Regional Workplace Strategy & Design Lead APAC, Vice President

We’re seeking someone to join our team as a Real Estate Solutions (RES) team

The Regional Workplace Strategy & Design Lead APAC is the senior regional role and will be responsible to align workplace strategies with local requirement and act as design authority for Asia. The role will be accountable for the strategic direction, governance, stakeholder alignment, and delivery quality of workplace architecture and interior design across a complex, multi-country commercial real estate portfolio.

The role serves as a trusted advisor to senior business and Corporate Services leadership, translating workplace strategy into compelling design solutions while managing stakeholder expectations and driving informed decision-making.

The position requires deep experience working at scale in regulated corporate real estate environments, with proven ability to manage landlord interfaces, base-building coordination, and outsourced design partners across diverse regulatory and cultural contexts.

In the Corporate Services division, we empower our businesses by creating collaborative workplace solutions and commercial services that enhance the employee and client experience, while optimizing the value of our sourcing and third-party lifecycle to enable the Firm to do-and-win business.

Since 1935, Morgan Stanley is known as a global leader in financial services, always evolving and innovating to better serve our clients and our communities in more than 40 countries around the world.

What you'll do in the role:

Workplace Strategy Integration

• Be responsible for regional workplace effectiveness, driving the workplace strategy to optimize real estate assets in APAC and India regions.
• Inform and assist with development of long-term strategies with the Regional Real Estate Portfolio Strategy lead.
• Coordinate with all aspects of program delivery including multi-year regional workplace location strategy development, workplace product and tier alignment to client needs, space requirements, space planning, project management support and workplace experience strategy development.

Regional Design Leadership & Governance

• Serve as the senior design advisor to business and Corporate Services leadership, presenting workplace strategies, design recommendations, and project outcomes to executive stakeholders and governance forums.
• Lead stakeholder engagement across business units and functional partners, proactively managing expectations, aligning competing priorities, and building consensus on design solutions and project objectives. Ensure seamless coordination between tenant fit-out and base-building systems (MEP, life safety, IT infrastructure).
• Translate global workplace strategy and standards into regionally appropriate design solutions across Asia and India.
• Establish and enforce design governance, review protocols, and approval frameworks from test fit through construction and handover.
• Act as senior architectural design interface with landlords, developers, and asset managers across Asia and India.

Consultant & Partner Oversight

• Lead and oversee external architects, interior designers, and workplace consultants, including global principal firms and regional partners
• Define scope, performance expectations, and success metrics for outsourced design resources.
• Provide senior-level challenge to consultant proposals to ensure buildability, cost control, and technical compliance
• oversee the integration of design requirements of internal stakeholders. i.e. EGWS, Multimedia and others that PjM does not properly incorporate

Delivery Support & Risk Management

• Partner with Capital Projects and Construction teams to resolve design, documentation, and site issues that impact cost, schedule, or quality.
• Lead design input into value engineering, procurement strategy, and supply-chain risk mitigation, particularly in emerging markets.
• Accountable to ensure design intent is maintained through construction, commissioning, and Day-1 readiness.

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