Lead Real Estate Specialist - Facilities

Title: Lead Real Estate Specialist - Facilities

Employee Working Location: Partially Virtual / Hybrid (Ontario)

Employment Status: Permanent Full-time

The Canadian Red Cross (Red Cross) - an inspirational not for profit organization, helps people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supports them in strengthening their resilience. As a Canada's Best Employers 2026, we are committed to having an accessible, diverse, inclusive, and barrier-free work environment.

In this role, you will:

• Lead national real estate strategy and portfolio planning for openings, closures, and consolidations
• Develop and execute strategic project plans, timelines, resource allocations, and budgets.
• Evaluate and select sites for new facilities, providing detailed financial analysis via decision paper for executive-level recommendations.
• Lead lease negotiations for new leases, renewals, and amendments, coordinating with Legal or other stakeholders as required.
• Maintain lease records and documentation for all properties.
• Lead project execution for leasehold improvements in coordination with architects/designers, general contractors, facilities management and other stakeholders, ensuring deliverable meet scope, timeline, and financial targets.
• Track key dates and obligations such as lease start and end dates, renewal deadlines, notice periods, rent escalations, etc.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders to complete or support permissive tax exemption applications for owned and leased properties.
• Develop, apply, and improve policies, procedures, standardized tools, templates, and processes to support effective planning, execution, and reporting related to real estate and facilities operations.

What we are looking for:

• Qualifications include a minimum of 8-12 years of progress leadership experience in Corporate Real Estate or related function and a university degree in business administration, facilities management, architecture, construction management or a related field and/or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Professional certifications such as FMP, SFP, CFM, PMP, LEED, RPA, CPM, or equivalent are considered assets.
• Proven success managing both leased and owned real estate in a national portfolio.
• Experience overseeing capital projects.
• Demonstrated ability to read, interpret, and summarize lease agreements, amendments, renewals, and other real estate documents.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and managing diverse stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of program and project management methodologies, tools, and best practices.
• Proficiency in business process improvement, data analysis, and reporting.
• Ability to identify complex problems, conduct deep analysis in unfamiliar areas, predict outcomes, and develop innovative, collaborative solutions by balancing technical inputs with strategic objectives.

Working conditions:

• Some domestic or international travel to generally safe locations; exposure to moderate adverse conditions requiring attention to personal safety.
• Work requires the ability to work to multiple, conflicting deadlines.
• In a large-scale emergency, where staff numbers are compromised or additional resources are required provide disaster relief and/or emergency field operational support.
• Potential for responding to disaster areas, as well as difficult and unstable conditions (environmental, physical, social, etc.) and uncomfortable conditions (noise, odours, smoke, humidity, vulnerable beneficiaries). These stressful, rapidly changing environments with limited information to make decisions have the potential to affect the physical and psychological state of the responders on site.
• Will be required to work extended hours during peak periods on short notice.
• Eligibility to work in Canada. At this time, we welcome applications from candidates eligible to work in Canada. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, we encourage you to carefully review your visa to find out whether you are eligible to work in the job you are considering applying for. Refer to our FAQ for more information.
• If you are selected for this role, you will be required to complete a successful pre-employment screening process which includes a satisfactory Enhanced Police Information Check (E-PIC).