Chief Development Officer (Chicago)

About Industrious

Industrious is the largest premium workplace-as-a-service provider and home to the highest-rated workplaces in the industry. Everything we do comes down to creating great days for teams of all sizes and stages, including our own. We believe that what makes a great day at work is the people on your team and the problems you get to solve together.

We are at an inflection point, having joined CBRE, the world's largest real estate company, as an independent business unit. This next phase is about making the most of that platform: scaling our core coworking product, building new products, expanding our global footprint, and doing it all with strong unit economics.

We are looking for people who love thinking outside the box and thrive in a truly collaborative setting. As teammates, we encourage new ideas and toast every win. We celebrate our people as individuals who can accomplish great things when we work together as one team.

About The Role

We are hiring a Chief Development Officer to own and scale the engine that brings our physical spaces to life. This means end-to-end leadership across Real Estate, Design, and Construction, with a clear mandate: unlock the next phase of growth by solving the cost, complexity, and speed constraints holding us back today.

This is not a strategic advisory role. It is a hands‑on, accountable executive seat. A single week might involve tearing apart our D&C process to find where time and cost are being lost, walking a landlord through a creative deal structure, sitting in a financial model review with the team, co-hosting a design critique, mentoring a leader who is ready to level up, and yes, possibly singing karaoke at the company offsite. You will have difficult conversations, make calls under uncertainty, and lead teams through real change. And you will do all of it in a culture that takes the work seriously but not itself.

What You Will Own

Construction and Design

• Deconstruct our D&C processes, identify bottlenecks, and redesign how we work so we bring down cost and time to build without sacrificing quality
• Lead build‑to exercises at scale, giving us clear answers to the question: what is the best product we can deliver at this budget?
• Build strong partnerships with key construction firms and hold them to the standard we need
• Lead and elevate our design function, partnering on new product lines and pushing the team to challenge assumptions across our brand portfolio
• Find the right balance between exceptional physical spaces and a product cost that makes deals work

Real Estate

• Own the real estate pipeline end-to-end: sourcing, deal structure, negotiation, and funnel management
• Evolve how we find and close deals in a tightening market, developing creative structures that unlock new markets and improve returns
• Be comfortable in front of a landlord and sharp on process internally: you need to be credible in both rooms
• Manage a complex, often year‑plus deal funnel so we always have sufficient pipeline for signing months out, and can forecast and solve for when we are off track
• Develop approaches that unlock new markets and drive sustainable growth

Executive and Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Serve as a core member of the executive team and bring clarity to complex cross‑functional decisions
• Be a visible, inspiring presence across the whole organisation, not just within your function
• Build harmony across Real Estate, Design, and Construction so that three teams operate as one
• Partner closely with Sales, Finance, Operations, and Product to align on priorities and execution
• Have the difficult conversations when they are needed, and do it with care

You Will Love This Role If

• You are relentless about hitting goals and you get energy from operating in a complex, high‑stakes environment
• You have genuine D&C depth: you can walk into a construction or design process, understand where it is breaking, and fix it
• You know how to build and drive a real estate funnel, and you are comfortable in front of a landlord as well as in an internal process review
• You are known for developing the people around you, not just managing them, but genuinely rocketing their careers forward
• You can simplify complex problems into repeatable, scalable systems and you find that kind of work energising, not draining
• You zoom easily between big picture strategy and the detail of how things actually get done
• You are a culture champion who can bring harmony to a cross‑functional team and inspire people beyond your own org
• You want to be a leader in a culture that is full of kind, smart, low‑ego, and yes, slightly goofy people

This Role Is Not For You If

• Your strength is strategy and vision but you find the detail of execution draining
• You prefer to lead from behind or let the work speak for itself: this role needs visible, directive leadership
• D&C is not territory you have spent real time in. Fluency across real estate, design, and construction is not optional here
• You are energised by deep functional expertise in one area but find cross‑functional complexity frustrating
• You have not led a team through a major transition or period of change
• You are not comfortable being your full, authentic, slightly weird self in front of a room

What You Bring

• Deep hands‑on expertise in construction and design, with strong fluency across commercial real estate too
• A track record of owning and scaling a physical development or real estate platform at exec level
• Experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams across geographies, balancing connection with operational excellence
• Strong financial and business acumen: you understand how every decision flows through to unit economics and EBITDA
• Proven ability to drive results in ambiguous, fast‑moving conditions
• Experience operating as part of a senior leadership team, partnering with peers to drive company‑wide strategy
• A leadership style that is clear, directive, and also deeply invested in developing the people around you

Compensation and Benefits

The annual base compensation range for this role is $300,000 to $330,000, with actual compensation based on experience, skills, and qualifications. You will also be eligible for an annual bonus and participation in our long‑term incentive program.

Additional benefits include heavily subsidised healthcare plans, generous paid time off, wellness programs, professional development grants, and a 401k plan.