Associate Director, Real Estate & Workplace Strategy (Hybrid - Rahway, NJ)

Job Description

Global Real Estate Strategy (GRES) is a strategic corporate function that identifies and executes creative and innovative real estate solutions to meet the needs of our Company’s global businesses units, including those in Manufacturing, Commercial, Technical Operations, Research and Development, and corporate enterprises.

As we emerge from the post-COVID era, we have continued to redefine the development and implementation of our strategy behind our workspaces and corporate campuses as we forecast and plan scenarios to help develop, drive, and monitor the optimization of our physical environments to adapt to and support our company’s business objectives and employee’s needs. 

Role Description

Do you have design and strategy experience in workspaces and planning corporate campus environments?  Are you a strategic thinker with expertise in space planning and design of projects ranging from fit outs, renovations, and repositioning to new building construction and campus planning?  Have you advised on design standards, project scope, and regulatory compliance as well as act as a liaison with internal department stakeholders and external consultants to gather input and facilitate planning initiatives?

Our Global Real Estate Workplace Strategy team is seeking an experienced and motivated strategist for the North America and LATAM regions with a strong architectural design background in workplace, corporate, institutional, and campus planning to contribute to our mission of creating innovative, collaborative, engaging, and productive work environments across different scales.

This role will be based at our Headquarters in Rahway, NJ (USA).

Core Responsibilities

• Analyze and develop integrated real estate campus planning strategies for facility needs, capital improvement, long-range growth, and new development, ensuring alignment with Our Company’s strategic goals.

• Develop liaisons with internal departments and community organizations to gather input and facilitate campus planning initiatives. 

• Manage development of feasibility, programming studies, and site selections for capital projects with external consultants and Our Company stakeholders.

• Lead selection, onboarding, and coordination of outside design and planning consultants.

• Perform design and planning reviews from programming through construction documentation.

• Provide planning and design expertise on campus projects ranging from minor renovations, repositioning, and new building construction to site development. This includes guidance on campus and building design standards, open space and site planning guidelines, and regulatory compliance such as ADA, environmental, and building codes.

• Ensure quality control over planning of a legible and safe environment of high-quality spaces that are connected, equitable, and accessible, establishing a clear overall identity with distinct public and private realms.

• Leverage data in conducting analyses and studies on space utilization, efficiency, and needs to optimize the allocation and use of existing and future facilities with adaptability to future changes.

• Research and analyze design trends in campus planning, urban development, and corporate facilities to inform strategic decision-making and identify future needs. 

• Liaise with local and regional site business leads to understand how our colleagues' workspaces are used to critically leverage occupancy data like headcount, attendance, and utilization to ensure alignment with workspace design requirements and real estate allocation needs.

• Manage third party occupancy planning consultant deliverables for accuracy and timeliness.

• Deliver workspace innovation projects, organize resources, and meet with internal team leadership and business representatives to conduct interviews, workshops, and surveys to inform workplace planning and design strategy.

• Gather, vet, analyze, and summarize data in easy-to-understand presentations for leadership of local teams.

• Critically assess spatial advantages and constraints of a floor plan to oversee optimization of test fits that ensure well designed, utilized, and inspiring workspaces supportive of activity-based workstyles and hybrid schedules.

• Keep abreast of industry trends in workplace design, materials, furniture, emerging technologies, and best practices to provide innovative solutions for the future of work. 

• Closely partner with colleagues from Facilities, HR, AV and IT to develop workplace strategy recommendations, workspace plans, and pilots specific to a region to support new ways of working.

Required Skills and Experience<