Land Development Finance Lead

The Role

Serves as a key strategic partner in managing and expanding Build Waterloo Region’s(BuildWR) financial portfolio through innovative collaboration with government officials andprivate sector investors. This role provides expert financial oversight for the developmentand management of the Region's land portfolio and industrial land reserve, drivingredevelopment initiatives focused on affordable housing, industrial and commercial growth,and other strategic regional priorities.

Working within the BuildWR team and a diverse network of internal and externalstakeholders, delivers advanced financial modelling, in-depth business analysis, high-levelrelationship management, and strategic insights to advance the Region’s land developmentinitiatives forward.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Provides financial leadership across complex, high-profile, and politically sensitivedevelopment initiatives, ensuring alignment of financial strategies with planningapprovals, land readiness needs, project feasibility, and portfolio-level investmentgoals.
• Leads and is accountable for portfolio-level financial stewardship and strategy forBuildWR (governance, performance evaluation, revolving-fund growth, masterdevelopment fund oversight, investment prioritization, and long-range scenarioplanning), serving as the senior financial authority on BuildWR project teams.
• Presents complex portfolio and project financial recommendations, risks, and trade-offsto senior leadership and Council, influencing high-impact decisions affecting multi-year capital plans and regional growth outcomes.
• Provides sound financial guidance to senior leadership on complex, politically sensitivedevelopment decisions with multi-year fiscal implications.
• Integrates financial strategy with land-use planning, economic development,engineering, and housing program objectives to support BuildWR decision-making.
• Provides financial leadership and technical direction across cross-disciplinary BuildWRproject teams; chairs/co-chairs finance workstreams and coordinates inputs fromplanning, engineering, legal, real estate, environmental due diligence, procurement, andfinance to produce unified recommendations and consistent underwriting.
• Leads financial due diligence for potential land acquisitions, dispositions, partnerships,and joint ventures by analyzing development scenarios, funding requirements, risk-adjusted returns, and economic feasibility.
• Interprets global and national economic trends, construction market volatility, interestrate impacts, and real-estate capital market shifts to advise on Region-wide landinvestment strategies.
• Develops forward-looking financial strategies that support industrial investmentattraction, employment land competitiveness, and housing supply acceleration.
• Assesses and structures financial participation models (e.g., equity positions, long-termleasebacks, phased disposition strategies) to optimize Regional value capture.
• Leads and negotiates financial terms and structures for complex multi-party transactionsand partnerships (acquisitions/dispositions, joint ventures, revenue-sharing, phaseddispositions, leasebacks, incentive structures), working with Real
• Estate and Legal andrepresenting the Region in negotiations with developers, lenders, institutional partners,and senior government agencies.
• Serves as primary financial liaison for BuildWR, working with Development Expeditors,finance, real estate, legal, senior government agencies, external consultants, lenders,and others.
• Represents the Region as BuildWR’s financial lead in intergovernmental, public, andindustry-facing forums; establishes and maintains relationships with senior governmentofficials and industry leaders to advance funding, policy, and investment outcomesaligned with BuildWR priorities.
• Leads development pro formas and underwriting for active and proposed projects,integrating approvals pathways, engineering/infrastructure requirements, constructioncash flows, absorption/revenue assumptions, financing structures, and return/riskmetrics; sets and maintains underwriting standards and quality assurance acrossBuildWR.
• Develops long-term investment partnerships with financial institutions, lenders, anddevelopment capital providers.

Additional Duties/Responsibilities

• Prepares and updates development pro forma financial modelling and communicationof results for active and proposed projects, including ensuring accurate assumptionswhen considering project timelines, hard and soft costs, absorption rates, revenueprojections, structured financing, and desired return parameters.
• Develops and maintains financial models to evaluate the impact of decisions related tothe Region's land portfolio and industrial land reserve for redevelopment opportunities,emphasizing affordable housing, industrial and commercial sites, and strategic regionalprojects.
• Champions sensitive negotiations with strategic investment partners looking to invest inWaterloo Region. Promotes and markets incentive programs while providing solutions toindustry challenges ranging from partnerships with provincial and federal levels ofgovernment to innovative partnerships within the private sector.
• Creates and markets development opportunities on strategic lands to privatedevelopers, joint partnerships, and non-profit entities.
• Monitors land market activity continuously and is proactive and reactive to opportunitiesin the market. Identifies development potential in lands that have previously beenoverlooked through the recommendation of land use changes.
• Designs and implements investment attraction strategies to secure major corporateinvestments, industrial developments, and new business expansions within WaterlooRegion.
• Researches and develops innovative strategies for expediting strategic land initiativesrelated to industrial, housing, and strategic regional development projects. Regularlyreviews and revises strategies to adapt to local and global geopolitical trends.
• Assesses the local and global business climate, socioeconomic factors, trends, andother criteria to determine the probability of project success and manages cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary resource allocation while considering politicalimplications at every step of the process.
• Identifies and prepares business assessments for prospective investors by usingsolution-based delivery methodologies, tools, techniques, and trends and developingbusiness cases related to specific land parcels and clusters.
• Develops engagement strategies to build trust with local communities, ensuringdevelopment decisions consider public interest and long-term social impact.
• Collaborates with various internal teams, or researches external best practices, toidentify, recommend, and implement changes or enhancements to financial models.
• Provides development pro forma modelling and financial analysis consulting fornonprofit organizations through a land-use lens, considering their specific needs.
• Develops and maintains data-driven KPI dashboards and presents briefing materials,reports, and information to peers, senior leadership and Council, as required.
• Ensures compliance with financial sustainability policies while proposing fundingsolutions.
• Prepares incentive calculations and development proposals for strategic businessindustries. Presents and tailors proposals for these external clients to achieve specifiedneeds. Ensures alignment with market trends and assumptions used across theprovince.
• Provides guidance and financial expertise when speculating land potential whilecoordinating with the BuildWR team (Development Expeditor).
• Performs related duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge and skills are generally acquired through a bachelor's degree in a relatedfield including but not limited to Business, Economics, Mathematics, Commerce, UrbanPlanning, Real Estate Development, Engineering, plus progressively responsible relatedexperience.
• Knowledge and skill in the design, development, and evaluation of businesses,budgeting, project management, and change management.
• Knowledge and skill in land development financial analysis, pro forma financial modeldevelopment for industrial, commercial, and residential development, constructionfinancing, monitoring land development trends, and developing land use incentivemodels and proposals.
• Experience applying principles and techniques relating to cost/benefit analysis, presentvalues, statistical analysis, and forecasting.
• Knowledge of and ability to comply with policies, procedures, and legislation.
• Ability to independently evaluate complex land development opportunities, includingscenario modelling, risk-adjusted financial returns, partnership structures, and multi-phase development sequencing, and translate analysis into clear strategicrecommendations for senior leadership and Council.
• Extensive skill in negotiating and structuring development-related financial agreements,joint venture terms, incentive packages, and investment partnerships involving multiple stakeholders with divergent interests.
• Advanced ability to lead cross-disciplinary teams through complex developmentevaluations, coordinating planning, engineering, legal, environmental, financial, and realestate perspectives to deliver unified investment recommendations.
• Knowledge of real estate finance concepts and tools (e.g., discounted cash flowvaluation, NPV/IRR, intrinsic value, cap rates, absorption analysis, debt/equitystructures, and sensitivity testing) applied across multiple development scenarios.
• Ability to interpret and advise on planning policies, zoning regulations, infrastructureconstraints, and market trends to anticipate how regulatory and technical considerationsinfluence financial feasibility and portfolio risk.
• Demonstrated capacity to develop long-term portfolio-level financial strategies,including revolving fund models, land acquisition/disposition frameworks, reinvestmentstrategies, and fiscally sustainable growth planning.
• Extensive experience analyzing and interpreting data within large datasets derived fromvarious sources such as market trends, property listings, historical financial data,demographic information, etc.
• Extensive knowledge of current economic development, investment attraction, andplanning issues in the Waterloo Region and surrounding areas. Proficient at stayinginformed about industry trends and best practices.
• Skill in facilitating discussions among various independent groups, both locally andglobally, leading to solution-oriented conclusions.
• Demonstrated political acumen and ability to collaborate and engage in meaningfuldiscussions with federal, provincial and municipal officials and staff, land developers,non-profit organizations, residents, Indigenous communities and equity-deservinggroups, and other key interest holders.
• Ability to think innovatively and explore new ideas to help eliminate barriers to thedevelopment of shovel-ready parcels and clusters.
• Significant industry experience identifying and assessing business needs, deliveringsolutions through various methodologies, tools, techniques, and trends, and developingcompelling business cases.

Additional Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Relevant experience collaborating directly with business developers and investors topromote business attraction, retention, and expansion.
• Awareness of processes and requirements related to developing employment lands,including infrastructure servicing, building permits, licensing, and other approvals.
• Ability to build and foster relationships with the development industry, private sectorinvestment prospects, senior levels of government, not-for-profits, and other partners.
• Analytical, problem-solving, and continuous improvement skills to plan and developobjectives; conduct analyses; provide input into new guidelines and procedures forfinancial issues; make recommendations and decisions on financial issues; use initiativeto resolve problems and achieve objectives; and resolve unusual or complex issueswithout precedent in consultation with senior management.
• Human relations and communication skills to communicate often complex andpolitically sensitive information to senior management and clients; assist clients inadapting and changing with new legislation and regulations.
• Ability to read and interpret Council/Committee reports, legislation and guidelines,technical proposals, policies, by-laws, and legal/funding agreements.
• Ability to write letters and reports to management, Council, and external contactsregarding financial information, and draft/provide input into by-laws and legalagreements as required.
• Computer skills with ability to use software such as Microsoft Office and financialinformation systems.
• Must provide an acceptable criminal record and judicial matters check for bondability.
• Ability to travel within and occasionally outside Waterloo Region for meetings, training,and projects.
• Ability to support and demonstrate the Region's values.