Country Real Estate Manager

At ABB, we are dedicated to addressing global challenges. Our core values: care, courage, curiosity, and collaboration - combined with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities - are key drivers in our aim to empower everyone to create sustainable solutions. Write the next chapter of your ABB story.

This position reports to

Country Holding Officer

Your role and responsibilities

Real Estate function’s objective is to effectively support ABB’s business activities by securing the most efficient and profitable use of ABB’s real estate facilities/assets. This requires local, professional real estate expertise, to ensure optimum results across all Business Areas and Divisions. As Real Estate Manager you will work within a collaborative environment in the head office in Montreal, Canada, reporting directly to the Country Holding Officer and functionally to the Electrification Global Real Estate Manager. • Work with all Business Areas and Divisions to establish a Real Estate strategy and Masterplan aligned with the business strategy of ABB’s core operations • Development of medium and long term, strategic real estate plans, enhancing current and future facility requirements. Incorporating ABB’s continued operational flexibility. Consolidating dispersed locations with co-location concepts where possible and reducing / eliminating vacancies • Leading a team of 10+ ABB real estate professionals and supported by our service providers. • Manage the financial performance of the function to meet or exceed committed performance level (e.g. budgets and forecasts). Ensure financial accountability of the real estate function including P&L, balance sheet and cash flow. Ensure accountabilities for all assets under Real Estate responsibility • Lead and execute real estate transaction, lease administration and development projects • Establish and regularly update and report the country’s detailed real estate inventory of all ABB owned, leased sites, plots of land, offices, manufacturing, warehouses, storage, parking, and other facilities • Carefully benchmark, rationalize and regularly report the related real estate occupancy costs for every facility. Understand and communicate occupancy charges to the occupying Divisions • Lead all investments in owned or leased facilities. Oversee that such investments are delivered in accordance with Company Policy and formal approval process with the Capital Investment tool • Establish an excellent working relationship for mutual trust and respect with ABB’s various Divisions and the countries’ management to pro-actively support its operational achievements and business targets • Implement a functional Real Estate organization in line with the ABB Way operating model and governance structure. • Manage the Real Estate program with focus on Space Efficiency, Energy Efficiency projects through the Green Real Estate Program, Mergers / Acquisitions and Optimized facility services related the Canadian footprint with direct and subcontract employees ensuring a safe and efficient working environment • Engage with the North America countries to align and simplify operations and processes • Manage the financial performance of the real estate function and benchmark, rationalize, and report the occupancy costs for every facility • Acting as prime point of contact for local authorities for regulatory and compliance purpose related to Real Estate • Ensures (with HR Partner support) that the area of responsibility is properly organized, staffed, skilled and directed. Guides, motivates, and develops direct and indirect subordinates within HR policies • Living ABB’s core values of safety and integrity, which means taking responsibility for your own actions while caring for your colleagues, and the business Work model: hybrid #LI-hybrid

Qualifications for the role

• Minimum 10 years of professional real estate experience in a corporate or global real estate environment with solid understanding of facility management and commercial / industrial real estate and experience with challenged or distressed environmental properties
• Master’s degree in real estate, engineering, business, or related field
• Aptitude to develop, lead and coach a distributed workforce within a functional organization and demonstrated effective change management leadership
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively communicate with stakeholders at country and global levels, architects, engineers, developers, commercial brokers, contractors, and others
• Ability to energize Real Estate staff and standardize and harmonize facility services and levels
• Strong focus and leadership in HSE practices within all real estate facility/project activities
• Excellent negotiating and presentation skills and knowledge of financial analysis (discounted cash flow and P&L)
• Familiarity with construction systems and building design to understand construction documents and achieve space and cost efficiencies
• Understanding of the components of buildings and the characteristics of their building construction system including but not limited to electrical, mechanical, and structural systems
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously and complete within estimated time frames and budget restraints
• Strong organizational skills to collaborate with multiple support functions to achieve a positive working environment for the achievement of common business and corporate goals.
• Fluency in French and English
• French is required. English is also required to communicate with customers outside Quebec on a regular basis.

Benefits

• Retirement plan
• Accident insurance
• Healthcare plan
• Wellbeing program

More about us

Our mission in Real Estate (RE) is to enable ABB businesses to perform at their best through a global real estate management that covers the full end-to-end lifecycle from site selection, management and maintenance to site termination. We have a passion for operational excellence and make every effort to create value for ABB businesses. Our efforts grow out of a commitment to provide healthy and engaging work environments, improve energy efficiency and sustainability and optimize space efficiency for all our buildings in more than 100 countries all over the world. We look forward to receiving your application. If you want to discover more about ABB, take another look at our website www.abb.com. For the ninth consecutive year, ABB Canada has been recognized as one of Canada's Best Employers by Forbes magazine. Consistently ranked as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, Montreal's Best Employers, Canada's Best Employers for Young People, Canada's Greenest Employers and a long-time recipient of the Women in Governance Parity Certification, ABB's culture and commitment is to provide a caring workplace where everyone collaborates, feels valued, respected, included and supported. Also committed to ensuring that all policies and practices respect the Employment Equity Program, we aim for our workforce to be truly representative of the four designated groups; women, aboriginal people, members of visible minorities, and/or persons with disabilities. ABB will provide reasonable accommodation to the applicant with disabilities and encourage applicants to self-identify in the application process. ABB's Military Reservist Policy offers Canada's Reserve Force members the flexibility to undergo military training and activities while maintaining job security, seniority, pay, benefits, and privileges as ABB employees, including up to 15 paid working days per year for training, as well as extended leave for operations both in Canada and abroad, ensuring seamless career integration with our nation's defense forces.