RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

: Real Estate R&D; Manager / Team Lead

Department: Real Estate Research & Development

Reporting to: Company Leadership / Managing Director

Proposed location: Chennai, with research and field visits across Tamil Nadu

Employment type: Full-time

Suggested experience: 5+ years in real-estate research, market intelligence, feasibility analysis or related consulting, including experience leading research projects.

This is a proposed senior-level hiring description. The skill expectations below can also guide recruitment and performance reviews for the wider R&D; team.

1. Role Purpose

We are seeking a highly analytical, commercially aware and technology-capable professional to lead our Real Estate Research & Development function.

The role will turn market information, customer needs and property data into well-supported recommendations for buying, selling, leasing, market expansion and new service development. It will also identify and test improvements to the company’s website, property-search experience, research systems and internal processes.

The expectation is not simply to collect information or prepare presentations. The candidate must verify evidence, challenge assumptions, evaluate opportunities and recommend practical action.

For this role, “advanced” capability means being able to complete work independently, explain the methodology, defend conclusions and review others’ work—not merely describe a tool or concept. This practical progression is consistent with RICS’s competency framework. RICS

2. Key Responsibilities

A. Real-Estate Market Research and Intelligence

Research residential apartments, villas, plots and relevant commercial properties across the company’s target markets. Analyse location-level pricing, rental demand, competing supply, customer budgets, property availability and the pace of sales or leasing.

Conduct structured interviews and field visits with developers, property owners, brokers, tenants and prospective buyers. Compare field findings with reliable documentary and market sources.

Maintain a clear distinction between asking prices, reported transaction prices, registered values and government guideline values.



Do not present listing prices as completed-deal evidence; RICS’s comparable-evidence guidance specifically cautions against treating asking prices as reliable transaction evidence. RICS

Expected output: Market reports that explain what has changed, the strength of the evidence and the recommended business response.

B. Property and Business Feasibility Analysis

Evaluate the commercial potential of properties, locations, partnerships and new business opportunities. Prepare transparent models covering acquisition or entry costs, income, operating expenses, vacancy, financing assumptions and exit scenarios where relevant.

Assess rental yield, cash flow, return on investment, net present value and internal rate of return when appropriate. Test downside cases involving lower rents, slower sales, higher costs or delayed execution.

The required analytical scope draws on established real-estate competencies such as market appraisal, development appraisal and property finance. RICS

Expected output: A transparent proceed, proceed with conditions, investigate further or reject recommendation, supported by assumptions, risks and sensitivity analysis.

C. Research Data Management and Quality Control

Build and maintain a structured property and market database. Establish consistent definitions for locations, property categories, area measurements, pricing, transaction status and reporting periods.

Detect duplicate listings, stale records, missing values and conflicting information. Record the source, collection date and verification status of material data, and maintain an audit trail for corrections.

Require the team to evaluate the relevance and reliability of comparable evidence rather than accept every available data point at face value. This emphasis on evidence selection and consistency aligns with RICS’s comparable-evidence standard. RICS

Expected output:



Reproducible analysis and a dependable research database—not spreadsheets that only their creator can understand.

D. Product, Website and Service Innovation

Study customer problems and identify opportunities to improve property discovery, comparison, enquiry handling and service delivery.

Translate research into clear requirements for website features, dashboards, property-comparison tools, customer relationship management workflows and internal automation. Prepare business cases, prototypes, acceptance criteria and measurable success indicators.

Work with the Technical team to test proposed solutions and evaluate results.

Responsibility boundary: R&D; owns problem definition, research, prioritisation and business validation. The Technical team owns production software development, deployment, hosting and technical maintenance.

E. Location Screening and Regulatory Research

Research land-use context, access, surrounding development, infrastructure status and available project documentation. Distinguish proposed infrastructure from approved, under-construction and operational projects.

Use relevant official records rather than relying solely on promotional claims. For Chennai and Tamil Nadu, these include CMDA planning-permission and land-use resources and TNRERA project records. Chennai Municipal Corporation

Responsibility boundary: R&D; identifies and documents potential concerns. Final legal title opinions, statutory interpretations, engineering assessments and formal valuations must be referred to appropriately qualified professionals.

F. Leadership and Cross-Team Decision Support

Set research priorities, allocate work, review analysis and coach team members. Present concise recommendations to leadership and provide verified insights to Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations and Channel Partners.

Maintain independence when evidence contradicts a preferred commercial outcome. Track what happened after a recommendation was accepted or rejected, and use those results to improve future analysis.

Expected output: Research that improves decisions, rather than reports produced only to satisfy a reporting schedule.

Pay: ₹12,000.00 - ₹15,000.00 per month

Work Location: In person

📌 Executive - Research & Development (Chennai)
🏢 Dnasset
📍 Chennai