Senior director of leasing

Job Title

Senior Director of Mall Leasing, North America

Job Description Summary

The Senior Director of Mall Leasing for North America will lead Cushman & Wakefield’s strategy and execution for development, re-development, and leasing across malls and shopping centers in North America. This position will act as a central driver in building a high-performing, cross-functional retail landlord platform. The role will integrate leasing with broader services—Valuation & Advisory, Project & Development Services (PDS), and Asset Services—to deliver comprehensive value to institutional landlords and developers across North America.
This is a highly strategic position that leverages Cushman & Wakefield’s national brokerage network, global retail insights, and operational expertise to help clients reposition and maximize the value of their retail portfolios.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Leasing Leadership

• Lead leasing strategy and execution for malls and shopping centers across gateway and growth markets.
• Partner with regional brokers and national retail teams to align tenanting strategies with ownership goals.
• Cultivate and leverage relationships with key national and international retailers to drive leasing outcomes.

Client Advisory & Business Development

• Serve as a strategic advisor to retail property owners and developers, helping clients evolve and optimize their asset positioning, tenant mix, and revenue strategies.
• Develop and pitch proposals that highlight C&W’s integrated capabilities—leasing, V&A, PDS, marketing, research, legal.
• Lead negotiation of leasing deal terms and broader service scopes in partnership with legal and brokerage teams.

Platform Integration & Internal Collaboration

Drive collaboration across C&W’s service lines to deliver holistic asset strategies:

Valuation & Advisory (V&A): Support underwriting, hold/sell decisions, and performance measurement.

Project & Development Services (PDS): Integrate design, construction, and repositioning of asset

Asset Services: Align leasing with day-to-day operations and long-term property management goals.

Retail Asset Strategy

• Provide insight on the repurposing of underperforming or obsolete mall assets (e.g., mixed-use conversions, healthcare, residential, logistics).
• Identify retail trends, consumer shifts, and emerging concepts that can inform repositioning and retenanting strategies.

Market Intelligence & Global Collaboration

• Build and maintain a database of institutional retail property owners, active brokers, and asset performance across markets.
• Collaborate with UK and global retail teams to identify first-to-market concepts and cross-border opportunities.
• Travel as needed to meet with clients, collaborate with teams, and oversee strategic leasing initiatives.

Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in retail real estate with a strong focus on mall and shopping center leasing.
• Proven ability to develop and execute leasing strategies for complex, multi-tenant retail environments.
• Strong client management skills and the ability to lead cross-functional teams.
• Understanding of capital markets, asset management principles, and redevelopment strategies.
• National and/or international retailer relationships preferred.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.

Cushman & Wakefield also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life, and disability insurance programs, and paid and unpaid time away from work. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, Cushman and Wakefield provide eligible employees with competitive pay, which may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, total hours worked, job type, business line, and applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

The compensation that will be offered to the successful candidate will depend on factors such as whether the position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the geographic area in which the work will be performed, market pay rates in that area, and the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

The company will not pay less than minimum wage for this role.

The compensation for the position is: $ 170,000.00 - $200,000.00

Cushman & Wakefield is an Equal Opportunity employer to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Discrimination of any type will not be tolerated.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position at Cushman & Wakefield, please call the ADA line at 1-888-365-5406 or email [email protected] . Please refer to the job title and job location when you contact us.

INCO: “Cushman & Wakefield”