Kylie Kendrick named COO of real estate consultancy JLL

Global real estate consultancy JLL has named former banking executive Kylie Kendrick as its new COO, with Kendrick having completed her MBA with UNSW’s business school in 2004.

Former Australia-based professional Kylie Kendrick has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer of global real estate consulting giant Jones Lang LaSalle. In what is a newly established role, Kendrick will directly oversee a number of JLL’s corporate functions, including its business services and transformation lines together with Audit, Legal & Compliance and Sourcing & Procurement.

“Kylie’s focus as Chief Operating Officer will be to align and simplify our processes and continue to improve operational resilience and flexibility,” said JLL global CEO and president Christian Ulbrich. “Optimised and strengthened operations will help to deliver innovative and effective client solutions and support our purpose of shaping the future of real estate for a better world.”

A degree-holder in Economics from the University of Queensland, Kendrick completed a postgraduate diploma of management with Melbourne University and in 2004 an MBA from UNSW’s Australian Graduate School of Management, during which time she served as Financial Markets Strategist with Deloitte Consulting in the UK and Australia – altogether clocking up seven years at the Big Four firm.

From there, she joined Barclays in London, ultimately spending a decade and a half between Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Lloyds, the latter where over nine years she rose to Chief Operating Officer for the bank’s Commercial Markets. Most recently Kendrick has served as the Head of Global Operations for HSBC’s wholesale banking division, responsible for some 5,000-plus employees in over 50 global markets.

“I aim to apply my experience in complex organisations to help JLL build on its strong global platform and scale its operations for continued growth and success,” said Kendrick in response to her appointment. “This is an exciting time for JLL and I look forward to contributing to sustainable change that will optimise JLL’s operational efficiency and globally aligned client services.”

A Fortune 500 company with revenues in excess of $16.5 billion last year and a global headcount pushing toward the 100,000 mark, JLL has over 4.5 billion square feet in its property and facilities management portfolio across operations in more than 80 countries worldwide. The real estate firm has a dozen offices spread across mainland Australia, with APAC previously accounting for almost a quarter of its global revenues.

Last week, JLL added China-based venture capitalist Tina Ju to its global board, with JLL Australia CEO Stephen Conry speaking passionately about inclusion to mark International Women’s Day in March. “Commitment to inclusion, in everything, is non-negotiable, for the opposite would be absurd. Greater commitment of recent years to more inclusion in the workplace has been a welcome and necessary move forward for many businesses.”