Real Estate Economics GIS Consultant
Turner Drake & Partners Ltd.

Meld Your GIS Skills into One Cool Career!

Yesterday you searched 400 km of intricately shaped coastline to locate the ideal site for an experimental radar station. Today you are analysing the market to quantify/predict demand for residential development. Tomorrow you will conduct a survey of the office and industrial markets throughout Atlantic Canada. Next week, you will conduct a trade area analysis for a potential shopping centre. If you have a Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Data Analytics or Geographic Information Systems from COGS, or comparable program, and are interested in a career, rather than just a job... this is it!
Together your GIS Diploma and undergraduate degree can unlock the door to a career as a Chartered Geomatics Surveyor. A career most have never heard of… but once discovered find exciting, challenging, satisfying, fulfilling, remunerative, where you will be limited only by your own ambition. This is not a strictly GIS position. It requires a broader skill set (critical thinking, financial analysis, problem solving) all focused on providing solutions to real estate issues. You will participate in further company funded study that forms the University of British Columbia’s real estate degree, together with our in-house training program. You will be rewarded monetarily, as well as intellectually, as you proceed through this unique program. From our offices in Halifax your work will take you throughout Atlantic Canada and offer a good balance between office and field work. The work environment is friendly, supportive and (usually) good fun. Our IT system is state of the art. Check our web site www.turnerdrake.com (currently being updated) for a more detailed look at us.

Skills and Qualifications
You will have a Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Data Analytics or Geographic Information Systems from the Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) or similar program. You will have a Bachelors degree, with above average grades. Familiarity with MapInfo (as well as ESRI) and relevant work experience will be an asset. You will be mature, well-grounded and creative, with the ability to marshal your skills to solve real estate focussed problems. Your strong written and oral communication skills mean you can clearly distill analysis results and recommendations to clients. You will be interested in a career rather than just a job: something that will get you up in the morning with a spring in your step. You will want to work with colleagues who share your enthusiasm. You will enjoy variety and merit the respect of your peers. You will value working in a team environment, have an eye for detail, be thorough, trustworthy, reliable, and benefit from the opinions of your colleagues. You will have an enquiring mind and a sense of humour.

Work Environment
Turner Drake was incorporated in 1976 with the objective of providing clients with solutions to their real estate problems. In furtherance of this aim, the company has created a distinctive blend of complementary real estate services (Valuation, Property Tax, Counselling, Lasercad® Space Measurement, Economic Intelligence, Planning, Commercial Brokerage) delivered by salaried professionals with access to our proprietary information technology (IT) platform, CompuVal®.  Service delivery is governed by a quality system registered to ISO 9001:2015. The work environment values team and individual participation in a collegiate atmosphere. The small company size (currently 28 employees) ensures that each individual is a valued member of our team: our principal focus is on individual development and growth against a backdrop that fosters innovation and ideas.

Training
We have a choreographed training program which blends company funded study towards the University of British Columbia’s real estate degree, our own in-house training modules, and on the job training under the guidance of a mentor. We will give you responsibility to take jobs from start to finish within the first two months of you joining us and will carefully increase that responsibility as you gain knowledge and experience. Although you will “live” in our Economic Intelligence Unit, we will expose you to our Lasercad® Space Measurement, Valuation, Property Tax, Counselling, and Planning Divisions so that you can benefit from a broad exposure to real estate counselling.

The Sexy Stuff:
We asked the younger members of our professional staff what they enjoyed most about their careers with us. This is what they said:
“One of the benefits that I saw in working here when I was first starting out was the opportunity to be mentored by some of the most highly-educated and well-respected individuals in the industry (all of whom ultimately proved most generous in sharing their time and expertise).
I also saw real estate consultancy to be a unique application of the skills I’d acquired at Dal – it combined them in a way that other disciplines I’d considered (i.e. chartered accountancy and law) did not.”
“The ability to work independently and take a project from start to finish. I really enjoy the fact that I may be analysing the cash flows from an office building one day and inspecting a shipyard next.”
“I think a main benefit of working here is that you are able to learn a new field through on the job experience and the knowledge of senior staff and through education, the UBC courses. It is an opportunity to continue your education with a company that is willing to invest in you while gaining experience in a competitive field.”

• “ Working out of the office. Being able to get out of the office and work on job sites is a bonus.
• Continuous education.
• The mentor program, having someone that can answer all of those little questions that usually cause discomfort to a new employee is a big relief.
• Own office space. Not being in a bull pen set-up is great, because you have privacy.
• Social events with the company.
• In depth work experience as opposed to just being basically an assistant for someone else. You are doing real work with real deadlines.”

• “Good mixture of in-office and field-work.
• Opportunity to see the inside workings of factories and facilities that no one else gets to see.
• Opportunity for traveling through Atlantic Canada.
• Company funded courses.
• Quick and steady salary jumps (they worked out to be about $5,000/year in each of the first 5 years).
• Wide variety of property types (hangars/dairies/pulp and paper mills/pawn shops/residential/ container terminals/etc.)
• Wide variety of skill sets (financial analysis, critical thinking, negotiation, court work, etc.)
• Working in a medium sized firm (you’re not just another person in the firm that most people don’t know).
• TDP has a strong reputation.”

Compensation
This is a salaried position with a benefits and pension package (after a vesting period). Company sponsored training and professional designations are tied to salary increases, so your progression is only limited by your ambition and ability.
Enjoy a central urban office location in Atlantic Canada’s capital city, and an office culture that values a civilised work-life balance. Our operating model is firmly “office based” with the flexibility to work remotely when the situation demands it.

Application:
Submit your CV (together with a copy of your GIS Diploma and University Transcript) to:
Michael Turner, M.Sc., M.B.A., FRICS, MAI, CRE
Turner Drake & Partners Ltd.
Real Estate Counsellors
6182 North Street
Halifax NS B3K 1P5
email: [email protected]
Please direct any inquiries to Michael Turner (902) 429-1811 Ext. 312 or toll free (800) 567-3033 ext. 312.

Closing Date
Applicants will be evaluated and interviewed as they apply. An “official” version of your University Transcript is not required at this stage; a copy will suffice. The posting will be closed when the position is filled.

Confidentiality
All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.