Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Occupancy Planning Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Occupancy Planning Manager leads space and capacity strategy across the real estate portfolio, aligning workforce headcount plans, hybrid work models and business growth to optimize seat utilization, reduce real estate spend, and improve workplace experience. This role blends workplace strategy, data-driven forecasting, move and change management, vendor coordination, and cross-functional stakeholder engagement to deliver scalable occupancy solutions for office, hybrid and flexible workplaces.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Real Estate Analyst or Portfolio Analyst with exposure to space planning and lease data
Facilities Manager or Workplace Coordinator responsible for moves and on-site operations
Workplace Experience Specialist or Office Manager with project experience in seating and changes
Business Analyst with advanced Excel/Power BI experience supporting headcount forecasting

Advancement To:

Senior Manager, Occupancy Planning / Senior Manager, Workplace Strategy
Director, Global Workplace Services / Director, Real Estate & Workplace Strategy
Head of Real Estate Portfolio Planning or Head of Workplace Experience

Lateral Moves:

Facilities Operations Manager
Real Estate Portfolio Manager
Workplace Experience or Employee Experience Manager
Capital Planning Manager (Workplace Projects)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and maintain comprehensive occupancy models and seat-allocation standards that translate headcount forecasts and workplace strategy into optimized desk ratios, density rules and seating policies across multiple sites and regions.
Lead multi-scenario capacity planning and headcount forecasting (monthly/quarterly/yearly) using historical occupancy data, hiring plans and real estate constraints to recommend actionable moves, consolidations and growth strategies.
Design and implement space utilization analytics programs including sensor data, badge swipes and desk-booking logs to quantify utilization rates, identify under-utilized assets and prioritize portfolio optimization actions.
Own move management and change programs: develop detailed move plans, timelines, RACI matrices, vendor scopes, and communication plans to minimize disruption during relocations, consolidations and major reconfigurations.
Create and maintain an integrated workplace dataset (IWMS/space management/HR/finance) that supports scalable reporting, scenario analysis and executive decision-making for seat counts, capacity per floor and cost per seat metrics.
Partner with HR and People Operations to align workplace design with hybrid work policies, flexible seating strategies, and employee experience initiatives to ensure the space supports evolving ways of work.
Build and present executive-level dashboards, slide decks and scenario options for senior leadership and real estate committees that quantify risk, cost, and time-to-implement for occupancy options.
Lead portfolio rationalization initiatives by identifying opportunities to sublease, consolidate or repurpose space based on utilization analytics and headcount trajectories.
Develop occupancy standards, space allocation guidelines and workplace planning policies (e.g., desk-sharing ratios, neighborhood sizing, touchdown zones) and drive corporate adoption across sites.
Manage cross-functional stakeholder relationships with real estate, HR, IT, facilities, finance and business unit leaders to ensure occupancy plans are feasible, funded and aligned to strategic objectives.
Deliver financial analysis and business cases for real estate decisions, including cost-per-square-foot, cost-per-seat, relocation budgets, capital expenditure requirements and ROI for optimization projects.
Coordinate with real estate brokers, landlords and property managers to execute lease amendments, relocations, expansions or terminations driven by occupancy planning outcomes.
Oversee vendor selection and management for space planning, move services, interior design and IWMS providers to ensure high-quality delivery, SLA adherence and cost control.
Use advanced Excel modelling, database queries and BI tools to run sensitivity analyses, scenario planning and “what-if” forecasting to prepare contingency plans for hiring surges or contractions.
Translate workplace design concepts into implementation-ready seat plans, adjacency matrices, departmental stacks and allocation plans that support departmental workflows and collaboration needs.
Drive continuous improvement of occupancy processes and tools (desk booking, hot-desking, capacity triggers) by piloting initiatives and scaling successful approaches across the organization.
Lead complex project workstreams such as mergers & acquisitions integration, global office rollouts, or divestitures requiring rapid reallocation of seats and consolidation planning.
Establish KPIs and governance for occupancy management (e.g., utilization rate targets, headcount per neighborhood, cost-per-employee) and monitor performance against targets, recommending corrective actions.
Ensure data integrity for occupancy reporting by defining data ownership, reconciliation processes and periodic audits across HR, facilities and IWMS systems.
Develop and deliver change management and communications plans for space changes, seat reassignments and new workplace policies to drive high adoption and minimal business disruption.
Prepare and manage occupancy planning budgets, including forecasting project costs, contingency funds and vendor spend to ensure financial discipline and transparent reporting.
Conduct periodic facility condition and adjacency reviews to prioritize capital improvements, reconfigurations and amenity placement informed by occupancy trends and employee feedback.
Mentor and manage junior occupancy planners or analysts, providing coaching on analytical methods, stakeholder engagement and workplace planning best practices.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Occupancy modeling and capacity planning for multi-site corporate portfolios
Headcount forecasting and scenario analysis using Excel, advanced formulas and financial modeling
Proficiency with IWMS/space management systems (examples: Archibus, FM:Systems, Trimble/Manhattan, Planon)
Experience with desk booking and workplace technology platforms (e.g., Condeco, Robin, Teem)
Data analysis and visualization: Power BI, Tableau or Looker for dashboarding and executive reporting
SQL or experience querying relational data sources for ad-hoc analytics and data reconciliation
Experience interpreting sensor/badge data and integrating CAFM/IWMS with HR/finance systems
Familiarity with CAD, AutoCAD or Revit outputs for translating space plans into implementation documents
Lease impact analysis and real estate financial modeling (cost-per-seat, TCO, ROI)
Project and move management skills, including scheduling, vendor scopes and risk mitigation
Scenario planning and “what-if” simulation for occupancy, growth and contraction scenarios
Strong spreadsheet automation skills (macros, VBA, Power Query) to streamline recurring models

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and executive presentation skills; able to influence senior leaders with clear, data-driven recommendations
Strategic thinker with the ability to translate high-level corporate goals into concrete space plans
Excellent written and verbal communication, including change communications and policy documentation
Collaborative cross-functional partner who can align HR, IT, facilities and finance
Problem-solving orientation: able to synthesize conflicting inputs into practical solutions
Project leadership and prioritization under tight timelines and ambiguity
Attention to detail and strong data governance mindset
Negotiation and vendor management skills
Adaptability to shifting business priorities and hybrid work models
Coaching and team development skills to mentor junior analysts

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate, Facilities Management, Business, Finance, Urban Planning, Architecture, Engineering or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Real Estate, MBA, Facilities/Operations Management, Urban Planning, or related advanced degree preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Real Estate / Real Estate Finance
Facilities Management / Workplace Strategy
Business Administration / Finance / Economics
Architecture / Urban Planning / Interior Design
Data Analytics / Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years in real estate, workplace strategy, occupancy or facilities planning with increasing responsibility.

Preferred: 7+ years with demonstrated experience managing occupancy programs for multi-site or global portfolios, running IWMS implementations, and producing executive-level occupancy strategy and financial business cases.