Vice President, Global Market Engagement

Job Description

Job Description

ABOUT ULI

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, ULI is the oldest and largest cross-disciplinary network of real estate and land use experts in the world, with more than 45,000 members representing the full spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines across private enterprise and public service. ULI's mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.

ABOUT THE TEAM

ULI's Impact Lab turns what the real estate industry knows into real change in the market. It brings together ULI's work on decarbonization, resilience, health, and housing, and moves research and best practice into the tools, demonstrations, partnerships, and policy and finance pathways that companies actually use.

At the center of the Lab's market engagement is Greenprint, ULI's global network of real estate companies working together to improve building performance and cut carbon. Greenprint members share portfolio data, test new approaches, and learn from one another, which gives ULI a rare, data-backed view of how the industry is really progressing. In Europe, ULI's C-Change programme does related work, and shaping how the two come together as one global offer is a big part of this role.

THE ROLE

Reporting to ULI's Chief Impact Officer, the Vice President, Global Market Engagement is a member of the Impact Lab leadership team and the Lab's lead on market engagement. You'll lead Greenprint globally, owning its strategy, member value proposition, and financial performance. From day one, you'll also lead the Lab's wider market engagement work, including communities of practice in housing, health, and other issue areas.

This is a role for someone who knows the industry from the inside. You understand how owners, investors, developers, and operators make decisions, and you know what convinces a senior executive that a network is worth their time and their membership. You'll use that to build a global offer that companies want to join, renew, and invest in, and to make sure what they tell us shapes ULI's research, tools, and convenings.

You'll have real independence. Global and sub-national market engagement strategy sits with you, working alongside regional leaders in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific who lead member recruitment and engagement in their markets. You'll also build a small team of 1 to 3 staff across ULI's regions and help define how the regional roles work as the global model takes shape.

WHY THIS ROLE

• Shape a global industry network from the top, with the independence to set its strategy and business model.
• Work directly with senior leaders across the real estate industry worldwide, backed by ULI's network of more than 45,000 members.
• Put your industry experience to work where it moves the market on decarbonization, resilience, housing, and health.
• Build something: a next-generation Greenprint, a unified global offer, and a team to deliver it.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Global Strategy and Integration

• Lead Greenprint globally and develop the Lab's market engagement strategy across industry networks, communities of practice, and corporate relationships, within the Chief Impact Officer's overall Impact Lab strategy.
• Define the next phase of Greenprint and its relationship with C-Change, creating one coherent global offer that keeps regional relevance and strong member relationships.
• Set common outcomes, value propositions, participation pathways, service standards, and governance across regions, with a practical roadmap that protects current member commitments.
• Lead and grow communities of practice across the Lab's issue areas, including housing and health, connected to its decarbonization and resilience work.
• Coordinate with ULI's Corporate Partners team so market engagement offers complement ULI's wider corporate relationships.

Business Model, Growth, and Revenue

• Own Greenprint's revenue strategy and financial performance, including an established revenue base of more than $1 million, the expense budget, pricing and dues recommendations, and retention and growth plans.
• Grow the broader portfolio toward $2 million in revenue within two years by developing new cohorts, partnerships, and offers where market demand and mission impact line up.
• Own member recruitment, renewal, and retention strategy and pipelines, working with Finance, Corporate Partners, and Global Customer Service.
• Design participation options that work for different types of companies, geographies, and levels of maturity, while keeping one coherent global offer.
• Use member feedback, renewal patterns, and fully loaded program costs to decide where to invest, redesign, integrate, or stop.

Market Intelligence and Impact

• Build a disciplined way to capture what participating companies are learning: business barriers, investment needs, policy constraints, and emerging practice.
• Steward member data, including Greenprint portfolio data, with clear rules on aggregation, confidentiality, and sharing.
• Work with Impact Lab colleagues to turn market insight into research, tools, case studies, demonstrations, policy recommendations, and finance pathways, and use the network to test and scale what works.
• Track member value and market impact, from engagement and retention through to adoption, policy uptake, and practice change.

Member and External Leadership

• Serve as the senior relationship lead for participating companies and executive-level industry leaders.
• Represent ULI at major global and regional convenings, making a credible, practical case for decarbonization and resilience in the built environment.
• Engage ULI's Product Councils, District Councils, and National Councils to test ideas, identify leaders, and spread solutions.
• Build partnerships with industry associations, data and technology providers, investors, and governments where working together speeds up impact.

Team Leadership and Operations

• Hire, coach, and lead a Market Engagement team of 1 to 3 staff across ULI's regions, growing it as the portfolio expands.
• Lead through ULI's global matrix, setting shared priorities, standards, and accountability across global and regional staff.
• Bring decisions with major strategic, financial, or reputational implications to the Chief Impact Officer, and contribute to Impact Lab strategy, governance, and measurement as part of its leadership team.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Required

• Approximately 15 or more years of progressively responsible experience, including senior leadership in commercial real estate, investment, development, asset or portfolio management, real estate services, sustainability, or another industry-facing role.
• Deep understanding of how owners, investors, developers, operators, and capital providers make business and investment decisions.
• A track record of designing or growing fee-based, membership, cohort, advisory, or partnership offers, and connecting customer value to financial results.
• Credibility with senior real estate executives and a proven ability to build trusted relationships that lead to recruitment, renewal, and partnership.
• Experience leading complex work across regions and matrixed teams, with the judgment to know when to be globally consistent and when to adapt locally.
• Experience leading staff, budgets, and multiple workstreams with clear accountability for outcomes.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and presentation skills, with the ability to make complex technical and business issues clear to any audience.
• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent professional experience.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Preferred

• Direct professional experience within the real estate industry.
• Familiarity with decarbonization, climate resilience, building performance, or capital markets. You don't need to be ULI's lead technical expert, but you'll need to be credible in the conversation.
• Experience leading market-facing programs, business development, or membership and customer strategy.
• Advanced degree in business, real estate, sustainability, urban planning, public policy, or a related field.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

In your first 90 days, success looks like getting to know Greenprint's members, the regional teams, and C-Change, building relationships with key member executives, and forming a clear view of what's working and what needs to change.

Within your first year, success is an agreed next-generation strategy for Greenprint and a shared global framework for Greenprint, C-Change, and related offers, turned into a working roadmap. Members see clear, differentiated value, which shows up in healthy recruitment and renewal, and the communities of practice in housing, health, and other issue areas are active and growing. Over two years, Greenprint holds its revenue base with stronger economics, and the broader portfolio is on a credible path to $2 million.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $154,000 to $175,000. Actual compensation will be based on experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. This position is also eligible for an annual incentive, and for ULI's comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and life insurance, generous vacation leave, and a retirement plan with employer match.

WORKING CONDITIONS

This is a hybrid role based in Washington, DC, with regular time in our DC office. The role works across global time zones, so some early morning and evening meetings are part of the job, along with domestic and international travel for member meetings and major convenings, and occasional extended hours around major events.

ULI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.