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

Role Summary

Associate Director, Real Estate & Workplace Strategy (Hybrid - Rahway, NJ) is a role within Global Real Estate Strategy focused on developing and leading campus planning, workspace design, and strategic initiatives for North America and LATAM regions, with emphasis on Rahway, NJ headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and develop integrated real estate campus planning strategies for facility needs, capital improvement, long-range growth, and new development, ensuring alignment with the company‚Äôs 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 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, including guidance on standards and regulatory compliance (ADA, environmental, building codes).
• Ensure quality control over planning of safe, high-quality spaces with clear public and private realms.
• Leverage data to analyze space utilization and needs to optimize existing and future facilities with adaptability to change.
• Research and analyze design trends to inform strategic decision-making and identify future needs.
• Liaise with site leads to understand workspace usage and leverage occupancy data to align with design requirements and allocations.
• Manage third-party occupancy planning deliverables for accuracy and timeliness.
• Deliver workspace innovation projects, organize resources, and conduct interviews, workshops, and surveys to inform strategy.
• Gather, vet, analyze, and summarize data for leadership presentations.
• Assess spatial considerations of floor plans to oversee test fits that support activity-based workstyles and hybrid schedules.
• Keep abreast of industry trends to provide innovative solutions for the future of work.
• Collaborate with Facilities, HR, AV, and IT to develop region-specific workplace strategies, plans, and pilots.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Architecture or Architectural Design required. Master's Degree preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of design and management experience in commercial and institutional architecture and interiors, including campus planning and workspaces.
• Working knowledge of architectural details related to workspace FF&E.
• Strong research and analytical capabilities to develop space solutions from data and trends.
• Proactive stakeholder engagement and the ability to communicate design opportunities to non-technical audiences.
• Experience in test-fit planning, space management, forecasting, and planning future demand.
• Excellent organizational skills to balance multiple projects and priorities.
• Ability to rationalize design decisions with awareness of risks and opportunities.
• Proficiency in CAD (AutoCAD), Excel, and data visualization tools (Power BI).
• Strong report-writing, storytelling, and graphic presentation skills (InDesign, PowerPoint, Photoshop).
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment.