A day in the life of a Property Development Manager

Malo e lelei, I’m Mary Fifita and I am of Tongan heritage and grew up in Sydney with my brothers, parents and grandparents.

When I started tertiary studies, I wanted to become a diplomat so I studied political science at Sydney University and started interning and then working as a policy analyst during my studies. However, by the time I finished the degree, I realised that that career path no longer suited my future ambitions. I was able to pivot and change career paths into commercial real estate development & investment and I’ve been here for the past 10 years. It sounds random but I will talk about that journey later in an education series on career changes that you will be able to find on our website.

In my career I’ve been very fortunate to work on some significant Australian major projects including the urban renewal of Redfern North Eveleigh, the Atlassian deal anchoring the Central Tech Innovation precinct and the world’s first fully automatic intermodal terminal based at Moorebank.  

What does being a Pacific Islander mean to you?

When I think of being Tongan or a PI, immediately my mind and heart are flooded with warmth and love and I see the faces of my family. Being a PI is very much about the family unit for me, the culture and food and people.

What does a typical day in your job look like for you?

As a Development Manager, the role has lots of diversity day to day. I am responsible for the strategic direction of a property portfolio. In this role, I source sites for acquisition, bring new customers into the portfolio, and am accountable for construction delivery to ensure both customer and business requirements are met. While there is a strong emphasis on highly technical elements of the construction process, I also work across financial, marketing and legal functions.

So basically, every day is different and you can be on a construction site at 7am meeting with your builder about variations and delays and then your next meeting, is in the office with the fund manager who is bankrolling your project, to provide an update on program and project hurdles. Next up you meet with your architect and planning manager at the Council offices to speak with the local council about a rezoning proposal. You get a couple of hours at your desk to work on a bid for a new acquisition and to speak with legal about the best commercial contract to set up for the deal. After delegating tasks to your team members, you then head out of the office again to a community meeting at the town hall to speak with the locals and hear their views on your latest development. Then you head home to get dressed for a black-tie dinner where you have to mingle with investors and clients. Because I’m Tongan, I will generally (always) proceed to the after-party drinks but not for too long, because a whole bunch of meetings awaits me the next morning.

What excites you most about your work?

Being instrumental in and seeing the ways in which property development and smart city planning enable economic development and opportunities for all its diverse communities.

What qualifications are required to get into your line of work? 

One great thing about the industry is that there is a diversity of backgrounds, some with qualifications and some based solely on work experience. A typical path though is a Bachelor of Property Economics, or Business as an undergraduate degree. Dependent on the part of the development cycle you are interested in, it means that we have a lot of engineers and project managers who come into the delivery side of development and a lot more investment management, capital transactions, architects or leasing backgrounds who are in the front end of development. It’s extremely varied and shows that if you want to move into this area of work, there are many ways to do it dependent on what your strengths or interests are.

What Pacific Island values and traits do you think helps you most in your line of work?

I think property development is a great fit for Pasifika women, especially the women in my family!

Roles in development are responsible for the strategic direction of a portfolio of projects. You deal with a variety of stakeholders that range from fund managers, to executives, to builders and lawyers. These groups tend to be head strong and so you need to be confident and firm with all of them. Thankfully, this isn’t something Pasifika women have a problem with.

 I’ve always marvelled at how my mum, aunties and female cousins were the backbone of their families, planning all the various family functions and day to day activities, and simultaneously managing all the family and community politics. This sort of work is a major undertaking, and yet they all managed to do it with a smile that demonstrated support and kindness. Yet just as important, through their strength and confidence they could also silence the biggest men into submission with just a look! These are key traits that would help you succeed in my line of work.

What would you like someone who’s interested in your line of work to know?

We get a bad rap sometimes in the media due to certain players acting in unethical ways and generally there’s a stereotypical view of what kind of people enter this work. There is unethical conduct that happens in the industry but that is uniform across many industries so don’t let that deter you from entering the industry. By picking reputable firms with a focus on developing staff, you can have a long and fruitful career in this industry which desperately needs more colour and women.

Fun fact:

I love stand-up comedy so I plan to try it out as a hobby and if I’m ever good enough, maybe a side hustle. I’ve undertaken improv classes to help and have started writing material and testing it on my friends and dog and they seem to love it so far.