Senior Acquisitions and Development Manager

You will be a deal-driven investment and development professional, originating, assessing, and progressing commercial and mixed-use opportunities across a range of asset classes. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, working closely with senior leadership and presenting deals directly to our Chairman. This is a hands-on role for someone who can confidently source and progress opportunities, driving momentum through to handover to our projects team. What You'll Be Doing Acquisitions and Opportunity Creation

• Proactively source on- and off-market opportunities across commercial and mixed-use sectors, targeting assets with repositioning potential, alternative use angles, and long-term value creation
• Leverage and continually develop your network of agents, landowners, and industry contacts to generate a consistent flow of deals
• Lead site appraisal and due diligence, producing robust development appraisals and viability assessments to inform investment decisions
• Take ownership of negotiations through to completion, structuring deals and preparing high-quality investment papers and acquisition proposals for board approval
• Operate with a high degree of commercial judgement, identifying risk and opportunity early and acting decisively
Development, Design and Delivery
• Lead development strategy and design direction from the outset, working closely with our in-house architects and external consultants
• Shape schemes to maximise value while maintaining a clear focus on long-term asset quality, placemaking, and deliverability
• Manage the planning and pre-construction process, maintaining control of cost plans, build assumptions, and development risk
• Take projects through to a fully consented and costed stage, ensuring clarity, rigour, and a seamless handover to the delivery team
• Maintain oversight throughout the lifecycle, ensuring alignment between acquisition assumptions and delivery outcomes
  
  We are looking for a commercially driven development professional with:
• A demonstrable track record of sourcing and executing commercial and mixed-use development opportunities, with a clear focus on value creation
• An active and credible network that consistently generates deal flow in our core operating area
• Strong development appraisal, financial modelling, and viability analysis skills
• Sound working knowledge of planning policy, title matters, and development constraints
• A well-developed understanding of build costs, programme risk, and market values across both commercial and residential sectors
• Experience leading consultant teams and managing schemes through design development and planning
• The confidence and credibility to operate independently, manage multiple opportunities, and present directly to board-level stakeholders
  
  Sorbon Estates is a privately owned property investment and development business with a diverse and expanding portfolio across the Home Counties.
As part of the Shanly Group, we benefit from strong financial backing, in-house design capability, and a hands-on delivery team, enabling us to act decisively. Whether delivering new schemes or enhancing existing assets, our focus is consistent: to create places that perform today and endure for the future. We are entrepreneurial, with a culture where good ideas are backed and deals are progressed quickly.


• Competitive salary
• Discretionary annual bonus of up to 15% of salary, plus a long-term bonus scheme that rewards sustained contribution to the business
• 25 days' annual leave, rising to 30 days with length of service
• Enhanced pension scheme through salary exchange
• Bupa private medical cover
• Free life assurance and access to an on-demand GP service
• The stability of a privately owned, financially strong business with over 40 years of history, and the agility and entrepreneurial culture that comes with it
• A beautifully located office in Beaconsfield Old Town, close to the M40 and within a 10-minute walk of the train station
• Comprehensive wellbeing package including free weekly fitness sessions, discounted gym membership, employee assistance programme, and cycle to work scheme
• Discount scheme with savings across a wide range of sectors
• A collaborative, welcoming team and a sociable culture with events throughout the year