Meet Michelle Kelleher – Real Estate & Facilities Manager at Airbnb

As Real Estate and Facilities Manager for the EMEA region at Airbnb, no two days are ever the same for Michelle Kelleher, a challenge that she relishes. She spoke to Construction Network Ireland about her current role and her trajectory to this fantastic position.

What does your job with Airbnb entail?

It’s all things to do with the management of our offices, so on the real estate side, it’s site selection, lease negotiation and project management. After this, there’s a metaphorical baton pass from real estate to facilities management and once we occupy, it’s the running of the offices.

Did you always want to get into the property industry?

I got into it by accident, as a lot of people have done. When I left college in 1996 I didn’t really have a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. I did an Arts degree and when I finished that I started temping in various places and one of those was Statoil. I went in for a week and two and a half years later I was still there and had taken on a facilities administration role. As part of that, there was an office move and I shadowed and worked hand in glove with a really experienced Project Manager on that and I found that I absolutely loved it. With a move project, it’s really challenging- you have to plan for the business as it is today but with an eye on the future, what the future needs of the business might be. You are dealing with architects, designers, quantity surveyors and it can involve anything from selecting furniture to the positioning of the offices/meeting rooms.

What did you do after Statoil?

I moved to Invesco, a financial services company that had an office but they were actively seeking a new one. It fit very well with the job I had just completed and played to my skill set. I was the internal PM and worked on site selection/lease negotiation there.  It was one of the biggest deals done in Dublin in 2000- a 42,000sqft premises on George’s Quay. Again it involved leading the design team. I finished up in Invesco in 2004 and I moved to insurance company, The Hartford, again working on projects and operations. I then moved to Limerick, setting up my own consultancy business from 2007 to 2014, and worked for a number of clients during this time before starting with Airbnb in 2014.

What’s it like to work for a company that has such huge global recognition?

It’s fantastic! It’s super to be part of such a dynamic company. We recently completed a project in Dublin- our newest office. We’ve about 500 people working across two buildings that are a 5-minute walk from each other, so effectively it is campus style. This provides its own challenges in terms of managing the spaces. In April we moved into our new building in Hanover Quay- that was a hugely satisfying and immensely challenging project. The company is growing very fast, we were badly in need of additional space and we had a very aggressive timeline on that project.

Being a PM, I’m not an engineer or an architect but I know how to manage the different disciplines and how to get the best out of everyone on the team. Just this weekend past we took part in Open House Dublin and we had more than 1000 people in the office over two days. It’s very gratifying to see the look on people’s faces when they enter the space. I feel privileged to work in offices which are so spectacular and take immense pride in having been a part of that.

 In terms of the property industry, do you still find it very male dominated?

I have engaged on numerous projects across a range of industries over the years and I’ve seen an enormous change. Not just the numbers of women in roles but the seniority of the roles. While working on a project in Frankfurt in 2008 we would have meetings between the design team and the landlord and of 20 people, I was the only woman in the room. That is not that long ago but on this most recent project for Airbnb, our legal team were all women, the senior PM was a woman, the QS was a woman and one of the principal architects was a woman. We got the best people for the job and it just so happened there was a higher number of women on this project.

What would you say to young women who are interested in getting involved in the property industry?

I think we all have a responsibility to help the next person along. Things have changed so much in terms of education and the courses that are available, they are in specific areas and disciplines, not just construction studies. I would say to anyone, if it is their passion, to follow it. Try before you buy, try to get work experience and speak to people who are working in the industry- that goes for men and women. Work hard and prove yourself, gender shouldn’t matter.

What is the gender balance like in Airbnb?

I don’t know the exact breakdown but we have a very diverse workforce in Airbnb.

As facilities manager for the EMEA region, your job must involve a lot of travel?

With six offices around the region, myself and my team take care of these so there is a good bit of travel involved. Our head office is in San Francisco so we go there a few times a year. It’s a very collaborative workplace.

Do you stay in Airbnb?

We do and each time you get a different flavour of a place. You could stay in three different Airbnb apartments on the same street in London and it would be three very different experiences.

What do you do to unwind?

I’m a big Dublin GAA fan. I also enjoy going to the theatre and cinema, although I don’t get to do it enough. I love reading and on a winter’s evening, I like to be curled up at home in front of a good box set.