Permissions Manager – Global Real Estate Projects

About the role

Utopia is seeking a Permissions Manager to design and launch a unified permitting process for its luxury hospitality and residential projects worldwide. You will work closely with development, architecture, construction, legal teams and local authorities to accelerate approvals across multiple markets.

Key responsibilities

• Design and implement a standard permitting template adapted to each market’s regulatory reality.
• Map zoning, building, environmental and hospitality licensing requirements for Brazil, Costa Rica, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Dubai and Cape Town.
• Coordinate local architects, lawyers, expeditors and consultants to ensure complete, high‑quality submissions.
• Track the status of every permit, provide leadership with timelines, risks and mitigation plans, and integrate milestones into project schedules.
• Identify bottlenecks, sequence parallel submissions and anticipate authority requirements to reduce approval timelines.
• Document lessons learned and continuously refine processes and templates.

Required profile

• Proven experience securing permits for real‑estate, construction or hospitality developments in multiple jurisdictions.
• Track record of building standardized processes that shortened approval times.
• Solid understanding of zoning, building codes, environmental approvals and land‑use regulations.
• Experience managing external consultants, local counsel and public‑authority interactions.
• Strong project‑management ability to run dozens of parallel applications.
• Fluent English; Spanish and/or Portuguese are a plus.

Required skills

• Jira
• Confluence

What we offer

• Fully remote work with occasional business trips (GMT‑3 to GMT+3).
• Laptop and access to all project and documentation tools from day one.
• Opportunities to take projects through approval across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
• Collaboration with a global team of developers, architects, engineers and legal specialists from 30+ countries.