Corporate Finance, Real Estate Advisory – Associate job at Belfast Full Time

About the role:

The Real Estate Advisory team are sector specialists at the forefront of advising our private and public sector clients in achieving strategic, commercial, financial, and operational objectives as they pertain to real estate portfolio optimisation, development and regeneration, investment, and broader business objectives. This also extends to advising clients on the role real estate and development can play in enabling wider economic growth and renewal in line with public policy objectives.

The Real Estate Advisory team has c.50 core professionals. Our platform expands to c.100 when you include Valuations and Financial Due Diligence colleagues who work alongside us, and to 200+ when you include our Tax, Accounting, Restructuring, and Legal colleagues focused on Real Estate. We are growing, creating strong opportunities for people with an ownership mindset to learn, lead and build a career.

(Note: Please note that this is not a pure M&A role. While the role includes some transaction-related work — for example joint ventures, structured finance / debt and selected deal support — its core focus is broader real estate corporate finance and advisory, including business cases, estate strategy, options appraisal, portfolio optimisation, development and investment-related advice).

What your days will look like:

We are seeking a dynamic and driven Associate to join our team. You will play a key role in supporting the delivery of high-quality advice to our clients, data and financial analysis, market assessments, strategy development, and supporting deal execution.

You will:

• Support with the development of business cases, estate strategies, and options appraisals for a range of potential client objectives, including real estate portfolio optimisation, development, investment, and other commercial decision making.
• Support with conducting data analysis, financial and commercial due diligence, industry research, and market analysis.
• Support with developing financial models to assess project viability, investment returns, and scenario outcomes – including consideration of wider economic impacts/benefits.
• Supporting with the preparation of presentations, reports, business cases and other similar client deliverables.
• Support delivery across multiple live client engagements, taking ownership of discrete workstreams and providing regular progress updates to senior team members.
• Managing project risk and quality tasks and engagement administration.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including market and product Subject Matter Experts in Corporate Finance, Valuations, Tax, Accounting, Economics, and Legal.
• Support day-to-day client interactions and begin building confidence and credibility with client stakeholders.
• Stay up to date on market trends, regulatory changes, and emerging issues in the real estate sector.
• Support business development and market initiatives, including research, proposal support, tracking sector trends, and contributing to specific opportunity workstreams under guidance from senior colleagues.

The role is for you if:

• Are a graduate, MBA, Masters, PhD / post-doctoral researcher, or have equivalent professional experience in real estate, finance, economics, planning, architecture, engineering, geography, data / analytical disciplines, or another relevant field.
• Are a candidate looking to pivot into real estate advisory where they can demonstrate strong analytical ability, commercial curiosity and a clear rationale for the move – we do not expect candidates to have done this exact role before; we do expect strong analytical capability, commercial curiosity and the willingness to learn quickly in a high-performing team.

You will have:

• Strong financial modelling and data analytical skills.
• Significant interest in real estate, development, economic renewal and the wider built environment.
• Excellent communication, writing, and presentation skills.
• Strong commercial acumen, analytical skills, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to grasp complex strategic financial and commercial issues quickly
• Ability to communicate complex concepts and analysis in concise and easy-to-understand language, both verbally and in writing
• High ambition coupled with the ability to deliver and to work effectively both individually and in teams
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and meet tight deadlines.
• Able to work effectively in multi-disciplinary project teams including a range of specialists from PwC, the client and the client’s other advisors
• Highly proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. (Experience with CoStar, PowerBI, or similar tools is a plus – ability to apply new technologies to meet client requirements).
• Agility in terms of supporting multiple projects across a range of sectors and geographies

What you’ll receive from us:

No matter where you may be in your career or personal life, our benefits are designed to add value and support, recognising and rewarding you fairly for your contributions.

We offer a range of benefits including empowered flexibility and a working week split between office, home and client site; private medical cover and 24/7 access to a qualified virtual GP; six volunteering days a year and much more.