Vice President of Operations - Commercial Real Estate

Macdonald & Company are partnered with a privately held, long-term real estate owner/operator based in Charlotte, overseeing a diversified portfolio of more than 2 million square feet across office, retail, mixed-use, parking, and land assets. The firm maintains a hands-on, ownership-driven approach to operations and is continuing to modernize and professionalize its internal structures to support portfolio growth and efficiency.

The Role

This newly designed position will serve as the senior leader overseeing both the property management and maintenance/engineering functions. The VP of Operations will provide unified leadership across departments that historically operated separately, ensuring consistent standards, efficient building operations, clear communication, and alignment with ownership objectives. The role requires someone with strong commercial real estate operations experience, who understands onsite property management, maintenance workflows, financial operations, and tenant service at the portfolio level.

Responsibilities

Operations Leadership

• Lead and oversee the property management and maintenance/engineering teams, including department heads.
• Establish and implement operational standards, processes, and best practices across the portfolio.
• Drive coordination between property management and maintenance to ensure aligned priorities and seamless execution.

Portfolio Oversight

• Provide executive oversight across a 45-asset portfolio with significant commercial real estate exposure.
• Conduct regular site assessments to evaluate building operations, maintenance programs, and tenant satisfaction.
• Ensure compliance with operational, safety, and regulatory requirements.

Financial & Lease Administration

• Oversee annual operating and capital budgets; ensure accurate forecasting and cost-effective operations.
• Maintain accountability for rent collection processes, financial reporting, and variance management.
• Review and approve leases, renewals, amendments, estoppels, and SNDAs.

Maintenance & Engineering Management

• Provide leadership to the Senior Maintenance Engineer and engineering/maintenance staff.
• Oversee preventative maintenance programs, vendor management, and building systems performance.
• Support staffing, training, workflow optimization, and technology adoption (e.g., work order systems).

Capital Projects & Vendor Management

• Oversee capital projects, tenant improvements, deferred maintenance, and building upgrades.
• Negotiate and manage vendor and service contracts; evaluate performance and cost efficiency.
• Provide operational insights during acquisition and disposition due diligence.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with ownership, accounting, legal, development, construction, and HR to ensure operational alignment.
• Serve as the senior operational point of contact for brokers, tenants, municipalities, and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10 years in commercial real estate operations.
• Background that includes onsite property management plus an understanding of maintenance and building systems.
• Experience leading both property management and maintenance departments or multi-disciplinary operational teams.
• Strong financial and operational acumen, budgets, forecasting, CapEx, lease administration, vendor management.
• Hands-on, practical leadership style with the ability to create structure and unify teams.
• Effective communicator comfortable working directly with ownership in a lean, entrepreneurial environment.