VP, Real Estate Investment Product Development & Strategy

Heitman•Chicago, IL

2d•$150,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The VP, Product Lead will play a key role in driving organic revenue growth by advancing product development and innovation and bringing strategic insight and discipline to the solutions offered to clients. The team stays closely attuned to evolving industry trends and market dynamics to ensure Heitman maintains a differentiated and relevant product suite that meets client needs across market cycles. This role partners closely with Heitman’s investment businesses globally, as well as sales, client service, and marketing teams, to develop client-focused solutions and advance the firm’s strategic objectives. In this role, the candidate will support several of the team’s core product strategy and development initiatives, with significant exposure to businesses and functional groups across the firm. They will have the opportunity to collaborate with senior investment professionals, client-facing teams, and other key stakeholders on strategic priorities that shape Heitman’s product offering and growth. The ideal candidate is a strategic and intellectually curious problem solver who brings both commercial judgment and creative thinking. They will pair strong quantitative, analytical, and research capabilities with an ability to synthesize complex information, identify opportunities, and translate insights into actionable product strategies.

Requirements

Minimum 10 years of experience in the real estate asset management industry, with demonstrated experience in investment strategy, investment product distribution, or product development
Deep knowledge of the asset management landscape, including investment products and asset classes, distribution channels, competitive dynamics, and fund structures
Proactive individual with a high degree of intellectual ability combined with a lateral-thinking, creative and enquiring mind
An ability to work efficiently and multi-task, prioritize, set and meet deadlines. Ability to manage a project from end to end and drive initiatives to completion
Strong data management and analytical skills with the capacity to assess data and form a view
Ability to build and understand an excel model and to read a basic financial statement. Proficiency in excel and PowerPoint
Collaborative individual with strong relationship-building skill who can partner successfully with employees at all levels
Good attention to detail and an enthusiasm to continuously improve process and quality of output
Ability to communicate effectively both written and verbal

Nice To Haves

Experience within real assets, or private debt is strongly preferred
CFA is a plus

Responsibilities

Acquiring a deep knowledge of Heitman’s Global product suite, with a specific focus on Heitman’s Europe, APAC, global, and debt products
Lead research to assess new product ideas for viability, feasibility and fit within Heitman’s existing product set and strategic objectives, and building business cases around product ideas
Drive product development and approval process, including guiding cross functional teams as they work through ideas from the innovation phase and through product development
Understanding the stages of a product’s growth and maturity and setting standards and objectives for milestone product anniversary and franchise reviews
Leading reviews on specific products, sharing outcomes with the product development committee, aligning on next steps and driving execution to ensure that Heitman’s products are positioned optimally in the market
Partnering with teams to conduct critical gap analyses and collaborating on a product priorities strategy
Developing product insights by analyzing new investment product trends across asset classes and categories, including analyzing competitor product suites and identifying upcoming product blockbusters and new product structures
Partner with sales and PM teams to develop insightful and concise messaging and narrative for our product suite, and lead the creation of fund marketing collateral
Engage with cross-functional internal teams and external legal counsel to design funds and create legal documents
Leveraging and sharing ideas and perspectives from outside the firm
Conducting investment due diligence, evaluating economics, pricing and competitive analysis on new ideas
Assisting in a range of cross functional product strategy projects