Real Estate & Workplaces Lead at Nominal in New York, NY

Job description

About Nominal Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software. We serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, from autonomy leaders like Anduril and Shield AI to next-generation aerospace teams like Hermeus and REGENT, and performance engineering teams like Pratt Miller Motorsports, alongside mission partners within the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn't an option. We're backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Tesla, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence. 🏢 About the role Nominal is an in-person company growing across six offices: Los Angeles, Austin, New York City, Washington, DC, London, and Seattle (with more locations on the horizon!). Our offices are not just real estate—they are where teams solve hard problems, customers and investors experience Nominal, and our culture comes to life. We're looking for a Real Estate & Workplaces Lead to own the strategy, expansion, and day-to-day performance of our global workplace portfolio. You'll shape where and how Nominal grows, leading office launches and buildouts, creating a consistent standard across locations, and making every office feel unmistakably Nominal. You'll balance long-range portfolio planning and financial discipline with hands-on execution. One day you may be presenting a site selection recommendation to leadership; the next, unblocking a buildout, walking a site, or fixing an employee experience issue before anyone has to ask. This is a leadership role for a builder. You'll inherit an active, multi-location footprint and create the systems, team, and operating rhythm that can scale with Nominal. You'll partner closely with People, Finance, IT, Security, Design, Legal, and company leadership, while leading office managers and a network of brokers, landlords, architects, contractors, and vendors. This role will be based in one of Nominal's primary U.S. offices (ideally NYC or LA initially) and requires regular travel across our portfolio, including international travel. 🚀 What you'll do Own the portfolio strategy: Build and maintain a multi-year real estate and workplace roadmap across Los Angeles, Austin, New York City, Washington, DC, London, Seattle, and future markets. Translate headcount plans, team needs, customer proximity, and business strategy into clear recommendations on capacity, location, timing, and investment. Lead real estate decisions end to end: Own market evaluation, broker management, site tours, financial modeling, letters of intent, lease negotiations, renewals, expansions, consolidations, and exits. Present options and tradeoffs clearly, make recommendations, and drive decisions to completion. Deliver offices from concept through stabilization: Lead design, permitting, construction, furniture, A/V, security, move planning, and launch. Build plans with clear milestones, owners, budgets, dependencies, and risks—and keep projects moving when conditions change. Set the Nominal workplace standard: Define what every Nominal office should look, feel, and operate like while preserving what makes each location distinct. Establish repeatable standards for space planning, conference rooms, A/V, signage, furniture, food, visitor experience, safety, accessibility, and day-to-day operations. Run rel