APAC Sub-regional Lead, Land Development
Microsoft
APAC Sub-regional Lead, Land Development
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Overview
Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, spanning site selection, development, and operations. Our global footprint includes more than 400 datacenters in 34 countries, supported by over 165,000 miles of fiber optic cable. These facilities form the backbone of Microsoft Azure and are central to our commitment to reliable, secure, and sustainable digital infrastructure. Microsoft is looking for a Land Development Sub-Regional Lead to support data centre development across markets in ANZ and North Asia.
As part of the CO+I Cloud Infrastructure Acquisition team, you will join a team of real estate and land development professionals responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and closing strategic land transactions as well as permitting, developing land parcels and delivering critical off-site infrastructure works. This team plays a critical role in supporting the development and delivery of this portfolio—from site selection through design, construction, and handover to operations.
In this key role you will drive market entry and expansion strategies by partnering with legal, finance, energy, engineering, and community engagement teams to enable site readiness and optionality. You will coordinate across internal teams (e.g. Environment, Engineering and Design, Construction, Government Affairs, Community Engagement etc.) to ensure delivery of operation-ready data centre sites. You will support the development and execution of permitting strategies for the lifecycle delivery of datacentre development and will be a key contributor in the execution of comprehensive permitting programs and to the Microsoft pre-construction program.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- 7+ years of experience in real estate acquisitions, land strategy, land development, or large-scale infrastructure project development.
- Strong understanding of land use, zoning, permitting, and entitlement processes in Australian and Asian markets.
- Experience delivering zoning, permits, planning and other development approvals for large scale and/or complex construction projects
- Track record of managing high-performing, geographically dispersed teams.
- Track record of managing civil work projects
- Proven ability to develop and execute regional strategies in alignment with global objectives.
- Ability to establish and maintain cross-functional and positive working relationships with internal and external teams including environmental consultants, attorneys, contractors, and regulatory agencies
- Experience managing a portfolio of projects and associated budgets and schedules
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail and high standards for quality of deliverables.
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction, real estate, urban planning, law, business, or related field;
Preferred Qualifications:
- Community Engagement and Stakeholder engagement experience
- Mission critical design and/or construction experience
- Experience in delivering projects in multiple jurisdictions
- Substantial portfolio management, real estate, or office management experience AND 7+ years people management experience
Other Requirements:
These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings:
Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Responsibilities
- Develop regional market strategies informed by business demand, competitive dynamics, and regulatory landscapes.
- Negotiate complex real estate transactions, ensuring alignment with Microsoft’s financial, legal, and operational requirements.
- Manage relationships with brokers, landowners, developers, and government authorities to accelerate deal execution.
- Partner with internal teams (engineering, energy, community affairs, legal, finance) to ensure acquired sites can be advanced to development on schedule.
- Establish and track portfolio-level metrics on deal velocity, pipeline health, and transaction risk.
- Drive due diligence processes, ensuring proactive identification and mitigation of legal, zoning, and entitlement risks.
- Represent Microsoft in market engagements, industry forums, and with government stakeholders to advance Microsoft’s position as a trusted, long-term partner.
- Lead comprehensive assessments throughout due diligence, design and construction and coordinate with key counterparts to develop permitting and project delivery strategies in order to minimise risk.
- Help their team to negotiate development agreements with Authorities and real estate developers and support site seller negotiations.
- Help their team to lead stakeholder engagement and represent Microsoft in key meetings with applicable authorities, regulatory agencies, politicians and other external stakeholders to facilitate data centre development.
- Work with partner teams to deliver utility easements, env permitting and water connections.
- Work with internal and external stakeholders to identify innovative solutions to meet permitting requirements and facilitate timely approvals to resolve potential delays to construction or other activities
- Work with multi-disciplinary teams to develop civil earth work scopes, procure and manage general contractors and deliver civil earthworks and lead-in infrastructure projects safely, on budget and on program to support the build program.
This role requires the ability to navigate diverse regulatory and cultural environments, and the leadership skills to build trusted partnerships across internal and external stakeholders. This role requires an exceptional ability to manage complexity, build systems for accountability, and deliver results at scale.