Associate Director of Research

Associate Director of Research

The successful individual will position CBRE as the definitive source of commercial real estate intelligence for the Arizona markets, delivering actionable insights that drive business development, client engagement, and transaction flow across the state's diverse asset classes. Arizona Field Research translates local market data into strategic intelligence, publishing targeted outputs to support CBRE's brokerage, investment, and advisory businesses. You will lead a team responsible for comprehensive market monitoring across office, industrial, retail, multifamily, data centers, and land sectors, while serving as CBRE's foremost public voice on Arizona commercial real estate trends. You will work alongside Arizona market leadership to establish a compelling agenda of research outputs, cultivate broker engagement, and elevate CBRE's brand through client-facing thought leadership, speaking opportunities, and conferences. Delivering measurable business impact through research — both externally and internally — will be a core measure of success.

What You'll Do

• Business Partnership and Revenue Support: Serve as a strategic research partner to Arizona market leaders and senior brokers, participating in key pitch and pursuit processes, mobilizing team resources to address specific client needs, and presenting market findings in client meetings and presentations to drive revenue growth and deepen client relationships.
• Market Intelligence and Data Operations: Oversee comprehensive market data operation and integrity across the Phoenix and Tucson markets, maintaining CBRE's proprietary database covering availability, vacancy, lease rates, comparables, development pipeline, and tenant occupancy. Ensure delivery of high-quality quarterly Figures reports, market overviews, building stacks and skylines, and bespoke client-facing outputs.
• Thought Leadership and Brand Positioning: Architect differentiated market perspectives and translate complex local real estate dynamics into compelling narratives for clients, media, and internal stakeholders. Cultivate relationships with Phoenix and Arizona business publications and trade organizations, seeking select speaking opportunities to amplify the CBRE brand and establish CBRE as the leading authority on commercial real estate.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Orchestrate strategic alignment between local research outputs and national research initiatives, collaborating with national Americas Research leadership, Forecasting, and Sales Management to ensure Arizona perspectives are integrated into national thought leadership products and proprietary data platforms.
• People Leadership and Team Development: Lead and develop the Arizona based research analysts, overseeing hiring and performance management. Foster a high-performance culture focused on analytical excellence, professional development, and collaborative engagement with the broader CBRE business.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Regularly convene with Arizona market leaders, key brokers, and cross-functional teams to gather feedback, align research priorities with business objectives, and identify opportunities to strengthen CBRE's research value proposition across the region.

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree required. Master's degree in economics, real estate, finance, or a related discipline preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in commercial real estate research or a closely related field, with a minimum of 2 years of people leadership experience.
• Expertise on the Phoenix commercial real estate market; knowledge of multiple asset classes with focus on the office and industrial sectors, and their underlying supply and demand dynamics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to prepare and deliver compelling presentations to brokers, clients, and public audiences.
• Relationship-builder with the ability to establish trust and credibility with brokers, market leaders, and external stakeholders.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and quantitative skills, able to demonstrate good time management across multiple priorities and competing deadlines.
• Self-motivated and proactive, with strong attention to detail and proven ability to oversee and quality-control the team's work.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, working experience with LLMs, data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI is advantageous.

Why CBRE

When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward-thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values — respect, integrity, service, and excellence — and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realize your potential. We welcome all applicants.