Chief Investment Officer

Quest Group has partnered with a southeastern-based real estate investment and development platform with a diversified portfolio and multiple complementary business lines spanning Commercial Real Estate, Residential, and Development , supported by an integrated asset management function. As our client enters its next phase of growth, they are seeking an exceptional President / Chief Investment Officer to serve as a key member of the leadership team and help build the next generation of the platform. This is not a traditional investment or operating role. We are looking for a high-energy, entrepreneurial leader with an ownership mentality who can operate at both the strategic and tactical levels, lead a growing organization, identify and capitalize on opportunities, and ultimately help scale the entire enterprise. The successful candidate will have broad responsibility for the performance, growth, and strategic direction of the company's three primary business verticals, as well as asset management and overall platform operations. Position Overview The President / Chief Investment Officer will be responsible for driving enterprise-wide growth, investment performance, operational excellence, and organizational scale across the company's businesses. This individual will oversee the full lifecycle of the platform—from investment strategy and acquisitions through development, operations, asset management, capital allocation, and disposition—while working closely with ownership to establish and execute the company's long-term vision. The ideal candidate is a builder and business leader , not simply an investment professional. They should be equally comfortable evaluating a complex acquisition, challenging a development budget, meeting with capital partners, partnering with VP's and leading strategy and growth. Above all, this individual must think and act like an owner: highly accountable, commercially minded, decisive, intellectually curious, relationship-driven, and relentless about creating value. Key Responsibilities Enterprise Leadership & Strategy Partner directly with ownership to develop and execute the company's long-term strategic vision and growth plan. Provide leadership and oversight across all major business functions and three primary verticals: Commercial Real Estate, Residential, and Development . Establish clear enterprise-level goals, performance metrics, accountability structures, and operating priorities. Identify opportunities to expand the platform through new markets, asset classes, investment strategies, partnerships, and business lines. Help transition the organization from an entrepreneurial growth company into a scalable, institutional-quality platform while preserving its entrepreneurial culture and speed of execution. Serve as a senior representative of the company with investors, lenders, brokers, developers, operators, joint venture partners, advisors, and other key stakeholders. Build, develop, and retain a high-performing leadership team capable of supporting significant future growth. Investment & Capital Allocation Lead overall investment strategy and capital allocation across the platform. Source, evaluate, structure, negotiate, and execute acquisitions, developments, dispositions, recapitalizations, and strategic investments. Establish investment criteria, underwriting standards, risk parameters, and return objectives. Oversee investment committee processes and ensure disciplined decision-making around capital deployment. Evaluate portfolio concentration, liquidity, leverage, risk-adjusted returns, and overall capital efficiency. Develop and maintain relationships with institutional and private capital sources, lenders, family offices, and strategic investment partners. Continuously assess where capital can be deployed most effectively to maximize enterprise value. Provide strategic and operational oversight of the commercial real estate business. Drive acquisition, disposition, leasing, redevelopment, repositioning, and portfolio optimization strategies. Oversee performance of commercial assets and ensure business plans are executed effectively. Identify opportunities to increase NOI, improve asset value, and enhance portfolio returns. Partner with internal and external teams on underwriting, financing, leasing, construction, and asset-level execution. Residential Lead the strategic growth and performance of the residential business. Oversee residential investment strategy, acquisitions, development, operations, and portfolio expansion. Identify opportunities to scale the residential platform through acquisitions, development, partnerships, and new market opportunities. Establish performance standards and ensure residential assets are managed toward targeted financial and operational outcomes. Development Oversee the company's development pipeline from site identification and acquisition through entitlement, design, financing, construction, stabilization, and disposition . Evaluate development opportunities and establish appropriate risk/return parameters. Oversee development budgets, schedules, financing structures, project-level returns, and execution. Ensure disciplined decision-making around land acquisition, entitlements, construction, and capital deployment. Build relationships with developers, contractors, municipalities, architects, engineers, and other development partners. Identify opportunities to create a repeatable and scalable development engine. Asset Management Provide enterprise-level oversight of asset management across the portfolio. Establish portfolio reporting, performance measurement, budgeting, forecasting, and business-plan processes. Ensure asset-level strategies are aligned with investment objectives and enterprise priorities. Monitor operating performance, capital expenditures, leasing, financing, valuations, and exit strategies. Identify underperformance early and develop corrective strategies. Drive portfolio optimization and proactively identify opportunities for refinancing, recapitalization, redevelopment, or disposition. Organizational & Operational Leadership Build the organizational infrastructure required to support substantial growth. Recruit, mentor, and lead high-caliber executives and professionals across the platform. Create a culture of ownership, accountability, urgency, collaboration, and excellence . Establish systems and processes that allow the company to scale without sacrificing entrepreneurial speed or investment discipline. Improve coordination and communication across investment, development, operations, finance, and asset management functions. Ensure the company has the people, technology, reporting, processes, and controls necessary to support its growth objectives. What We Are Looking For: We are seeking a dynamic, highly entrepreneurial executive who wants to build something—not simply manage something that already exists. The ideal candidate will possess: Ownership mentality: Treats the company's capital, reputation, people, and opportunities as if they were personally responsible for them. Entrepreneurial drive: Naturally identifies opportunities, creates solutions, and pushes the organization forward. Exceptional leadership presence: Can inspire teams, influence partners, command a room, and build trust with sophisticated stakeholders. Commercial instincts: Understands how to translate real estate opportunities into attractive risk-adjusted returns and enterprise value. Strategic perspective: Can see the big picture while understanding the details necessary to execute. High energy and urgency: Thrives in a fast-moving environment and is comfortable making decisions with imperfect information. Strong judgment: Knows when to take risk, when to be patient, and when to walk away. Relationship orientation: Has the ability to develop and maintain high-value relationships across capital, real estate, and business communities. Team builder: Attracts exceptional talent, develops leaders, and creates accountability throughout an organization. Adaptability: Comfortable moving between investment strategy, operations, development, capital markets, and organizational issues. Integrity: Demonstrates sound judgment, discretion, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right for the enterprise. Preferred Background 15+ years of progressively increasing responsibility within real estate investment, development, private equity, institutional real estate, or a closely related field. Demonstrated experience leading a multi-business-line real estate organization or investment platform . Significant experience across multiple real estate asset classes, ideally including commercial, residential, and development. Proven track record of sourcing and executing investments and creating value through acquisitions, development, operations, repositioning, and/or dispositions. Strong understanding of capital markets, debt, equity, joint ventures, and investment structures. Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams. Experience scaling an organization, platform, or business is highly preferred. Strong financial and analytical capabilities, with the ability to understand sophisticated underwriting and investment structures without becoming overly focused on the spreadsheet. Bachelor's degree required; MBA, MSRE, or other advanced degree is a plus. #J-18808-Ljbffr Quest Group Executive Search and Staffing Solutions