Associate Director - Risk Management in Birmingham

Head of Building Consultancy | Senior Leadership Appointment

An exceptional opportunity has arisen for an established Building Consultancy leader to take on a highly influential role within a major, well-capitalised real estate advisory business.

This is not simply a role managing an existing team. The successful individual will have the mandate to shape the future direction of the UK Building Consultancy offering, accelerate growth, strengthen key client relationships and build a market-leading platform.

For an ambitious senior Building Surveyor or Building Consultancy leader, this represents an opportunity to combine strategic leadership, commercial ownership, client development and genuine influence at executive level.

The Opportunity

Reporting into senior leadership, you will take responsibility for the UK Building Consultancy business, with ownership of its strategy, commercial performance, people and continued growth.

You will play a prominent role within the wider UK business, helping to determine strategic priorities while positioning Building Consultancy as a core growth area.

A major focus will be on developing existing relationships with institutional investors, property companies and major corporate clients, while opening new doors and securing significant new mandates.

The platform provides considerable scope to grow revenues through both standalone Building Consultancy instructions and collaboration with complementary real estate disciplines.

This role would particularly suit someone who enjoys building businesses rather than simply managing them.

Key Responsibilities

You will have significant autonomy and accountability, including:

• Leading the strategy and long-term business plan for the UK Building Consultancy division.
• Taking full ownership of the business line P&L, revenue growth, profitability, budgeting and forecasting.
• Developing a compelling growth strategy focused on both existing clients and new client acquisition.
• Building senior relationships with major investors, property owners, developers and corporate occupiers.
• Winning significant one-off instructions while developing longer-term relationships capable of generating repeat revenue.
• Expanding the client base and increasing the proportion of recurring and strategic client work.
• Identifying opportunities to cross-sell Building Consultancy alongside other property and advisory services.
• Positioning the team as a preferred adviser to key clients.
• Maintaining visibility over the pipeline of current and prospective instructions and driving opportunities through to conversion.
• Raising the external profile of the Building Consultancy business across the property industry.
• Acting as a senior market ambassador through industry events, thought leadership, media and professional networks.
• Ensuring clients consistently receive high-quality, commercially focused and timely advice.

Leadership

A substantial part of the opportunity is centred around people and culture.

You will be expected to create an ambitious, entrepreneurial environment in which senior professionals are encouraged to develop clients, build their own market profile and contribute to the growth of the business.

You will:

• Provide visible and inspirational leadership across the Building Consultancy team.
• Recruit strategically as the business grows.
• Coach and develop senior talent and future leaders.
• Set clear objectives and maintain a high-performance culture.
• Empower individuals to take greater responsibility for clients, opportunities and business development.
• Embed commercial thinking and business development throughout the team.
• Continually review how the business operates, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, profitability and client service.
• Encourage innovation in systems, processes and the way services are delivered.

The Individual

We are interested in speaking with established Building Consultancy professionals who combine technical credibility with strong commercial instincts.

You are likely to have:

• A degree in Building Surveying or a closely related discipline.
• MRICS qualification.
• A strong track record within the UK commercial real estate market.
• Significant experience within Building Consultancy.
• Experience leading a substantial team, business unit or service line.
• Previous responsibility for a meaningful P&L, with evidence of improving both revenue and profitability.
• A demonstrable track record of winning and developing clients.
• Strong relationships within the investor, property company, developer and/or corporate real estate community.
• The ability to operate credibly with senior clients and executive-level colleagues.
• A recognised market profile, or the ambition and capability to develop one.
• A genuine interest in developing people and creating high-performing teams.

Why Consider It?

The attraction of this role is the combination of scale, autonomy and opportunity.

You will inherit an established platform but will have considerable freedom to determine how the business develops from here. There is a clear ambition to grow the Building Consultancy offering, and the successful individual will have the backing, infrastructure and wider client relationships required to make that happen.

Rather than stepping into a narrowly defined management position, you will have the opportunity to build your own legacy within the business, shaping the team, client strategy, market proposition and future leadership structure.

For someone already operating at senior level who feels they have more to offer than their current platform allows, this could be a particularly compelling next move.