Development Director

­ JOB TITLE: DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

DEPARTMENT: DEVELOPMENT

LOCATION: MARBLE ARCH, LONDON

REPORTING TO: HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT – BROADGATE & PADDINGTON

TYPE OF CONTRACT: PERMANENT

PLACES, PEOPLE, PREFER

Our purpose is to create and manage outstanding places which deliver positive outcomes for all our stakeholders on a long term, sustainable basis.

We are a FTSE 250 business with a strong balance sheet and £13bn of assets under management. But with just 600 employees you’re given the ability to make a big impact and elevate your career quickly.

Our diverse, passionate team of experts works on some of the most ambitious, innovative and sustainable projects in the country – from our high-quality campuses across central London, to some of the top retail schemes in the UK – providing a rewarding career journey where you can shape how you grow.

We believe in shared success and enabling people to be themselves. If you want to feel listened to and understood in an environment where your opinions count and bright ideas are encouraged, you’ve come to the right place!

In our recent engagement survey 93% of our employees stated they were proud to work for British Land!

THE ROLE

As a Development Director, you will support the Head of Development, Broadgate & Paddington in creating and coordinating the developments that help deliver British Land's strategy to be a leading operator of campuses, retail parks and London urban logistics. Your role will involve contributing to the financial performance, design, planning, and delivery of development projects within the British Land portfolio, ensuring consistency of approach and best practices across all projects.

What You’ll Do

Strategy and Sectors

• Work closely with asset management, leasing, and investment teams to support our business strategy in Offices and Science & Technology across London, Oxford and Cambridge.
• Support marketing efforts to develop materials and activities that engage stakeholders and raise British Land’s profile in these sectors.
• Participate in market engagement on development matters, relevant industry representation, and participate in speaking panel events.
  
  

Development Management

• Prepare and coordinate development business plans, optimizing returns, managing costs, and ensuring timely delivery of projects.
• Direct and have oversight of development appraisals and underlying assumptions to support project viability.
• Be confident in making commercially prudent choices through good understanding of design, leasing, specification and construction implications, particularly at early stages.
• Lead the overall management of the development process, including cost management against agreed budgets and programme management against agreed dates.
• Work in partnership with a Project Director through design, procurement and delivery on major projects.
• Identify and work with best-in-class consultants and contractors in the workspace sector.
• Ensure clear objectives and briefs are agreed with consultants and advisors.
• Provide support and input on strategy and delivery for other projects in the portfolio to ensure consistency and knowledge sharing.
• Develop and maintain relationships with partners, stakeholders, and the supply chain to shape priorities and deliver business plans.
• Prepare, submit and present IC papers for the approval of strategy, key actions, funding etc, both from BL and JV partners.
• Work with environmental sustainability and social sustainability teams to align activities with project business plans and overall strategic goals.
• Possess good understanding of the planning process and ways to optimise successful planning outcomes.
• Undertake required reporting of performance and progress of projects, including reporting to JV partners and attendance of JV Board meetings.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive ability to identify, manage and report on risks throughout the development cycle.
• Work with colleagues from relevant teams within the business, such as leasing, property management and sustainability, to shape project briefs and develop balanced design responses.
• Run projects in a way that shows good understanding of their immediate markets, the needs of customers and the product that should be created to ensure success.
  
  

Investment and Acquisitions

• Support the assessment and review of potential acquisition opportunities, feasibility studies, and development-related due diligence.
• Coordinate and lead development feasibility studies to assess scheme viability and delivery risks.
• Work with the investment team and Head of Development, Broadgate & Paddington to prepare submissions, bids, and proposals to prospective partners or vendors.
• Build relationships with potential partners and vendors to source new opportunities.
• Lead and coordinate all development-related due diligence on new acquisitions.
• Be fully conversant with and be able to lead/actively participate in commercial negotiations in respect of all legal issues in the development process including Development Agreements, Agreements for Lease, Planning agreements.
  
  

The Approach

• Provide effective leadership within the development team, set clear objectives, and promote inclusivity, innovation, and impact.
• Lead the external teams working on your development projects, providing direction, oversight, and management.
• Have the bandwidth to manage multiple projects of differing scales at different stages of the development process simultaneously.
• Play an active role in the development team, supporting the Head of Development, Broadgate & Paddington and collaborating with BL colleagues.
• Promote opportunities to advance DE&I across the team and embed this into the culture.
• Ensure the right systems and processes are in place to deliver against business objectives.
• Develop individual team members to help them achieve their potential.
  
  

About You

• Extensive experience in the UK development market with a track record of successful high-profile design, planning, and delivery.
• Awareness of occupier needs and market trends.
• Good understanding of the property markets across London and the broader Golden Triangle.
• Commercial ability to identify potential leads for new acquisition and partnership opportunities.
• Understanding of best-in-class ESG credentials in development projects.
• Collaborative approach with excellent communication skills.
• Highly motivated, creative, and results-focused leader with strong influencing, negotiation, and analytical skills.
• Advanced MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills.
  
  

OUR SHARED VALUES our values are what we stand for at British Land, they’re not just a label on the door; they connect us every day to our vision, purpose, and strategy. They help us to promote an inclusive, positive, and collaborative culture. You can read more on our corporate website .

Bring your whole self

Listen & Understand

Smarter together

Build for the future

Deliver at pace

A REWARDING PLACE TO BE

Our People – Just ask anyone why they love working here and they will tell you it’s the people. They’re highly talented, passionate, and collaborative! We thank our people with rewards that feel rewarding; you can review our market leading benefits here .

OUR RECRUITMENT PROCESS

If you enjoy bringing your whole self to work, share our values and are excited about our purpose we’d love to hear from you! We are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive process learn more about our selection process here.

Please note that we endeavour to get back to all applicants within 28 days. If you haven’t heard from us within this period, please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.