Property Director Job

Property Operations Director Job

A private Family Office is seeking a technically accomplished property professional to take end-to-end responsibility for the maintenance, enhancement, and operational oversight of a portfolio of high-value residential properties located across Portugal, the UAE, the UK, and the US, totalling circa 55,000 sq ft.

This is not a traditional facilities management or household position. The role requires strong organisational and technical rigour to plan and deliver rolling maintenance and improvement programmes across multiple jurisdictions, manage service contracts and budgets, and maintain consistent standards globally.

The successful candidate will be comfortable operating at a detailed technical level — interpreting drawings and specifications, interrogating contractor methodologies, resolving site issues, and negotiating variations and final accounts with confidence. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused role suited to someone who combines commercial acumen with practical construction and property expertise.

Role requirements:

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive planned preventative maintenance (PPM) strategy across the portfolio, covering HVAC, electrical, plumbing, AV/IT, security systems, lighting control, and building fabric.
• Procure, negotiate, and manage maintenance and service contracts, rigorously challenging scope, pricing, and technical delivery rather than administering contracts passively.
• Lead refurbishment, fit-out, and improvement projects from initial brief through procurement, delivery, commissioning, and defects, maintaining full control of cost, programme, and quality.
• Critically review contractor proposals, quotations, and variation claims with a QS-level eye, identifying inflated preliminaries, unjustified dayworks, specification inflation, or poor value engineering.
• Coordinate and oversee MEP and fully integrated building systems, including Crestron, Lutron, and KNX lighting controls, HVAC control systems, AV distribution, security/CCTV, and access control, ensuring rigorous commissioning and effective long-term maintenance.
• Manage and coordinate relationships with local property managers, caretakers, and agents in each jurisdiction to ensure consistent standards and accountability.
• Maintain rolling 12-month operating and capital budgets for each property, providing clear monthly reporting to the principal.
• Conduct regular property inspections, produce detailed condition and risk reports, and prioritise remedial and preventative works accordingly.

Experience required:

• Significant and demonstratable experience, with a substantive period spent on site in a hands-on delivery role such as Site Manager, Project Manager, Clerk of Works, or Building Surveyor, ideally within high-end residential or luxury hospitality environments.
• Proven experience managing construction and refurbishment budgets in excess of £1m, including the negotiation and agreement of final accounts with main contractors and key subcontractors.
• Strong technical grounding in MEP systems and smart building / smart home integration, including lighting control, HVAC, AV, and security systems.
• Demonstrable experience procuring and actively managing facilities management and maintenance contracts, with the capability to interrogate scope, pricing, and technical value rather than administering contracts at a purely transactional level.
• Comfortable operating across multiple jurisdictions, coordinating remote teams, consultants, contractors, and local agents while maintaining consistent standards.
• Professionally qualified (RICS, CIOB, or equivalent), with clear site credibility and practical delivery experience.
• Prior experience working within a private family, family office, or estate environment, with an understanding of discretion, service expectations, and direct principal reporting.
• Familiarity with construction and property regulations in Portugal, the UAE, and/or the US is advantageous.
• Working knowledge of common contract forms (e.g. JCT, FIDIC) and experience dealing with claims, variations, and dispute resolution processes.

Skills and competencies:

• Highly organised and methodical, with strong attention to detail and execution.
• Commercially minded, with sound judgement and a natural instinct for value, risk, and quality.
• Confident and credible at site level, able to challenge contractors constructively and decisively.
• Calm, pragmatic, and solutions-focused when dealing with issues or competing priorities.
• Discreet and trustworthy, with the professionalism required to work directly for a private family.
• Self-directed and accountable, comfortable operating with minimal oversight.
• Clear, direct communicator who reports issues and progress succinctly and honestly.
• Takes pride in well-run properties, robust systems, and consistently high standards.

£100,000 - £120,000 GPA