Senior Director, Transaction Manager

JLL • San Francisco, CA

3d • $228,000 - $240,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, Transaction Manager will serve as the senior deal lead for JLL’s Bay Area Transaction Management and Advisory (TM&A) team, supporting a Fortune 100 global technology client with a large and complex portfolio of owned and leased real estate. The role frames strategic options, directs analysis, and carries recommendations from initial strategy through approval, negotiation, and execution across acquisitions, dispositions, ground leases, joint ventures, redevelopments, leases, renewals, restructures, and other transactions. The position considers decisions from both owner and occupier perspectives, connects individual deals to broader portfolio effects, and stress-tests assumptions and downside cases.

The role works closely with a portfolio strategy and analytics lead and directs analysts and coordinators supporting transactions. It leads transaction execution and due diligence, prepares executive-ready business cases and approval documentation, coordinates with client finance teams and internal and external legal counsel, and manages complex deal flow. The Senior Director also coaches team members, leads cross-functional partners through influence, presents to senior client leaders, manages client and stakeholder relationships, contributes to reporting and performance measures, and identifies process improvements and emerging risks and opportunities.

The position is based on-site in San Francisco, California, with some travel for site visits, negotiations, and client and team meetings. It reports to the Managing Director, Transaction Management and Advisory (TM&A) Lead. The role requires a bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of relevant experience. Expected compensation is $228,000–$240,000 per year, including base salary and bonus. The position does not provide visa sponsorship.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in real estate, finance, economics, business, or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience in corporate real estate, transaction management, real estate finance, capital markets, asset management, or development advisory.
• Track record leading complex, high-value transactions and portfolios of significant size and complexity.
• Hands-on experience advising on both owner decisions and occupier decisions, ideally for a large corporate occupier or institutional-quality portfolio.
• Strong command of real estate finance, including ability to read, challenge, and defend multi-scenario models using discounted cash flow, NPV, IRR, cap rates, yield on cost, and net effective rent, and to assess P&L, cash, and balance-sheet effects of owning versus leasing.
• Ability to turn complex analysis into clear written and verbal recommendations for senior executives, including a compelling narrative in six pages or less.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams through influence in a matrixed environment.
• Ability to identify and solve ambiguous problems and anticipate risks and opportunities.
• Ownership mentality, including willingness to take on work needed to achieve objectives and champion speed, flexibility, and frugality in a fast-changing, demanding environment.
• Effective resource and project management skills and ability to manage several complex workstreams concurrently.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with confidence working independently with senior clients.
• Authorization to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or MBA in real estate, finance, or a related field.
• Knowledge of Bay Area markets, land use, and entitlement, including CEQA.
• Familiarity with lease and ownership accounting, including ASC 842, depreciation, and impairment.
• Experience supporting a corporate occupier, technology campus portfolio, or large portfolio combining owned and leased real estate.
• Experience with ARGUS or comparable cash flow and valuation software.
• Experience mentoring analysts and associates or reviewing their work.

Responsibilities

• Define the strategic question and options for transactions involving owned and leased assets, including acquisitions, dispositions, holding or selling, repositioning, leasing, renewals, development, redevelopment, restructuring, and exits.
• Own recommendations on complex, high-value real estate transactions from strategy through negotiation and execution.
• Assess each transaction from both owner and tenant perspectives, including capital, asset value, flexibility, occupancy cost, lease terms, exit rights, and own-versus-lease considerations.
• Connect transaction decisions across the portfolio and explain their effects on carry costs, capital needs, occupancy, and subsequent decisions.
• Challenge model assumptions, identify the factors that drive outcomes, and present downside scenarios and decision triggers alongside recommendations.
• Own the Critical Lease Event pipeline for assigned locations by monitoring dates, identifying optimization opportunities, and contributing to strategic plans.
• Direct broker partners in drafting and negotiating RFPs, LOIs, leases, subleases, PSAs, and license agreements through execution.
• Ensure transaction due diligence and approvals are completed, including tax, risk, accounting, environmental, health and safety, and anti-corruption reviews.
• Prepare executive-ready business cases and spend approval documentation, and work with client finance teams on operating and capital expense analysis before lease commitments.
• Coordinate with internal and external legal counsel to prepare, negotiate, and execute transaction documents.
• Manage complex and dynamic deal flow, balancing speed and quality and escalating sensitive deals early.
• Guide and coach analysts, associates, and coordinators; review their models and deliverables before client delivery.
• Lead cross-functional teams through influence, including colleagues in Capital Markets, Project and Development Services, Property and Asset Management, and Research.
• Present findings to senior client real estate and finance leaders and defend assumptions clearly.
• Share effective practices with transaction managers and delivery partners, draw on research and analytics, and bring insights and ideas to regional client leadership.
• Anticipate option dates, market shifts, entitlement risks, and capital needs, and recommend responses.
• Improve processes, tools, and templates; use JLL-approved automation and AI tools appropriately; identify process inefficiencies, implement improvements, and track results.
• Deliver transaction management services in accordance with JLL’s contractual obligations and maintain a detailed understanding of the client’s business and needs.
• Build trusted relationships with client real estate, finance, tax, legal, construction, and workplace teams.
• Contribute to KPIs, service levels, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and ad-hoc business reporting, and introduce JLL products and services that support client objectives.

Benefits

• 401(k) plan with matching company contributions
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision care
• Paid parental leave at 100% of salary
• Paid Time Off and Company Holidays
• Early access to earned wages through Daily Pay
• Supportive culture and comprehensive benefits package prioritizing mental, physical, and emotional health

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior