Associate Director – Leasing – Al-Futtaim Group

Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate develops and operates a sizeable portfolio of retail, residential, and mixed-use assets across the UAE, and this Associate Director role sits within the leasing function responsible for keeping that portfolio occupied with the right tenants on the right terms. It’s a senior commercial role that blends relationship management, negotiation, and market strategy.

Day to day, the role involves managing relationships with existing and prospective tenants, negotiating lease terms, and working closely with asset management and development teams to align leasing strategy with each property’s positioning. Because Al-Futtaim’s portfolio spans different asset types, the leasing strategy for a shopping mall unit looks very different from a residential or mixed-use leasing deal, and the Associate Director is expected to flex across that range.

At this seniority, there’s also a market-intelligence component — tracking rental trends, tenant demand, and competitor positioning to inform pricing and tenant-mix decisions, and feeding that insight back into broader portfolio strategy conversations with senior leadership. Strong negotiation skill matters here, since lease terms directly affect both occupancy levels and portfolio revenue.

This suits an experienced real estate professional with a strong leasing or commercial property background, deep knowledge of the UAE real estate market, and the relationship-building skills to manage both tenants and internal stakeholders.

Leasing performance is one of the most direct levers on a real estate portfolio's financial health, because occupancy and rental rates together determine a huge share of a property's revenue. An Associate Director who negotiates strong lease terms while keeping vacancy low is directly protecting and growing portfolio income, which matters enormously for a conglomerate like Al-Futtaim where real estate is a meaningful part of overall group performance. Getting the tenant mix right also has knock-on effects — the right combination of anchor tenants and specialty retailers drives footfall, which in turn makes a property more attractive to future tenants, creating a positive cycle. On the flip side, poor leasing decisions — the wrong tenant, an unfavorable lease structure, prolonged vacancy — can depress a property's performance for years given how long commercial leases typically run. This role's market intelligence work also feeds directly into broader investment and development decisions, since understanding where tenant demand is heading shapes what Al-Futtaim chooses to build or reposition next.

Leasing leadership at a developer and operator with a portfolio as diverse as Al-Futtaim's provides genuinely broad real estate commercial experience — few organizations give one person exposure to retail, residential, and mixed-use leasing simultaneously. That breadth is valuable because it builds a commercial real estate skill set that transfers across asset classes, rather than specializing narrowly in just one. The negotiation and relationship-management skills central to this role are also highly portable — strong leasing professionals are consistently sought after by developers, REITs, and asset managers, both within the UAE and internationally. Working at Associate Director level on a portfolio of this scale also builds genuine market authority — the kind of rental trend and tenant demand knowledge that makes someone a credible voice in broader real estate strategy conversations. For someone aiming at a Director-level leasing or asset management role, or eventually a head of real estate position, this role provides the scope, deal complexity, and stakeholder exposure that those next steps require. For someone weighing up their next move, a Associate Director - Leasing role at AlFuttaim is a genuinely practical way to build real, demonstrable experience in commercial and sales, the kind that compounds steadily over a career rather than showing up only on paper.

• Significant experience in commercial real estate leasing, ideally across multiple asset types
• Strong track record negotiating lease agreements and managing tenant relationships
• Deep knowledge of the UAE real estate market is an advantage
• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills
• Strong commercial and analytical skills to assess leasing deals and market trends
• Bachelor’s degree in real estate, business, or a related field typically expected