Real Estate Executive Recruitment

Property Executive Recruitment

Exec Capital provides senior executive search for UK real estate firms across the full sub-sector range — real estate investment management, real estate development, REITs and listed real estate, residential and build-to-rent, commercial property (offices, retail, industrial and logistics), specialist sectors (student housing, healthcare real estate, hotels, data centres), and property services. Senior hiring in UK real estate is shaped by capital-market dynamics that vary substantially by sub-sector, the substantial regulatory and planning environment, the international capital flowing into UK real estate at the institutional end, and a senior-talent market with specialist sub-sector expertise concentrated at the senior end. The successful appointments are those calibrated to the firm’s specific commercial situation — investment-led versus development-led, listed versus private versus PE-backed, generalist versus specialist sub-sector.

Our practice covers UK senior appointments across CEO, COO, Chief Investment Officer, Chief Development Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Asset Management, Head of Acquisitions, Head of Development, and broader senior leadership at private real estate investment firms, listed REITs, real estate developers, asset managers with substantial real estate exposure, family-office real estate platforms, and PE-backed real estate businesses. Every mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA.

Sub-sectors we cover

Real estate investment management. Institutional real estate investment managers, segregated mandate platforms, private real estate funds, and the senior teams responsible for fund strategy, acquisitions and asset management across UK property portfolios.

REITs and listed real estate. UK-listed REITs across commercial, industrial, residential, healthcare, and specialist sub-sectors. Senior hiring intersects with capital markets engagement, shareholder reporting, and the listed-company governance framework.

Real estate development. Pure-play developers, mixed-use developers, residential developers and housebuilders, commercial developers. Senior hiring typically emphasises substantive prior development experience including planning, construction delivery, and project finance.

Residential and build-to-rent. Build-to-rent operators, single-family rental platforms, residential developers and student accommodation providers.

Commercial property — offices. Office investors, developers, and asset managers operating across central London, regional UK markets, and specialist office formats. Senior hiring continues to evolve as the office market adjusts post-pandemic.

Industrial and logistics. Logistics REITs, industrial estate developers, last-mile and big-box logistics platforms. The sub-sector that has grown most substantially as UK senior hiring volume over the past decade.

Specialist sectors. Healthcare real estate, student housing, hotels, data centres, and other specialist property categories. Each typically has distinct senior-leadership pools.

Property services. Property management firms, valuation and advisory practices, real estate consultancies. Senior hiring spans technical and commercial leadership.

Senior roles we recruit

Chief Executive Officer. UK real estate CEOs typically have substantive prior sub-sector operating experience plus the standard CEO dimensions. For listed REITs specifically, capital markets fluency and institutional investor engagement track record are central.

Chief Investment Officer. Senior investment leadership accountable for fund strategy, deal pipeline, and (for institutional managers) major investor relationships. Particularly central in pure-play investment management firms.

Chief Development Officer / Head of Development. The senior leader accountable for development pipeline, planning, construction delivery and project finance. Particularly central in development-led firms.

Chief Operating Officer. Senior operating leadership covering asset management operations, property management oversight, and (for listed REITs) the operational delivery of the firm’s strategy.

Chief Financial Officer. Real estate CFOs typically require substantive REIT or property fund accounting experience, capital structure expertise, and (for listed firms) capital markets and shareholder engagement track record. Cross-portfolio with our sister firm FD Capital.

Head of Asset Management. Senior leader accountable for portfolio performance, leasing strategy, and (for institutional firms) investor reporting on portfolio outcomes.

Head of Acquisitions. The senior leader running the deal pipeline, acquisition strategy, and execution. Particularly central in active investment platforms.

Non-Executive Directors and Chairs. Independent NEDs with substantive sector experience, including chairs at listed REITs and PE-backed real estate firms.

How we work

We run real estate senior searches on a retained basis, with engagement running through to the candidate’s first day in role. The brief phase covers sub-sector specifics, capital structure considerations, and (for listed firms) capital markets dimensions before formal mandate begins. Adrian leads every mandate personally.

Why Exec Capital for real estate

Sub-sector specificity at the brief. Office versus industrial versus residential versus specialist — each is a different commercial environment. We work this through at the brief stage rather than treating real estate as a single market.

Capital-structure understanding. Listed REIT versus private fund versus PE-backed versus family-office platform — different structures attract different senior candidates and warrant different specifications.

Principal-led delivery. Adrian Lawrence FCA leads every senior real estate mandate personally.

Further reading

For role-specific senior hiring guides, see our CEO hiring guide, COO hiring guide, CFO hiring guide, Chief Investment Officer hiring guide, and the rest in our Knowledge Centre.

For senior CFO appointments at real estate firms specifically, see our sister firm FD Capital. For PE-backed real estate senior hiring specifically, see our PE Executive Hiring Guide and our private equity recruitment service. For listed REIT senior hiring including pre-IPO appointments, see our IPO and Public Markets Hiring Guide.

For UK real estate industry context referenced in our work, see the British Property Federation (BPF), RICS, the Investment Association for institutional real estate context, and (for listed REIT context) the UK Corporate Governance Code.