Director - Corporate Real Estate Governance (India & APAC)

Location: Chennai, India

Director - Corporate Real Estate Governance
Leading at Cognizant This is a Leadership role at Cognizant. We believe how you lead is as important as what you deliver. Cognizant leaders at every level: Drive our business strategy and inspire teams around our future. Live the leadership behaviors, leading themselves, others and the business. Uphold our Values, role modeling them in every action and decision. Nurture our people and culture, creating a workplace where all can thrive.
At Cognizant, leadership transcends titles and is embodied in actions and behaviors. We empower our leaders at every level to drive business strategy, inspire teams, uphold our values, and foster an inclusive culture.
About the role As a Director - Corporate Real Estate Governance, you will make an impact by leading enterprise-wide governance, compliance and risk oversight across Cognizant’s Corporate Real Estate portfolio in India and APAC. You will help ensure standardized governance, financial control, regulatory compliance and risk management across CRE programs, capital projects, vendors and transformations in the region.
In this role, you will: · Establish and maintain the Corporate Real Estate governance framework aligned with Legal, Ethics & Compliance, ESG and Enterprise Risk standards.
· Own CRE policies, standards, approval matrices and delegations of authority in line with statutory and Bill of Authority requirements.
· Ensure consistent governance across CREWS sub-functions, including Facilities, EHS, Security, Food & Beverage, Transport, Business Resilience, Design & Project Management.
· Provide independent governance oversight for construction, design, refurbishment and capital works programs, embedding governance checkpoints across the full program and project lifecycle.
· Validate approvals, compliance and readiness prior to financial commitments, go-live milestones and handover, including statutory safety documentation and compliance readiness.
· Identify, assess and mitigate legal, financial, operational and compliance risks while owning CRE risk registers, issue management and remediation tracking.
· Govern CRE commercial and financial models, including cost-plus, fixed fee and hybrid models, while validating KPIs, fee-at-risk constructs and penalty/bonus mechanisms.
· Partner with Finance and FP&A to ensure transparency, auditability and control of CRE spend.
· Establish third-party governance standards, risk classification and compliance requirements, and ensure vendor adherence to third-party risk, ethics and anti-corruption standards.
· Provide governance oversight for major CRE transformations, outsourcing and operating model changes, ensuring compliance is embedded without impeding business execution and enabling smooth transition from project delivery to steady-state operations.
· Consistently demonstrate the Cognizant Way to Lead, which means operating with Personal Leadership (building trust, collaboration and inclusion), Organizational Leadership (driving vision and purpose, demonstrating a strategic and enterprise mindset, and creating and communicating a bold direction that inspires purpose), and Business Leadership (exemplifying client focus, managing ambiguity with accountability and results, and operating with financial acumen).
What you need to have to be considered · Graduate degree in Law, Business, Engineering or Finance.
· 15+ years of experience in corporate real estate governance, legal, compliance or enterprise risk roles.
· Strong experience establishing governance, compliance, risk oversight and control frameworks across complex corporate real estate portfolios.
· Experience with CRE policies, approval matrices, delegations of authority, statutory requirements and Bill of Authority alignment.
· Ability to govern capital projects, vendor programs, commercial models, financial controls, audit readiness, corrective action tracking and transition governance.
· Strong stakeholder partnership skills across Finance, FP&A, Legal, Compliance, Enterprise Risk, business functions and third-party vendors.
· Embodiment of the Cognizant Way to Lead: Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading the Business.
· Embodiment of Cognizant’s Values: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do the Right Thing and Own It.
These will help you succeed · Advanced degree in Law, Business, Engineering, Finance or a related discipline.
· Experience supporting governance across India and APAC Corporate Real Estate portfolios.
· Exposure to CREWS sub-functions such as Facilities, EHS, Security, Food & Beverage, Transport, Business Resilience, and Design & Project Management.
· Experience with ESG, Enterprise Risk, third-party risk, ethics and anti-corruption governance standards.
· Experience governing major CRE transformations, outsourcing programs and operating model changes.
Work model At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible, and we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs. Based on this role’s business requirements, this role supports Cognizant’s Corporate Real Estate portfolio across India and APAC.
The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured, we will always be clear about role expectations.
We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.