Sr Real Estate Development Manager

Description

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is seeking a Senior Real Estate Development Manager to join the Real Estate Development Management (REDM) team within Data Centre Supply Solutions (DCSS) EMEA. Based in London, this role carries responsibility for managing the full lifecycle of data centre developments across EMEA — with assignments spanning the United Kingdom, Ireland, and additional regions as to meet business need.

The REDM function exists because data centre land acquisitions are not simple property transactions. Each development requires complex planning and zoning entitlements navigated through local regulatory frameworks, infrastructure obligations negotiated with statutory authorities, performance bonds managed over multi-year delivery programmes, sustained relationships with Authorities Having Jurisdiction, and coordination across a dozen internal stakeholder teams. Without a Single-Threaded Owner, accountability fragments, decisions drift, costs escalate, and programmes delay.

You will be that owner. You will exercise strategic and commercial judgement across complex, high-value development programmes. You will define and execute strategy with limited guidance, influence outcomes across organisations and geographies, and take end-to-end accountability for the developments assigned to you — from the first introduction of an opportunity through to close-out.

Travel: Regular travel across EMEA

About the Team

The REDM function sits within DCSS EMEA and serves as the Single-Threaded Owner for the development management of all Hybrid, Build-to-Suit (BTS), and Owned Land developments across the region. The team currently manages approximately 60 developments with an aggregated Capital Approval value exceeding $14 billion, spanning 9 regions across EMEA.

The team comprises in-country real estate development professionals positioned across key EMEA markets — including the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and Ireland — each bringing deep local expertise, regulatory knowledge, and established AHJ relationships in their respective jurisdictions. The function holds a broad and expanding mandate: Single-Threaded Ownership of all Hybrid and BTS development agreements, all Collateral Development Obligations (CDO) and Supporting Public Infrastructure (SPI) on land acquisitions, and all site development permitting from pre-acquisition through to Adoption/Taken-In-Charge (ATIC) and release of securities.

You will join a high-performing, internationally diverse team and work directly with counterparts in Business Development, Design Engineering, Pre-Construction, Construction, Legal, Finance, Environmental, Power, Water, and Public Policy.

The Role

Senior REDMs operate as the development owner — not as a support function, an advisor, or a coordinator. You will be the single point of authority and accountability for every development assigned to you, with the mandate to act on behalf of AWS and the judgement to know when to escalate.

The scope of the role spans three interconnected domains. In practice, you will be working across all three simultaneously:

Development Agreement Management

You will be the STO for Hybrid and BTS development agreements from pre-transaction through to close-out. In the pre-transaction phase, you will provide expert development management input to deal negotiations — shaping the commercial structure, specifications, cost arrangements, risk allocation, and change control provisions that will govern the development. Post-transaction, you will take ownership of delivering against the terms of the agreement: establishing the Development Business Plan, managing costs against approved budgets, managing the counterparty relationship, chairing progress meetings, preparing monthly development reports, and identifying and resolving adverse impacts before they crystallise into programme delay or cost overrun.

You own the budget and the delivery date. You are the only party authorised to instruct change. You exercise commercial judgement daily — on cost challenges, counterparty claims, specification queries, and programme risks — and you are accountable for the outcomes.

Land Development & Permitting

You will lead the entire site development permitting process for land acquisitions in your assigned regions — from the earliest point a land opportunity is introduced, through planning and zoning, CDO/SPI delivery, and onwards to ATIC of completed works and release of securities.

This is where the role demands local expertise. Site development permitting is deeply rooted in local regulation, planning law, and political stakeholder dynamics. It requires you to build and maintain sustained relationships with local planning authorities and government bodies; navigate zoning, planning, and building permit processes with confidence and authority; represent AWS directly before AHJs as the landowner — not through intermediaries; negotiate development obligations, planning agreements, and urban development contracts; and develop permitting and phasing strategies that protect the critical path to capacity delivery.

Your portfolio may include developments across multiple jurisdictions, each with its own regulatory framework. You will be expected to navigate these differences with the adaptability, cultural awareness, and local engagement that the role demands.

Stakeholder Leadership & Cross-Functional Coordination

The REDM sits at the centre of a complex stakeholder ecosystem. Externally, you will manage counterparties, AHJs, local elected officials, statutory undertakers, community stakeholders, and external consultants. Internally, you will coordinate across Business Development, Design Engineering, Pre-Construction, Construction, Legal, Environmental, Power, Water, and Public Policy to ensure strategic and consistent messaging on development goals and priorities.

You will take the central role in strategy and decision-making on all development matters. You will establish the collaboration model with Design Engineering — where DE defines what the Data Centre requires from the site, and you define how to secure those conditions through local processes. You will maintain Memoranda of Understanding with Pre-Construction on infrastructure categorisation and actively lead escalations through the organisation when alignment is not achieved at working level.

What Success Looks Like

Our incumbent Senior REDMs set the benchmark for this role. Across the team, successful performance is characterised by:

Owning a multi-site portfolio of developments worth hundreds of millions of dollars, managing each as an integrated programme with full commercial and programme accountability.

Building and leading the AHJ engagement strategy in-country — establishing direct, senior-level relationships with planning authorities, meeting regularly with council officers and elected representatives, and being recognised as the AWS voice in the room.

Identifying and surfacing material cost savings against approved investment decisions through rigorous analysis of development agreements and obligations.

Leading complex permitting processes end-to-end — including zoning modifications, full planning applications, environmental assessment processes, and planning obligation negotiations.

Establishing the REDM function from the ground up in a new country or region, becoming the coordination hub for the entire development portfolio in that geography.

Developing and owning urban development contracts, inter-administrative agreements, and territorial agreements with municipalities and regional governments.

Driving strategic permitting pathway decisions at critical gates — evaluating alternative routes, recommending approaches, and managing risk where the regulatory environment is uncertain or contested.

Protecting capacity delivery by identifying and mitigating development risks proactively — including regulatory challenge risk, AHJ capacity constraints, design misalignment, and third-party dependencies.

Contributing to the evolution of the REDM function through development of tools, mechanisms, and reporting frameworks that raise the standard across the team.

A day in the life
Infrastructure Services (AIS) AWS Infrastructure Services owns the design, planning, delivery, and operation of all AWS global infrastructure. In other words, we’re the people who keep the cloud running. We support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain — and we’re looking for talented people who want to help.

You’ll join a diverse team of software, hardware, and network engineers, supply chain specialists, security experts, operations managers, and other vital roles. You’ll collaborate with people across AWS to help us deliver the highest standards for safety and security while providing seemingly infinite capacity at the lowest possible cost for our customers. And you’ll experience an inclusive culture that welcomes bold ideas and empowers you to own them to completion.
there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

About the team
Diverse Experiences
Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Work/Life Balance
We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, AWS

Inclusive Team Culture
AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fuelled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree or equivalent in business, management, real estate, or another related field
- 10+ years of progressive experience in real estate development management, infrastructure programme delivery, or development-stage asset management.
- Demonstrable experience as a development manager or equivalent role with end-to-end accountability for programme delivery, cost control, and counterparty or contractor management on complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
- Experience engaging with planning authorities, local government bodies, and regulatory agencies in connection with building permits, zoning, and development consents.
- Experience negotiating and administering commercial development agreements (BTS, forward fund, development agreement, or equivalent structures) including provisions for work scope, cost control, change control, and risk allocation.
- Experience managing development cost plans and budgets at significant scale, with the judgement to challenge costs, exercise audit rights, and protect commercial interests.
- Willingness to travel regularly across EMEA and comply with the 5-day return-to-office policy in London.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience building and cultivating relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- Experience directly related to the design or construction of data centers or critical infrastructure or large-scale mechanical and electrical plants
- Master's degree in a relevant discipline (Real Estate, MBA, Construction Law, Urban Planning, or equivalent) and professional qualification: RICS (MRICS or FRICS), CIOB, RIBA, RTPI, or equivalent.
- Multi-country EMEA experience navigating diverse regulatory frameworks, planning regimes, and cultural contexts.
- Experience with UK and/or Irish planning processes, including planning obligation agreements, environmental assessment, and engagement with local and national planning authorities and Experience with GMP, fixed-price, and open-book development cost structures.
- Experience managing development obligations, urbanisation works, and performance bond or security management over multi-year delivery programmes.
- Fluency in one or more additional European languages (French, German, Italian, or Spanish).

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