Head of Land Acquisition

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Job Description

The Head of Land Acquisition leads the land strategy that supports one of the UK's most complex and nationally significant infrastructure programmes. This role ensures that Heathrow can secure the freehold, leasehold, and statutory land rights required to deliver Expansion, while also safeguarding the airport's long-term operational flexibility.

Operating as Heathrow's senior expert in land acquisition, this role provides clarity, sound judgement, and authoritative guidance across a portfolio characterised by legal complexity, commercial sensitivity, and significant public and political scrutiny. Working directly with the Property Director, the role shapes Heathrow's acquisition strategy, advises on the commercial and statutory implications of major decisions, and ensures that all acquisitions are delivered with integrity, transparency, and value for money.

Responsibilities

• Set the overarching strategy for Heathrow's land acquisition activities, ensuring alignment with Expansion requirements, statutory obligations, and long-term operational priorities.
• Provide authoritative advice to senior leadership, informing decisions that involve complex commercial, legal, and political considerations.
• Integrate the land acquisition strategy with masterplanning, planning policy, environmental constraints, and statutory undertakings.
• Lead the delivery of a multi-billion-pound land acquisition portfolio, establishing asset-specific strategies, portfolio sequencing, valuation assumptions, and negotiation pathways.
• Act as Heathrow's senior negotiator for the most complex, high-risk, or sensitive acquisitions, shaping strategies for voluntary agreements, compulsory purchase, relocations, and extinguishments.
• Ensure all negotiations and statutory processes are robust, evidence-based, compliant with legislation, and supported by defensible evidence for inquiries or tribunals.
• Maintain strong governance, financial stewardship, and risk management across the portfolio, including the resolution of complex or disputed cases and clear communication of risks at senior levels.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading major land acquisition programmes for complex or nationally significant infrastructure projects.
• Deep expertise in valuation, land economics, compensation law, and compulsory acquisition processes.
• Strong commercial judgement and experience navigating sensitive, high-value, and politically exposed environments.
• Proven ability to lead complex negotiations and manage contentious or high-profile cases.
• Experience influencing senior executives and working directly with statutory bodies or regulators.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including the development and support of specialist teams.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.

Ideally, you will also have

• Professional qualification (e.g., RICS, RTPI, legal qualification or equivalent).
• Experience participating in CPO inquiries, tribunal hearings or similar statutory processes.
• Experience within regulated or nationally significant infrastructure environments.
• Understanding of planning policy, environmental constraints and statutory undertakings relevant to major infrastructure projects.

About Us

There's something so special about working at the world's most iconic airport. Its sights. Its sounds. Its constant air of excitement. Heathrow is an amazing backdrop to a career filled with unique opportunities.

Every day, you'll discover a world full of fresh possibilities and end the day buzzing with stories to tell, as you encounter people from all cultures, nationalities and experiences. A world full of pride for what we do and no end of exciting career prospects to explore.

It brings out the best in all of us. And inspires everyone to deliver on our ambitious plans. Together, we're working to welcome millions more passengers while ensuring aviation can continue to be a force for good by leading global efforts in sustainability.

Join us on that journey and we'll help you achieve your ambitions too. Supporting you to learn, encouraging you to be yourself, backing you to achieve more than you might ever have imagined. Because there's no place like Heathrow.

Our rewards

We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that will support you now and in the future. As well as performance-based annual bonuses and our longer-term Share in Success Bonus plans, we also offer generous annual leave allowances and market-leading pensions. With family friendly policies, access to private health insurance and a wide range of wellbeing tools, we'll support you to be at your best inside and outside work. And of course, we'll provide varied learning and development opportunities too. Here you'll find everything you need for a fulfilling career journey that can take you in exciting directions.

Working Location

Our Hybrid working approach offers the opportunity for colleagues in some roles to work from home for an average of two days a week, providing the flexibility to work in an agile way whilst ensuring we deliver for the operational needs of Heathrow. Working arrangements vary from team to team and will be confirmed during the recruitment process. You'll need to be based in the UK and within a commutable distance to Heathrow.

Sustainable Travel to work

Heathrow's Sustainable Travel Guide sets out easy and sustainable travel options that everyone can access.

Equal Opportunities

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all. We believe that diverse talent makes us stronger - not least because we welcome passengers from all corners of the globe, every single day. Heathrow is an accessible place to work. With five diversity networks, we champion inclusivity and celebrate individuality.

About the Team

When it comes to pioneering ambition, there's no place like Heathrow.

Our Heathrow Expansion programme offers a unique and exciting opportunity to play a defining role in one of the UK's most significant infrastructure projects.

You'll help shape a national legacy that millions will experience for decades to come, as we deliver the third runway, improve passenger experience, stimulate jobs and opportunities across the UK, and strengthen the global connectivity that powers trade and travel.

Modernising and expanding the UK's only hub airport and critical national infrastructure whilst keeping it fully operational and safe, creates a pace and complexity unlike other major programmes. It demands collaboration, resilience, problem solving and a desire to take on challenges that genuinely matter.

From securing planning consents to designing a new runway, modernising terminals and improving public transport access, and delivering on environmental and community commitments - the scale is unmatched.

You'll be part of a diverse team of talented colleagues, built on mutual respect and where excellence thrives. It's an inspiring place to work, with unlimited opportunities to make a difference as you help to shape the future of our world-class airport.