Regional Operations Director

Cushman & Wakefield • Chicago, IL

1d • $170,000 - $200,000

About The Position

The Regional Operations Director (Midwest) is a senior member of the Americas leadership team and serves as a dedicated operating partner to the Midwest Regional Market Leader. This role is accountable for driving top-line growth and margin improvement at the market and regional levels, while ensuring that corporate priorities are effectively translated into local execution across the Midwest, directly contributing to the overall success of Cushman & Wakefield. Success in this role is achieved by spearheading and sponsoring critical corporate transformation projects through the region, building and developing a high-performing operations team, identifying and implementing process improvements across markets, and ensuring strong alignment among service lines, support services, and market leadership. This is a people operations and corporate project leadership role, not a facilities or property management function. The focus is on organizational effectiveness, team leadership, and driving enterprise priorities through the Midwest region.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Business Administration major preferred.
• Requires 10+ years of professional experience with at least five (5) in a management role with direct reports.
• Change Management
• Financial acumen
• Ability to influence stakeholders
• Decisiveness, accountability, ownership
• Action-oriented
• Develop and inspire others
• Drive collaboration and cohesiveness
• Strategic thinking
• Travel up to 25% within the Midwest region

Nice To Haves

• Graduate Degree preferred.
• Specialized knowledge in real estate.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted operating partner to the Midwest Regional Market Leader, providing strategic and tactical counsel on P&L management, investment decisions, coverage strategy, staffing levels, geographic expansion, service line prioritization, and operational efficiency across all Midwest markets.
• Spearhead the identification, prioritization, piloting, and regional rollout of corporate transformation and automation projects in partnership with Americas operations and the transformation group.
• Own executive sponsorship of these initiatives within the Midwest region, driving adoption and ensuring successful implementation across all markets.
• Drive strategic alignment and clear communication around service line and functional initiatives, including process changes, projects, and deliverables, ensuring downstream and cross-functional impacts are fully understood and addressed across the region.
• Lead, develop, and hold accountable a team of Operations Directors and Managers across the Midwest region. Establish clear performance expectations, individual development plans, and corporate goal alignment. Foster a high-performance culture through active coaching, consistent feedback, and strong expectation-setting with internal clients including Managing Principals, the Regional Market Leader, and fee earners.
• Establish and maintain a clear accountability structure across all Midwest markets, ensuring adherence to corporate practices and policies, tracking progress against established plans, prioritizing market opportunities, and managing escalations effectively.
• Identify regional data and reporting needs on behalf of corporate leadership, coordinating the collection, aggregation, and structured presentation of market results in an accurate and timely manner. Ensure quality control and consistency of methodology across local teams, providing final sign-off on regional deliverables.
• Maintain equitable distribution of initiative impact across all Midwest markets, whether additive or corrective in nature.
• Provide ongoing input to Americas Operations and Business leadership on the effectiveness of local leadership structures, approaches, and methodologies. Proactively recommend opportunities to cross-train, develop, and optimize team structures to maximize regional impact.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees