Edinburgh St James (ESJ) is a landmark, mixed‑use development currently under construction in the heart of the historical City of Edinburgh. Boasting a world‑class retail, leisure, hotel, and residential offer and injecting over £1 billion of investment into the city, ESJ is destined to become a world‑renowned experiential destination.
The development will open in 2 phases, leading with the retail, F&B and car parking in Q4 2020 followed in 2021 with the hotels and residential offering. Ahead of the first phase opening, we are seeking to appoint a highly accomplished Managing Director as the first and most senior appointment into the on‑site operational team.
This is a truly special opportunity based within one of the most historically rich and spectacular Cities in Europe.
Overview of the Role
This is an enormously high‑profile position as the ambassadorial figurehead to a significant, flagship real estate asset. Expectations for the scheme are significant and as such, the MD appointment is crucial to its successful launch and future performance. The role will be extremely varied - and challenging - and will encompass the following duties:
- Oversee the overall successful operation of ESJ through strategic direction, management, leadership, and accountability
- Delivery of the vision and key business plan objectives, enhancing the overall profitability and performance of the scheme over the long‑term
- Represent ESJ as the public face of the ESJ brand before, during and after launch
- Deliver a clear sense of 'place', ensuring that ESJ is enjoyable for living, working, shopping and leisure time
- Lead and support the on‑site senior management team, creating cohesion across operations, technical services, marketing, hotel tourism, security and Health & Safety
- Build collaborative relationships within and across the City of Edinburgh to ensure that ESJ is effectively represented at all levels and within appropriate political, social, business, economic and charitable forums
- Develop and manage strong relationships with the scheme occupiers by understanding their individual requirements and working across the operational team to deliver the service levels and environment they all need to ensure vibrancy, engagement and success
- Help to build, promote and uphold the ESJ brand which is aspirational, vibrant and unique
- High‑level reporting directly into the development owners
Skills and Experience Required
- You will need to possess strong, refined leadership and ambassadorial skills, developed within a people‑facing senior management position
- A natural manager of people, with a proven track record of creating co‑operation and delivering shared goals across multi‑disciplinary teams
- A passion for creating a sense of place and first‑class customer experience is essential
- Detailed experience of building positive, collaborative, multi‑level relationships both internally and externally across a range of stakeholders
- First‑hand exposure to brand creation, promotion and progression
- Experience of presenting at Board level with the necessary accomplished written and verbal communication skills
- A dedicated approach to accuracy, compliance and time management
- You will thrive within a high‑pressure environment; retaining the ability to remain calm, credible and decisive when faced with challenges
We anticipate that the successful candidate will come from a high intensity, high expectation placemaking environments such as shopping centre management, airport management, hotel management, resort theme parks or sports stadia management. Candidates coming from other sectors with a compelling connection to our requirements will be considered.
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