HEAD OF PORTFOLIO OPERATIONS Candidate Information Pack
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for considering this outstanding opportunity to join the King’s Cross team. King’s Cross is a shining example of urban regeneration, transforming 67 acres of industrial land into one of London’s most vibrant and celebrated mixed-use developments. With its unique blend of history and modernity, the estate stands as a testament to innovative design and community-focused development, offering a world-class destination for living, working, and leisure. Since Related Argent assumed the asset management of King’s Cross, the estate has been steered with a bold vision: to set global benchmarks for sustainable and inclusive city living. The role of Head of Portfolio Operations is pivotal in maintaining and enhancing this vision. Overseeing the estate’s complex portfolio of office, retail, residential, and public realm assets, this role is at the heart of creating exceptional experiences for the thousands who live, work, and visit King’s Cross every day. Please read on to discover more about this exciting position and the opportunity to contribute to one of London’s most forward- thinking urban projects.
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INTRODUCTION THE KINGs CROSS ESTATE THE ROLE ABOUT RELATED ARGENT HOW TO APPLY
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THE KINGs CROSS ESTATE King’s Cross is London’s creative neighbourhood and home of the extraordinary. It comprises 67 acres of inspiring businesses, outstanding architecture, destination retail and dining and a vibrant cultural scene.
500,000 sq. ft. of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, King’s Cross is also alive with the capital’s best places to eat, drink and shop, welcoming over 19 million visitors each year. The King’s Cross estate, which is owned and managed by King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP), is carbon neutral and committed to reaching net zero carbon by 2035. Every building within KCCLP’s ownership has been certified as a CarbonNeutral® Development, through a combination of using 100% renewable energy, having energy-efficient buildings and offsetting carbon emissions. This landmark achievement is an important step on the journey to become net zero as soon as possible. Further information on King’s Cross’ verification as carbon neutral can be found here. KCCLP is made up of pension fund AustralianSuper and clients of the international business of Federated Hermes. AustralianSuper owns a 74% stake in KCCLP. AustralianSuper
manages more than AUD$342 billion in members’ retirement savings on behalf of more than 3.4 million members from more than 478,000 businesses (as at 30 June 2024). The Fund is an active investor across global financial markets, real assets, private credit and private equity, with the aim of delivering sustainable, long-term performance for its members. AustralianSuper is the 16th largest pension fund in the world by total assets, and the fastest-growing among the global top 20 (Thinking Ahead Institute, Global Top 300 Pension Funds, based on 5-year CAGR 2019-2024). www.kingscross.co.uk @kingscrossN1C
The area’s industrial past has inspired the 50 new and repurposed buildings, including Coal Drops Yard, the iconic Gasholders London and the Granary Building. The estate also includes 27 acres of public space, ranging from parks, streets, squares and gardens, with Granary Square and its iconic fountains at its heart. King’s Cross has almost 1,750 private, rental, student and affordable homes and once complete, 41,000 people will live and work in the neighbourhood. King’s Cross is a hub for creative and innovative businesses in London with 4.25m sq. ft. of office space and capacity for 30,000 workers. It is home to start-ups, SMEs and world- renowned brands such as Meta, Google, Havas, Universal Music and AstraZeneca. Boasting
Today, it is one of the most celebrated redevelopments in the world, renowned for its iconic public spaces, heritage buildings, world-class architecture and destination shopping and dining. It is also one of the most sustainable major developments in the UK – independently certified as carbon neutral with ambitions to become net zero carbon by 2035. Global businesses such as AstraZeneca, Sony Music Entertainment and Nike have chosen to make King’s Cross their home. When complete, more than 40,000 people will live, work and study here. 2025
The UK government and DHL announced the sale of their investment in the King’s Cross redevelopment to Australian Super, Australia’s biggest superannuation/ pension funds run only to profit members. 2015
The decision to move the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from Waterloo to St Pancras became the catalyst for change. The landowners – London & Continental Railways Limited and Excel (now DHL) decided to develop the land. 1996
Outline planning permission was granted. The permission allowed for circa 50 new buildings, 20 new streets, 10 new major public spaces, the restoration & refurbishment of 20 historic
Argent, London & Continental Railways and DHL formed a joint partnership: Kings Cross Central Limited Partnership. The partnership was the single landowner at King’s Cross. 2008
buildings structures, & up to 2,000 homes. 2006
Argent was selected as the development partner. The project began with several years of intensive studies and consultation with the local community, government and other stakeholders. 2001
2007
The University of the Arts London moved to the Granary Complex and parts of the development opened to the public for the first time. 2011
New restaurants opened, the Great Northern Hotel was refurbished and residents have moved in. The historic Coal Drops was redeveloped as a unique shopping destination and companies such as Google, Meta, Universal Music and Havas located here. New public streets, squares and gardens opened, among them Granary Square with its spectacular fountains, Lewis Cubitt Park and Square and Gasholder Park. 2022
Early infrastructure works began in June 2007. Much of the early investment was focused in and around the Victorian buildings that once formed the Goods Yard.
THE ROLE The Head of Portfolio Operations will focus on driving best in class property and operational management excellence for the entirety of the King’s Cross Estate, owned by the KCCLP and managed by Related Argent as Asset Manager. This role will be accountable for the successful delivery of property and operational management across office, retail, residential and estate (public realm) assets across the 67 acre King’s Cross estate which includes 8 million sq ft of developed assets and 50 buildings, as well as the mobilisation and all property, facilities and operational management functions. In addition, this role will lead the successful asset management of the public realm and shared estate assets at King’s Cross where 40,000 live, work and study and 20m people visit annually. Maintaining King’s Cross’s position as a global exemplar of progressive city life though our events, social value and art programmes, alongside managing the approach to security, health and safety, net zero carbon, social value, biodiversity and wider sustainability initiatives, data and infrastructure, landscaping and the energy centre and estate wide heat network.
managing agents and supply chain to continually improve and strengthen our property operations, sustainability and energy efficiency strategies. • Support the delivery of all Customer Experience strategies across the estate. • To oversee and project manage the delivery of all core PM/FM functions/activities across all our assets. • Manage all operational interests of the commercial and residential long leaseholders across the estate. • Ensure the estate and all buildings are compliant with all Health & Safety, Data and Governance regulations. • Lead our managing agents and internal property management team to ensure service charge budgets and customer service delivery are managed in line with KPI’s and industry best practice • To work collaboratively to support the adoption of new technologies, processes and data to deliver more connected and future- proofed buildings and spaces. • Assist with the smooth transition and integration of any new business management and compliance systems including data management systems linked to King’s Cross. • Working with, and influencing, internal asset management, development, finance, operations & legal teams to ensure viability, secure buy-in and maintaining governance control. Leading the successful operational mobilisation of all new developments, ensuring appropriate design for management and ‘soft landings’ procedures are in place. • To be the primary representative in the occupier delivery and mobilisation of all development projects. • Provide design for management input on all new public realm areas of the estate and over-see handover of new areas. In addition to estate areas, oversight and leadership of all DfM and mobilisation of all commercial buildings and estate areas will be required. Interface with the residential teams to ensure
• Working with other senior peers, support the delivery of designated operational, digital, proptech, ESG and all marketing and place making projects and initiatives across the portfolio. • Lead the asset management of long leasehold interests at King’s Cross. • This role will work closely with the Head of Offices & Investment and Head of Retail and will be responsible for ensuring their assets are effectively and efficiently managed to deliver exceptional customer service. By providing ‘internal client services’ to the commercial assets this role will ensure exceptional service delivery across all assets. • Be responsible for the activities of the Legacy Project and Asset Development (LPAD) team, who deliver works to the estate, offices and residential buildings covering defects, building fabric management and delivery of new projects. Design and lead strategies to ensure delivery of a global exemplar at King’s Cross. strategic lead for the delivery of property management and operational service delivery across Estate (public realm) and all commercial assets at King’s Cross. • Lead on the overall property management and operations for all Commercial and estate assets at King’s Cross. • Building on the work to date, to continue refining our delivery of core Property and Facilities Management for our estates • Responsibility for the operational delivery and PMA’s in place for our managing agents. Ensuring delivery of all PMA objectives through the strategic partnership framework, including the creation and implementation of the renumeration and incentive fee arrangement and distribution to be reviewed annually. Continual assessment of market trends and competitive schemes should be undertaken annually. • Oversee all service charges responsibilities across the estate and assets ensuring compliance, value for money and outstanding performance for our customers. • Take a leading role in working with our
This role is a strategic position working for Related Argent, where you will lead the creation and delivery of the long term property management and operational plans for all assets. This includes accountability for successful delivery of property management (currently delivered by a 3rd party property manager with a dedicated on site operational team), including the strategy for contract structure and procurement, successful performance management and oversight of the extensive service partner supply chain. What you will deliver Lead the asset management of the estate and operational functions at King’s Cross. • Create a clear operational vision to incorporate short and long-term goals for the estate to deliver a best in class environment for our occupiers, visitors and stakeholders. • Drive the estates function forward to ensure we are seen as best in class in London and the exemplar of large scale mixed use estates. • Oversee our managing agents (and others as required), ensuring a robust and regulatory compliant strategy for the estate. This includes health and safety. Oversee its implementation and ensure a coordinated and cohesive approach to marketing, events, occupiers, and stakeholders and all other functions across the estate. • Oversight and delivery of Landlord AM asset budgets for estate and operations. • Deliver a business plan for income generating estate assets ( ie car parks)
operation and management, and facilities management and property maintenance • Proven understanding of contract procurement, health and safety management, risk management and compliance functions • Understanding of the crucial role of technology and data in the importance creating an optimal platform and capable of identifying appropriate solutions, opportunities and suppliers • Numerically astute with an analytical approach • Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills • An understanding of property development and construction processes • Experience of leading projects and managing teams (including external teams) Attributes • Highly organised with an ability to oversee multiple projects, prioritise workload and demonstrate good project management skills • To be goal and results focussed with an ability to meet deadlines and within budget whilst working collaboratively across the business and capable of influencing through relationships • Highly motivated individual with a strategic and commercial business focussed approach and the ability to drive a consistent approach across the operational portfolio • Proven ability to form good customer and wider stakeholder relationships and drive excellent customer service • Solution-orientated individual with a demonstrable appetite for continued improvement and approaching problems from first principles • Ability to build and manage diverse relationships to get the best results • Strong track record in team management and leadership. • Well respected in the industry with high profile reputation of delivery and results. • Advocate and leader of change in a best class environment.
knowledge transfer. • Provide operational support to the wider King’s Cross team in the delivery of forthcoming developments and future phases of development, with a particular focus on driving the ‘soft landings’ process ensuring our customers’ occupation is seamless and effective. • Work with Construction team on management of construction impact and communications. Support the wider business to successfully deliver investment performance and business plan objectives across all assets. • Support our marketing and PR teams on all construction and occupier communications from asset management perspective • Work with Communications and PR Manager to manage and deliver robust occupier liaison and communication to ensure high level of satisfaction with services. Where any new initiatives are implemented across the estate and assets, work closely with the relevant senior team to ensure robust occupier comms are in place. • Work with all sector Head’s and Directors as well as our Managing Agents’ advisors to support the delivery of a sustainable and responsible business plan. Other • Work at all times with reasonable care to ensure the health and safety of yourself, your colleagues, members of the public and others working on the estate. • Co-operate with your employer, understand the company’s health and safety policies, and undertake any training as required. • Work to uphold the health, safety, environmental and quality standards expected in the offices and around the development. This includes identifying, reporting and resolving issues where possible.
• Use internal systems effectively and follow internal processes as required; follow Related Argent’s Information Management principles of “single source of truth”, ownership of data, record keeping and consistent taxonomy. • Any such other duties as the Company may reasonably require from time to time, and as may be notified to you. Skills and Attributes Qualifications • MRICS Qualified or equivalent professional experience ideally gained in either a property company or client advisory business Skills and Experience • Significant experience of managing outsourced managing agent mandates (preferable) or operating them on behalf of investor clients, working within and managing performance against KPI’s • Significant experience of managing multi-site, mixed-use (office, retail and residential) portfolios, preferably working for a property owner or managing agent, in a senior property and facilities management strategic role • Experience of customer experience strategies and how they have been applied to success in property management • Experience and understanding of ESG requirements to drive the net zero agenda • Experience in project management and organisational design would be beneficial • Experience of launching new developments and seamless customer handover • Preferable experience of delivering high performance, sustainable and operationally efficient mixed use developments • Proven understanding of the technical fundamentals of property
Related Argent is one of the largest privately owned property and urban regeneration businesses in the UK, working across residential, workspace, education, retail, hospitality and leisure. Its mission is to be a great city builder and to improve urban life for everyone, every day. Its team of passionate urbanites bring together an extraordinary and unique blend of complementary skills, access to global capital and unrivalled technical and delivery experience. By developing, owning and operating for the long-term, its work goes beyond bricks and mortar development to deliver inclusive growth for all its customers. Today, Related Argent has a c. £13bn, 21 million sq ft UK portfolio, which includes the delivery of major London regeneration schemes at Brent Cross Town i and Heart of Hale in Haringey plus its first Build-to-Rent development at Author King’s Cross. Related Argent has also taken over the development and asset management of the 67-acre King’s Cross estate and is progressing plans to redevelop the nearby four-acre St Pancras Hospital site. Formed in 2015, Related Argent brings together the expertise and track record of Argent LLP - the developer behind some of Britain’s most successful urban, mixed-use places including King’s Cross, St Peter’s Square in Manchester and Paradise Circus in Birmingham - and Related Companies - one of the most innovative and prominent privately-owned real estate companies in the US, with over $60 billion in assets owned or under development, including Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side, The Grand LA and Related Santa Clara in California.
For a confidential discussion to find out more about this opportunity, please contact Related Argent’s appointed recruitment partners at The Management Recruitment Group: Matthew Evans matthew.evans@mrgglobal.com 07854 865017 HOW to APPLY
Emilia Fasano Emilia.fasano@mrgglobal.com 07851 259868
Applications should consist of a CV and covering statement outlining key matching experience for applying for the post.
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