Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Workplace Director

🎯 Role Definition

The Workplace Director leads the strategic planning, operations, and experience of physical and hybrid work environments across multiple sites. This senior leader is responsible for aligning workplace strategy with business priorities, optimizing occupancy and real estate costs, ensuring safe and compliant facilities, driving exceptional employee experience, and enabling seamless workplace technology and services. The role partners closely with HR, IT, real estate, EHS, finance, and business leaders to deliver efficient, resilient, and future-ready workplaces.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Manager, Workplace or Facilities Management
Real Estate Portfolio Manager
Head of Office Services / Head of Employee Experience

Advancement To:

VP of Global Workplace & Real Estate
Chief Operations Officer (with broader operational remit)
Head of Global Real Estate & Facilities

Lateral Moves:

Head of Employee Experience
Director of Global Real Estate Programs

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a multi-year workplace strategy that aligns with company objectives, supports hybrid work models, drives space utilization efficiency, and reduces total occupancy cost while improving employee experience.
Lead global workplace operations across multiple sites, ensuring consistent service delivery, standardized processes, and operational KPIs for cleaning, security, mailroom, reception, and on-site services.
Own real estate portfolio optimization: lead site selection, lease negotiations, renewals, consolidations, subleases, and disposition strategies in partnership with legal, finance, and real estate teams to optimize occupancy and reduce risk.
Build and manage a multi-disciplinary workplace team (facilities, space planning, workplace experience, vendor managers), providing coaching, performance management, and career development to scale workplace capabilities.
Design and implement space planning and workplace design standards, including flexible workstations, touchdown spaces, collaboration zones, and hoteling programs, to maximize density and meet diverse team needs.
Establish and monitor workplace metrics (occupancy, density, NPS, cost per employee, service SLAs), produce executive dashboards, and translate data into action plans for continuous improvement and cost optimization.
Lead workplace technology strategy and implementation (room scheduling, desk hoteling, access control, IoT sensors, CAFM systems) to support hybrid work, real-time space usage insights, and frictionless employee experiences.
Manage vendor selection, contracting, performance management, and cost control across FM, security, cleaning, catering, and concierge services; negotiate long-term vendor agreements and implement SLAs and KPIs.
Develop and execute workplace change management programs for office openings, relocations, workplace policy changes, and hybrid rollouts; partner with HR and communications to ensure adoption and minimize disruption.
Oversee capital and operational budgets for workplace programs, prioritize investments, drive cost-benefit analyses, and ensure fiscal discipline while delivering high-impact workplace initiatives.
Ensure compliance with local building codes, occupational health and safety regulations, fire and life safety programs, and corporate EHS policies across all facilities; oversee audits and remediation plans.
Lead office moves, expansions, and major refurbishments from concept to occupancy including stakeholder engagement, design brief, procurement, construction management, and move coordination.
Drive sustainability and ESG initiatives for workplace operations such as energy efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable procurement, and green building practices in alignment with corporate sustainability goals.
Collaborate with Security and IT to ensure robust physical security, access management, secure work environments, and coordinated incident response planning and business continuity for all sites.
Create and maintain workplace policies and playbooks (hybrid work policies, visitor & contractor protocols, desk booking guidelines) to ensure consistent, fair, and scalable workplace practices globally.
Serve as a strategic business partner to functional leaders to translate workforce growth plans into space and facilities plans, forecasting capacity needs and timelines for office portfolio adjustments.
Drive employee experience programs tied to workplace design and services including wellbeing initiatives, amenities strategy, on-site events, and service recovery to increase workplace utilization and employee satisfaction.
Lead vendor transition and integration activities for mergers, acquisitions, and new site openings to ensure unified standards, cost synergies, and uninterrupted service delivery.
Implement and manage workplace risk management processes including insurance coordination, critical systems redundancy, emergency preparedness, and incident investigation for rapid recovery and business continuity.
Champion workplace analytics and employee feedback loops to iterate on workplace offerings, prioritize investments, and measure the impact of programs on productivity, collaboration, and retention.
Represent workplace interests on executive committees, provide counsel on real estate decisions, advocate for workplace investments, and present program results and forecasts to senior leadership.

Secondary Functions

Partner with HR and People teams to integrate workplace design with talent attraction, onboarding, and culture-building initiatives.
Support ad-hoc workplace analytics requests and produce executive-ready briefings that translate facilities data into strategic recommendations.
Assist in procurement and RFP processes for specialized workplace services, advising on scope, evaluation criteria, and total cost of ownership.
Contribute to the organization’s risk register for facilities and participate in periodic enterprise risk reviews.
Participate in enterprise program governance and agile planning for cross-functional workplace transformation projects.
Coordinate with global real estate teams to standardize workplace guidelines, templates, and vendor requirements across regions.
Facilitate user research and focus groups to inform design standards, amenity offerings, and workplace policies that improve employee adoption.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic workplace planning and portfolio optimization (site selection, lease negotiation, right-sizing) with measurable cost savings and utilization outcomes.
Facilities management expertise including HVAC, MEP systems, building operations, preventative maintenance programs, and service level management.
Space planning and workplace design knowledge with experience translating headcount forecasts into capacity models and furniture standards.
Experience with workplace and facilities technology: CAFM/CMMS, room & desk booking platforms, IoT occupancy sensors, access control, and workplace analytics tools.
Strong vendor and contract management capabilities: drafting SLAs, KPI monitoring, dispute resolution, and vendor consolidation strategies.
Budget ownership and financial acumen: capital project forecasting, OPEX management, ROI analyses, and cost optimization techniques.
Project and construction management skills for office fit-outs, relocations, and refurbishments, including managing contractors and construction schedules.
Occupational health, safety, and compliance knowledge, including local building codes, fire safety, EHS best practices, and emergency response planning.
Data-driven decision making and experience building dashboards (occupancy, NPS, cost per employee) to drive executive-level recommendations.
Experience with sustainability programs relevant to workplace operations: energy management, waste reduction, and green building certifications.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills; ability to influence senior leaders and align cross-functional partners.
Change leadership and program management skills to drive adoption of hybrid workplace models and new workplace technologies.
Customer-centric mindset focused on employee experience, hospitality, and service quality improvement.
Problem-solving orientation and the ability to manage ambiguity across global sites with diverse compliance regimes.
Team leadership and coaching skills with experience building high-performing, multidisciplinary workplace teams.
Negotiation and conflict resolution skills to manage vendor, landlord, and internal stakeholder interests.
Strategic thinking with the ability to translate long-range workplace vision into practical, measurable initiatives.
High emotional intelligence and cultural sensitivity to lead global workplace programs across different regions.
Excellent organizational skills and the ability to prioritize competing business demands.
Resilience and crisis management capabilities for urgent facility incidents, business continuity, and disaster recovery coordination.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Facilities Management, Real Estate, Engineering, Business Administration, Hospitality Management, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (MBA, MSc in Real Estate, Facilities Management, or related discipline) or industry certifications such as IFMA’s FMP/WP or RICS accreditation.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Facilities Management
Real Estate / Urban Planning
Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical)
Business Administration / Operations Management
Hospitality Management / Workplace Experience

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10+ years in facilities, workplace, real estate, or operations leadership with at least 5 years managing multi-site or global workplace programs.

Preferred:

Demonstrated experience leading workplace transformation and hybrid work implementations at a large enterprise (1,000+ employees or multi-site portfolio).
Proven track record of delivering measurable cost savings through portfolio optimization, vendor consolidation, or process improvements.
Experience working across global regions with demonstrated knowledge of local regulatory and cultural workplace considerations.