Director EMEA Data Center Real Estate & Transactions
The AWS Data Center Planning and Delivery team is seeking an experienced, strategic executive to lead real estate sourcing, acquisitions, and portfolio management for data center infrastructure across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.
As the Director of EMEA Data Center Real Estate & Transactions, you will provide strategic leadership for the end-to-end real estate lifecycle supporting AWS's rapidly expanding data center footprint. This role demands specialized expertise to navigate the complex regulatory landscape, diverse property laws, and varying transaction procedures across multiple EMEA jurisdictions while ensuring consistent execution of our regional infrastructure strategy.
This position will lead and develop a team of real estate professionals distributed across EMEA markets, providing strategic direction, performance management, and professional development to ensure coordinated execution of real estate initiatives that support AWS's mission-critical data center operations.
Key job responsibilities
This position will coordinate comprehensive oversight of acquisitions, disposals, and leasing negotiations across EMEA's complex and fragmented real estate markets for data center development. The Director will standardize processes to reduce transaction timelines, optimize deal terms, and identify strategic portfolio opportunities that align with AWS's infrastructure growth objectives.
Strategic Real Estate Planning & Execution
• Lead the development and communication of the comprehensive real estate strategy for all AWS data center clusters in EMEA, analyzing market dynamics, regulatory requirements, and growth scenarios to define optimal site acquisition approaches
• Execute the strategic business development plan by partnering cross-functionally with key stakeholders including construction, engineering, energy procurement, public policy, legal, tax, and economic development teams to deliver new data center sites on time and to specification
• Develop and maintain long-term strategic partnerships with developers, landowners, and public authorities to support key markets and ensure continuity of data center site supply
Transaction Leadership & Negotiation
• Negotiate complex, multi-million-dollar real estate contracts with developers, property owners, public authorities, and other partners, balancing the technical requirements of engineering teams with broader business objectives
• Ensure full regulatory compliance across all EMEA jurisdictions while building internal capabilities that reduce dependency on external advisors
• Drive standardized transaction processes that optimize deal structures, reduce timelines, and maximize value across the data center portfolio
Team Leadership & Partner Management
• Effectively manage multiple concurrent, complex data center real estate projects across the EMEA region, proactively identifying and mitigating risks
• Interface with both technical and executive-level teams to align real estate strategy with infrastructure delivery objectives
• Build and develop a high-performing team capable of executing sophisticated transactions across diverse markets
• Provide strategic recommendations on portfolio optimization and capital allocation for real estate investments