Notes (to set expectations):

This role is employed by Co-Space (private sector). You will partner with public sector bodies as landlords/property owners to secure sites for Co-Space to operate. Generic property origination experience alone is unlikely to be sufficient—this role requires credibility and connectivity in the council/public sector commercial property ecosystem. Expect complex, process-heavy transactions: success will require tenacity, structure and dedication.