Mark Watkins
Senior Director – Global Real Estate
Thermo Fisher Scientific

Mark is a corporate real estate leader with 25 years global real estate, facilities, life sciences, pharma and hospitality experience. He currently helps lead a complex portfolio of >35M SF of diverse space (~800 locations/~50 countries) and has managed projects >100M SF of manufacturing, lab, warehouse & office property. Significant experience leading M&A, site searches, consolidations, change management, dispositions, construction/design, food service, space planning, sustainability, risk management, valuation, legal and diversity & inclusion. He’s a champion of continuous improvement focused on delivering value.

Mark has consistently been a solid leader of lean teams managing complex real estate generating >$1B in value. He’s an expert negotiator that has managed thousands of contract negotiations world-wide. He has supported > 250 M&A projects cumulatively generating hundreds of millions in synergy savings. He has experience in reporting, benchmarking, developing & executing strategies & introducing meaningful KPIs that drive performance. For example SF per employee decreased from 740 to < 400 SF and revenue per SF increased from $200/SF to > $1,000 SF. Other areas of focus includes implementing successful savings programs such as consolidations, economic incentives, outsourcing, audits, tax appeals, restructured leases & other programs. He understands the importance of measuring performance & is well versed in what is needed to assess & drive opportunities to deliver “best in class” real estate solutions. Drawing on a finance background, he has solid financial acumen & is familiar with US GAAP, FASB & how real estate impacts the bottom line.

Thermo Fisher through his influence has published an interactive CRE playbook and launched a more flexible workplace strategy to help deliver ~ $20M in value while supporting the company’s goals of reducing their carbon footprint & being an employer of choice.

He’s been a keynote speaker & educator regarding D&I, doing business internationally & real estate’s role in M&A. In 2009 and 2019 Mark was awarded by CoreNet NE the Global CRE Executive of the Year and was a runner up for the global award. In 2017 Mark led the team that received the top award by MassEcon for the company’s new LEED certified HQ in Greater Boston. He leads the D&I Committee for CoreNet. Mark is very active in supporting minorities, is an ally of the LGBTA community and offers significant experience leading EID initiatives.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificate – inaugural class – CoreNet Global – 2020