General Manager for Brookfield Properties at One Leadenhall

Background

Brookfield Properties is a leading real estate management company specialising in commercial and residential property. From office to retail, logistics to multifamily, and hospitality to development, Brookfield works across sectors to bring high-quality, sustainable real estate to life around the globe.

Over the past 10 years Maxwell Stephens has recruited for a wide variety of mid to senior positions with Brookfield Properties. Building on that relationship, Brookfield approached us to act as exclusive recruiter for the appointment of a General Manager.

The Challenge

Brookfield Properties had recently secured a further 200,000 sq ft of leases across its City of London developments as corporate occupiers continued to gravitate towards prime office space. Among this flurry of leasing activity, One Leadenhall (a new 35-storey development that was fitted out in 2025) had seen a significant uptake in leasing contracts, hence the requirement for a General Manager.

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the General Manager is responsible for managing, promoting and ensuring the efficient operation and maintenance of their assigned Brookfield Properties portfolio. The main responsibilities include:

• Tenant relations. Maintaining positive tenant relations through effective communication and by addressing day-to-day building operation issues, and chairing tenant meetings with timely release of minutes and actions.
• Staff management. Overseeing the Brookfield staff located within the designated buildings, monitoring and assessing their performance, addressing shortcomings, and working with the human resources department on recruitment, training and motivation.
• Safety. Promoting a "safety-first" culture within the building and acting as the Responsible Person during emergencies; ensuring safety, evacuation and disaster recovery plans are properly organised and supervised in collaboration with statutory authorities and tenants; and embedding safety and health principles into the organisation's culture through proactive identification and mitigation of hazards.
• Financial oversight. Setting specifications for contractors, reviewing service levels and negotiating terms of instruction; maintaining records of expenditure and spending commitments; managing the building's budget; and controlling car parking operations to ensure compliance with lease agreements.
• Systems and processes. Supervising day-to-day enquiries about building operation, coordinating and approving proposed tenant works or alterations, ensuring compliance with industry best practice, maintaining up-to-date procedures and regulations, and reporting incidents with insurance implications.
• Liaison and communication. Establishing and maintaining relationships with statutory bodies, neighbouring developments and senior personnel to support leasing and asset management initiatives, and attending meetings on site and at the company's London head office as required.

A General Manager for a new tower is a different proposition from one taking over an established building. There is no operating history to inherit, the occupier base is still forming, and the building's reputation with tenants will be set by how its first months are run. Candidates need the discipline to build procedures from scratch as well as the presence to represent the landlord to occupiers, statutory bodies and neighbours.

Our Approach

Acting as exclusive recruitment partner on this project, Maxwell Stephens used its well-established network and 50,000+ strong candidate database to reach the best candidates the industry had to offer, supported by appropriate advertised search activity to make sure no strong option was missed.

• Active and passive candidates. We spoke to a wide range of candidates, including those not actively looking, since the strongest General Managers are usually in post and rarely respond to advertising alone.
• Video screening at scale. Direct screening video interviews were held with over 50 candidates before any longlist was drawn up.
• A high-quality longlist. From that screening we produced a longlist of genuinely suitable candidates, from which the successful General Manager was selected.

The Outcome

The successful candidate was found from the longlist and appointed as General Manager, ready to take responsibility for One Leadenhall as it moved towards fit-out and occupation.

Candidate Testimonial

I first came across Maxwell Stephens around 10 years ago. Peter and his team took time to understand what role I was looking for and they only sent the perfect job opportunities my way. The first role through Maxwell Stephens ended up shaping my career in the property industry and after 9 wonderful years, Peter knew exactly what my next step should be. I can't recommend Maxwell Stephens highly enough. Thank you Peter and the team!

Dana Ferens
General Manager, Brookfield Properties

Why This Placement Worked

Exclusive mandates allow a search to be run properly: a wide initial reach, disciplined screening and a longlist the client can trust, without competing agencies pushing the same CVs. Combined with a relationship built over a decade of appointments, that gave Brookfield a process proportionate to the importance of the building.

If you are appointing a General Manager or senior building operations lead for a new development or a multi-let commercial asset, Maxwell Stephens can help. Get in touch with our team.