Senior Workplace Strategist (Advisory)

Job Responsibility:

Who We Are BGIS is a leading provider of customized facility management and real estate services. With our combined team of over 6, 500 globally, we relentlessly focus on enabling innovation through the services we deliver, while actively looking for new opportunities that will enable innovation for our clients' businesses. Globally, we manage over 320 million square feet of client portfolios across 30,000+ locations in North America, Europe, Middle East, Australia and Asia. Further information is available at

SUMMARY

The Senior Workplace Strategist (Advisory) will develop and implement solutions that enhance the overall work environment, optimize real estate portfolios, and support a variety of workplace programs for our clients.

You will use your proven experience in workplace strategic planning, design thinking, real estate business case development and client facilitation to be a true trusted advisor. You will have an instrumental role to:

Develop and implement workplace strategies for the hybrid workforce, ensuring alignment with client's objectives and current best practices.

Lead / undertake critical analysis of work processes, business needs and space utilization metrics to develop optimal workspace solutions.

Prepare and deliver clearly articulated workspace functional programming, scenario plans and options analysis to support the business case for change.

Collaborate and advise clients and key partners in HR, IT, Facilities, and Design to deliver forward thinking, actionable solutions that support the business and people to excel at their work.

Be a knowledge leader in workplace , staying up to date on trends and advancements in effective workplace solutions.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Workplace Strategy Deliverables

• Acts as the primary contact and project lead for WSMO delivered projects, provides direction and reviews work of other team members to ensure timely, successful implementation specifically Functional Space Planning, Space Layout & workplace strategy services.
• Lead the data collection process to gain an understanding of the various client inputs critical for the development of an actionable workplace program.
  • Identify and validate workspace needs based on available / collectable data, including actual workspace type utilization, headcount growth requirements, hybrid attendance requirements and patterns, business unit requirement.
  • Lead information gathering process with client groups and business partners to gain strong understanding of client goals, objectives, financial parameters, timelines, and risks.
  • When required, undertake detailed workspace utilization studies and the collection of available data (such as access badge data, booking systems data, sensors, observations analysis data, commuting analysis).
  • Review existing design layouts, proposed alternatives, best practices design and make key recommendations and/or provide insights.
  • Lead / facilitate exploration workshops with key user groups / client groups / business leadership to understand core people, workspace, and business requirements.
  • Work closely with / lead the workplace analytics team to prepare key insights report and consolidate into executive client presentation formats.
  • Work closely with the workplace experience team to create client engagement strategies and to consolidate change impact findings into client reports & presentations.
• Develop and deliver a set of practical workplace options / scenarios that meet the overall set of real estate, organizational, people and business objectives:
  • Prepare high-level summary program of workspace requirements considering hybrid work attendance requirements, shared / dedicated desk scenarios, collaboration needs, and other workflow considerations.
  • Develop and summarize program into a series of geographic, portfolio, building or workspace options / scenarios, outlining the benefits and impacts of each.
  • Create blocking & stacking scenarios to demonstrate / present space allocations, group adjacencies, square footage space requirements, workspace types in visually presentation format.
  • Work closely with / lead other project team members to undertake scenario budgets, timelines, and other technical considerations.
  Prepare executive summary of options / scenarios that include pros/cons, cost/time impacts, and recommendations to the client.

• Prepare and deliver comprehensive business case(s) to support the overall workplace strategy recommendations.
  • Working closely with the workplace solutions team leaders, prepare executive level client business, summarizing all available options / scenarios, cost benefits, timelines, technology impacts, risk analysis and key recommendations in a written and/or presentation format.

Client Knowledge Leadership

• Keep up to date on current / emerging workplace trends and best practices to become a trusted advisor to clients.
  • Attend industry seminars / summits and other venues to develop a comprehensive understanding of the future of work.
  • Support / lead / participate in developing and facilitating client workshops on variety of workplace topics (inclusive design, technologies, benchmarking, design strategies, workplace experience, etc.)
  • Contribute to BGIS white paper development / key event presentations / social media blogs / podcasts and related opportunities to maintain BGIS workplace solutions as an industry leader in workplace advisory.
  • Provide support to other internal BGIS teams, accounts, leadership, and partners on workplace subject matter.

Relationship Management

• Be an ambassador for the workplace solutions team by maintaining strong internal and external relationships with clients, BGIS teams and partners.
  • Proactively communicate and coordinate with clients at all levels, providing industry updates, emerging trends, and insights with clients.
  • Develops strong internal relationships with other line of business to ensure alignment and promote and support integrated delivery of services - One BGIS.
  • Maintain strong industry relationships with providers, vendors, and partner organizations to continually place BGIS as leader in workplace.

Works with other service leads within workplace solutions and with other lines of business including Property Management, Project Management and Professional Services in an integrated delivery model for all projects.

Reporting & Communication

• Completes project status reporting and monthly financial reporting activities for all assigned projects.
• Participates in regular meetings with other workplace leads, WSMO leadership to ensure all team members are informed on work progress, challenges, and support requirements.
• Participates in regional governance and or program planning meetings as required by WSMO leaders.

Resource Planning and Management

• Participates in the planning and delivery of services for the program of projects including workplan development, resource management and quality assurance.
• Tracks changes between planned and actual resource utilization to manage changes that may impact funding or schedules to ensure the successful delivery of the studio's assigned program of projects.
Communicates changes to the Program Director in order to manage delivery risks and resourcing levels as required.

Financial Management

• Responsible for sound fiscal management of assigned projects supporting the development and adherence to fee workplans.
• Responsible for ensuring adherence with all financial and procurement policies and procedures.

Business Development

• Support the WSMO leadership business development opportunities with preparation of proposals, pitches, and presentations.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• University or College Degree (bachelor's level or greater) in Architecture, Interior Design, Business, Workplace strategy, Commercial Real Estate, or related field.
• In combination with Educations, have min 7 years' experience developing workplace strategies, portfolio plans, design solutions in emerging workplace solutions.
• Having experience and certification in Interior Design, Change Management, Facilities Management, or related fields in an asset.
• Excellent communication skills. English / French bilingual is an asset.
• Skilled in strategic and critical thinking. Experience working on workplace transformation initiatives in a consulting capacity.
• Has excellent relationship building and relationship management skills, particularly with managing customer relationships.
• Excellent problem-solving skills. Experience in facilitating workshops and other engagements for visioning, problem solving and or requirements gathering and discovery.
Business development skills including solution development, proposal writing, pricing of services.

At BGIS we believe that diversity and inclusion is a key business driver, such that we never lose sight of its importance as it is woven into the fabric of our organization. We are committed to maintaining a barrier-free recruitment process by providing equal employment opportunities through recruiting and retention of individuals of all backgrounds. We recognize that promoting diversity is an essential component of our continuing pursuit for organizational success!