---
title: 'Director Digital Assets at Harrison Street'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-digital-assets-harrison-street-chicago-qcr7mtfampv8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Director Digital Assets at Harrison Street

- **Company:** Harrison Street
- **Location:** Chicago, IL
- **Compensation:** $220k–$300k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-06-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/harrisonst/6e52cd18-2a99-43f8-b8a7-308355d8d906

## Job description

Harrison Street Asset Management ("HSAM") is a leading global alternative investment management firm focused on real estate, infrastructure, and credit strategies across North America and Europe. Headquartered in Chicago, Toronto, and London with offices across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the firm has over $108 billion in assets under management on behalf of institutional investors and registered investment advisors globally.

Founded on a culture of innovation, HSAM is an early mover in alternative real estate and mid-market infrastructure. Today, the firm’s global team, consisting of more than 520 professionals, is committed to creating long-term value through deep sector expertise and forward-thinking strategies.

Join a high-performing team deploying capital in one of the fastest-growing real estate sectors. As an Investment Director of Digital Transactions and Asset Management, you'll drive the performance and optimization of a data center portfolio. This role carries responsibility for transactions underwriting and execution as well as financial and operational performance of assets, driving value creation, and ensuring alignment with broader investment strategies and risk management parameters.

The ideal candidate has deep experience in the data center sector with prior roles in underwriting, acquisitions, leasing, financing, power infrastructure, construction oversight, and hyperscale/enterprise tenant dynamics.  The ideal candidate will be well versed in partnering across multiple functional areas including portfolio management and capital markets.

Job Description: The Director is responsible for driving asset-level performance and value creation, while also leading and supporting acquisitions, developments, and capital markets activity.

Responsibilities:

Asset Management & Portfolio Performance

- Lead the financial and operational performance of a national and/or international portfolio of data center assets, driving NOI growth, tenant satisfaction, and long-term value creation.
- Develop and execute detailed asset-level business plans, including leasing strategies, capital improvement programs, power optimization, risk management, and redevelopment or expansion initiatives.
- Monitor and optimize asset performance across key metrics including occupancy, lease performance, operating expenses, power usage effectiveness (PUE), and return on invested capital.
- Manage relationships with data center operating and development partners, overseeing performance, governance, and strategic alignment.
- Collaborate closely with internal teams (development, engineering, ESG, finance, legal) and third-party property and facility managers to ensure operational excellence and alignment with investment objectives.
- Prepare and present asset and portfolio-level reporting, forecasts, and performance updates for senior leadership, Investment Committee, and institutional investors.
- Stay current on data center market trends, tenant demand dynamics (hyperscale and enterprise), power availability, sustainability considerations, and technological developments to inform asset strategy.

Transactions, Acquisitions & Capital Deployment

- Lead and support the origination, underwriting, and execution of data center acquisitions, developments, and structured investments.
- Execute transaction processes including due diligence, financial modeling, deal structuring, negotiation, and preparation of Investment Committee materials.
- Work with Partners and Capital Markets on a range of transaction strategies, including:
- Entity-level investments and programmatic joint ventures with operating partners
- Portfolio acquisitions
- Opportunistic development and redevelopment
- Loan acquisitions and workouts
- Provide asset-level and market insight to inform acquisition and disposition decisions.
- Support capitalization strategies, financing, and dispositions in coordination with Portfolio Management and Capital Markets teams.

Requirements:

- Bachelor’s degree (real estate and finance concentrations preferred);
- 8+ years of experience in real estate investment, asset management, infrastructure, or private equity, with direct data center or mission-critical facilities experience required.
- Demonstrated expertise in data center operations, including power, cooling, network infrastructure, leasing, and tenant requirements.
- Core knowledge of real estate investment and finance principles, as well as a working understanding of real estate accounting;
- Strong written and verbal communication skills;
- Ability to draw conclusions from research and data analysis and communicate them concisely and effectively;
- Thorough understanding of business software (Excel at minimum - Argus preferred).

This position requires frequent travel to visit properties, property managers, and operating partners.

Harrison Street is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to veteran status, uniform service member status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or any other protected class under federal, state, or local law.

If you require accessibility assistance applying for open positions, please contact our ADA Accessible Line at (312) 920-0500 or careers@harrisonst.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Harrison Street does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. Harrison Street will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with Harrison Street.

## About Harrison Street

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Harrison Street is a global alternative investment management firm specializing in real estate, infrastructure, and credit strategies for institutional and private wealth clients.
- **Entity Type**: Private (owned by Colliers International)
- **Headquarters**: Chicago, Illinois, United States (additional principal offices in Toronto and London)
- **Founded**: 2005
- **Founders**: Christopher Merrill, Christopher Galvin, Michael Galvin

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Financial services – alternative asset management (real estate, infrastructure, credit)
- **Target customers**: Institutional investors (1,200+) and Registered Investment Advisors (300+)
- **Mission**: To build long-term investor relationships through tailored solutions, strategic leadership, and a global team committed to delivering lasting value.

## Products & Services
- **Real Estate Strategies**: Closed-end and open-end vehicles focused on highly differentiated assets (e.g., student housing, senior living, life sciences).
- **Infrastructure Strategies**: Investments in essential infrastructure assets across North America and Europe.
- **Credit Strategies**: Real estate credit solutions including direct lending and structured credit.
- **Private Wealth Platform**: Specialized vehicles designed for Registered Investment Advisors and high-net-worth individuals.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / AUM**: US$100 billion in assets under management (Q4 2025); another source reports $108 billion.
- **Key Metric**: Not disclosed revenue (private company) – AUM is the primary metric.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Colliers International (parent company), 1,200+ institutional investors, 300+ RIAs.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Workforce expanded to 600+ employees across 19 global offices.
  - Operates in 9 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Luxembourg, Spain, Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates).
  - 11-year recognition as a “Best Places to Work” winner.
  - Recent hiring for roles in digital assets, AI engineering, and infrastructure.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep expertise across market cycles** – founders and leadership have decades of experience building global investment platforms.
- **Differentiated asset focus** – invests in highly specialized, non-core real estate and infrastructure segments that are less correlated to traditional markets.
- **Global, integrated platform** – 19 offices enabling local market knowledge and sourcing capabilities.
- **Long-term, transparent relationships** – fiduciary mindset with over 1,500 institutional and advisory clients.

## Strategic Focus
- **Continue scaling across real estate, infrastructure, and credit** – diversifying product offerings and geographies.
- **Expand private wealth channel** – growing distribution to Registered Investment Advisors.
- **Innovation through technology** – recent job postings for AI Engineer and Data Engineer roles indicate a push toward digital transformation.
- **Talent development** – investing in internship programs, leadership training, and diversity initiatives to build a sustainable pipeline.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Collaborative, transparent, and accountability-driven. The firm ranks as a “Best Places to Work” for 11 consecutive years.
- **Growth opportunities**: Broad training programs (leadership, career strategies, work/life integration) and intentional development from intern to executive level.
- **Benefits**: Comprehensive package covering financial well-being, health, professional growth, and work-life balance, including a dollar-for-dollar charitable match.
- **Community engagement**: Company-wide volunteer events and employee-driven giving programs.
- **Office & flexibility**: Roles range from on-site (Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles) to potential hybrid; primarily in-office culture for investment and asset management teams.
- **Diversity & inclusion**: Strategic partnerships with organizations supporting underrepresented and under-resourced individuals; a commitment to diversifying the industry’s talent pipeline.

## Sources
1. [harrisonst.com – Culture](https://harrisonst.com/culture/) (600+ employees, 19 offices, best places to work)
2. [harrisonst.com – Team](https://harrisonst.com/team/) (senior leadership, founders)
3. [linkedin.com – Company Page](https://linkedin.com/company/harrison-street) (employee count, industry, recent growth)
4. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/harrisonst) (open positions, on-site/remote indicators)
5. [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Street) (AUM $100B, founders, parent company)
6. Additional search result (AUM $108B trade name, 600+ employees)

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