Job Description

About the role:

We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Workplace & Property to join our Operations department. In this senior leadership role, you will shape and deliver our international workplace, property and facilities management strategy (excluding Canada), ensuring our offices support the firm’s people, culture and growth.

You will lead a Workplace & Facilities Management team, creating safe, efficient and inspiring environments across our portfolio. With ownership of offices across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, you’ll oversee everything from space planning and workplace design through to acquisitions and disposals. You will also play a critical role in ensuring the firm is incident‑ready across all locations, with clear, embedded plans that align with best practice and evolving workplace thinking.

As an experienced workplace leader, you’ll be comfortable managing teams and complex projects, often to tight timescales, while balancing strategic oversight with hands‑on delivery.

Broadly, the role covers:

• Real estate portfolio strategy
• Delivery of major workplace and property projects
• Lease negotiations and property transactions
• Facilities management and operational oversight

About you:

We are looking for a senior workplace and property leader with strong experience managing corporate occupier portfolios, ideally within a professional services or complex corporate environment. You’ll bring a clear strategic mindset, combined with hands‑on experience across lease negotiations, landlord relationships, space strategy and long‑term portfolio planning.

You’ll have a proven track record of delivering major workplace projects, including large‑scale refurbishments or transformations, with a strong understanding of future ways of working. Experience managing consultants, capital budgets and facilities operations will be key, alongside the ability to balance landlord and tenant responsibilities.

Operating at Head of (or equivalent) level, you’ll be a confident people leader, able to influence senior stakeholders and build trusted relationships across the business. You’ll be commercially astute, delivery‑focused and comfortable operating at pace, bringing clarity and direction in complex or challenging situations.

An understanding of the legal sector would be beneficial, as would international experience, though neither is essential. Professional qualifications such as MRICS or facilities management accreditation are desirable but not required.

What We Can Offer You:

The opportunity to work for a firm that has been recognised as one of best places to work in the UK and has been ranked by Great Place to Work® for 26 consecutive years.

Excellent benefits, including:

• A hybrid approach to office and remote working.
• 25 days annual leave, with the option to buy up to a week's extra annual leave
• Private medical insurance, and the option to add family members
• A generous pension allowance
• Life assurance covering four times your annual salary
• The chance of a three-month sabbatical every five years
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes
• A range of health and wellbeing programmes
• State of the art offices, with an onsite restaurant
• Opportunities to flourish in your role through training and personal development

Equal Opportunities:

Gowling WLG is committed both to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to Equal Opportunities in employment. The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity. This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment.

At Gowling WLG we seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, to create an exciting and rewarding place to work. Our aim is to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals.

If you have any queries in relation to this position or would like to see a full job description please contact Meg Astley at meg.astley@gowlingwlg.com

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