How to Apply to Scentre Group

10 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 4 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) owns and operates 42 Westfield Living Centres across Australia and New Zealand and is one of the largest listed retail REITs globally.
  • The group was created in 2014 through the demerger of the original Westfield Group; the international Westfield business was later sold to Unibail-Rodamco in 2018.
  • Sydney is the corporate headquarters; corporate roles concentrate there, while centre management roles span all 42 Westfield destinations across ANZ.
  • CEO Elliott Rusanow has led the group since November 2022, succeeding long-serving CEO Peter Allen.
  • Compensation is competitive within the Australian REIT sector, with leasing and asset management mid-career packages typically running A$130,000 to A$200,000 plus superannuation and short-term incentive, and senior roles A$200,000 to A$350,000 plus long-term incentive equity.
  • Key competitors for talent include Vicinity Centres, Stockland, Mirvac, GPT Group, Charter Hall Retail REIT, and Lendlease's retail businesses.
  • Application processes typically run four to eight weeks for corporate roles and two to five weeks for centre-based operational positions.
  • Sponsorship for international candidates is uncommon for entry and mid-level roles but is occasionally available for senior and specialist positions where ANZ talent is genuinely scarce.

About Scentre Group

Scentre Group Limited (ASX: SCG) is the Australian real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates the Westfield-branded shopping centre portfolio across Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Sydney, Scentre Group is one of the largest retail property groups in the world by asset value and a constituent of the ASX 50. The company employs approximately 3,000 people directly, with thousands more working at the Westfield Living Centres it manages, including security, cleaning, customer experience, and marketing teams. Through its 42 Westfield destinations, the group connects more than 12,000 retailer relationships with over 520 million annual customer visits, making it a central player in the Australian and New Zealand consumer economy. Scentre Group was created in June 2014 through the demerger of the original Westfield Group, which split into two listed entities: Scentre Group, holding the Australian and New Zealand Westfield centres, and Westfield Corporation, holding the international Westfield portfolio (US and UK). Westfield Corporation was subsequently acquired by Unibail-Rodamco in 2018, while Scentre Group has remained the dedicated ANZ Westfield owner and operator. The Westfield brand itself was founded in 1959 by Frank Lowy and John Saunders, and the Lowy family heritage remains an important part of the group's institutional identity, even though the family's direct operational involvement has reduced significantly post-demerger. The Westfield portfolio includes some of the most strategically important retail destinations in Australasia: Westfield Sydney, Westfield Bondi Junction, Westfield Pitt Street Mall, Westfield Parramatta, Westfield Doncaster in Melbourne, Westfield Eastland, Westfield Knox, Chatswood, Hornsby, Miranda, Warringah Mall, Tea Tree Plaza in Adelaide, Westfield Carindale in Brisbane, and Westfield Newmarket in Auckland. These are predominantly premium and super-regional centres positioned at the higher end of the Australian retail spectrum, competing with portfolios held by Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX), Stockland (ASX: SGP), Mirvac (ASX: MGR), GPT Group, and Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR). Under CEO Elliott Rusanow, who took over from long-serving CEO Peter Allen in November 2022, Scentre Group has continued to invest in experiential retail, premium dining, entertainment, and the Westfield Plus loyalty programme, which extends digital engagement with shoppers beyond the physical centre. Recent focus areas include omnichannel retail integration, sustainability (Scentre is a Climate Active certified carbon neutral organisation in Australia), and reinvestment in flagship destinations such as Westfield Sydney's continued evolution. Career opportunities span asset management, leasing, property management and centre operations, development and design, capital markets and finance, digital and technology, marketing and brand, and sustainability roles, with the majority of corporate positions concentrated at the Sydney head office and the remainder distributed across centre management teams nationally.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search current vacancies on the Scentre Group careers portal at scentregroup

    Search current vacancies on the Scentre Group careers portal at scentregroup.com/careers, filtering by Sydney head office or by individual Westfield centre location.

  2. 2
    Create a candidate profile, upload a tailored resume in PDF or Word, and complet

    Create a candidate profile, upload a tailored resume in PDF or Word, and complete the structured online application form with referee details, work rights confirmation, and any required diversity questions.

  3. 3
    Expect an automated acknowledgement and a recruiter screening call within one to

    Expect an automated acknowledgement and a recruiter screening call within one to three weeks if shortlisted. The recruiter will confirm salary expectations, notice period, and Australian or New Zealand work rights.

  4. 4
    Complete a competency-based first interview, usually with the Talent Acquisition

    Complete a competency-based first interview, usually with the Talent Acquisition partner and the hiring manager, focusing on your technical experience and behavioural fit against Scentre's values.

  5. 5
    For specialist roles in leasing, asset management, finance, or development, prep

    For specialist roles in leasing, asset management, finance, or development, prepare for a technical second-round interview that may include a case study, financial modelling exercise, or live presentation of a transaction or project.

  6. 6
    Senior and corporate roles often include a panel interview with general managers

    Senior and corporate roles often include a panel interview with general managers and a final conversation with a director or executive committee member; expect strong probing on strategic judgement and stakeholder management.

  7. 7
    Some roles include psychometric and cognitive assessments such as personality in

    Some roles include psychometric and cognitive assessments such as personality inventories or numerical reasoning tests, particularly for graduate, analyst, and asset management positions.

  8. 8
    Reference checks (typically two professional referees) and pre-employment backgr

    Reference checks (typically two professional referees) and pre-employment background screening, including police checks for centre-based and finance roles, are conducted before any offer is finalised.

  9. 9
    Written offers detail base salary, superannuation, short-term incentive eligibil

    Written offers detail base salary, superannuation, short-term incentive eligibility, long-term incentive (LTI) participation for senior roles, leave entitlements, and conditions of employment under the relevant Award or individual contract.

  10. 10
    End-to-end timeline typically runs four to eight weeks for corporate Sydney role

    End-to-end timeline typically runs four to eight weeks for corporate Sydney roles and two to five weeks for centre-based operational positions, with longer cycles for executive and development roles.

Resume Tips for Scentre Group

recommended

Lead with quantified retail property metrics: gross lettable area (GLA) managed,

Lead with quantified retail property metrics: gross lettable area (GLA) managed, specialty rent uplift, occupancy rate, retailer mix improvement, MAT (moving annual turnover) growth, or tenant retention percentages.

recommended

Use Australian property and REIT terminology accurately: NLA, NABERS rating, cap

Use Australian property and REIT terminology accurately: NLA, NABERS rating, capex programme, AIFRS reporting, base rent versus turnover rent, and centre management plan are all signals you understand the industry.

recommended

For leasing roles, list specific deal volumes (number of leases executed, total

For leasing roles, list specific deal volumes (number of leases executed, total annual rent, average deal size) and standout retailer brands you have onboarded, renewed, or relocated within a centre.

recommended

For asset management and finance roles, demonstrate fluency with valuations, cap

For asset management and finance roles, demonstrate fluency with valuations, cap rates, IRRs, NTA, AFFO, FFO, distribution per security, and the ability to read independent valuer reports such as those from JLL, Colliers, CBRE, or M3 Property.

recommended

For property and centre operations roles, highlight experience managing contract

For property and centre operations roles, highlight experience managing contractors, security and cleaning service providers, large operational budgets, work health and safety compliance, and tenant relationship issues.

recommended

Show knowledge of the Westfield brand and the broader Scentre Group portfolio in

Show knowledge of the Westfield brand and the broader Scentre Group portfolio in your professional summary; a generic retail resume signals you have not done your homework on the premium ANZ market.

recommended

Include relevant Australian or New Zealand qualifications: a Bachelor of Propert

Include relevant Australian or New Zealand qualifications: a Bachelor of Property, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Business, Real Estate Agent's Licence (state-specific), API (Australian Property Institute) membership, or RICS designation for senior valuers.

recommended

Use a clean, ATS-friendly format with standard section headings (Professional Su

Use a clean, ATS-friendly format with standard section headings (Professional Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications), reverse-chronological history, and consistent date formatting (MM/YYYY).

recommended

Include any sustainability or ESG credentials (NABERS assessor accreditation, GR

Include any sustainability or ESG credentials (NABERS assessor accreditation, GRESB familiarity, Climate Active knowledge); Scentre publicly emphasises sustainability leadership and these signals stand out.

recommended

Tailor the resume for each role by mirroring keywords from the Scentre job descr

Tailor the resume for each role by mirroring keywords from the Scentre job description (such as 'living centre', 'customer experience', 'specialty leasing', 'omnichannel') without keyword stuffing.

ATS System: Scentre Group Careers Portal (custom Australian recruitment platform)

Scentre Group recruits through a custom branded careers portal at scentregroup.com/careers, which manages role listings, candidate profiles, applications, and recruiter workflows. Australian REITs commonly run on platforms such as PageUp People, Workday Recruiting, or SAP SuccessFactors under a custom front end; candidates should always verify the underlying platform from the application URL after clicking 'Apply'. Regardless of the underlying system, the portal performs structured parsing of resumes and prioritises applications that clearly match advertised competencies and Australian or New Zealand work rights.

  • Submit a PDF or Word resume with selectable text; never submit scanned images, as parsing accuracy depends on machine-readable content.
  • Use standard section headings such as 'Experience', 'Education', and 'Skills' so the parser maps your data into the correct fields without manual cleanup by recruiters.
  • Mirror exact phrases from the job advertisement (for example, 'specialty leasing manager', 'asset management analyst', 'centre experience manager') so keyword filters surface your application.
  • Confirm work rights honestly in the structured questions; misrepresenting visa status is grounds for immediate disqualification under Australian and New Zealand employment law.
  • Keep your candidate profile current between applications; recruiters search internal databases for active and passive candidates when new roles open.
  • Apply to one role at a time that genuinely matches your background; spraying multiple unrelated applications can flag candidates as low-fit in recruiter queues.
  • If the role is centre-based, list your locations of availability accurately; many specialty leasing and centre experience roles require on-site presence five days per week.
  • Avoid graphics, columns, headers, footers, and embedded tables in your resume; they frequently confuse ATS parsers and break field mapping.

Interview Culture

Scentre Group interviews reflect a premium Australian REIT culture: professional, well-prepared, structured, and increasingly focused on cultural alignment with the customer-centric Westfield brand.

Expect competency-based questions framed around real situations: how you grew specialty income at a centre, how you negotiated a difficult lease renewal with an anchor retailer, how you led a redevelopment from feasibility through opening, or how you handled a serious tenant or operational incident. Interviewers value candidates who can talk fluently about Australian and New Zealand retail conditions, consumer behaviour shifts, the rise of food and entertainment as anchor categories, and the integration of the Westfield Plus app and omnichannel offers with physical centre activity. For senior corporate roles in Sydney, expect a longer process with up to four or five interviews, often including a panel and a meeting with a member of the executive committee. Strategic judgement, stakeholder management, and the ability to communicate clearly with the board and capital markets are weighted heavily for asset management, finance, capital transactions, development, and corporate strategy roles. Centre-based interviews tend to be more operationally focused, exploring how candidates handle tenant disputes, retailer support, customer experience escalations, work health and safety incidents, and large multi-stakeholder events. Dress code for interviews skews business formal at the Sydney head office (suit or smart corporate attire) and smart business at centre management offices. Punctuality is essential; arrive ten to fifteen minutes early and bring printed copies of your resume and any work samples. Strong candidates research the specific centre or business unit they are interviewing for, walk through the relevant Westfield destination beforehand, and arrive with informed observations about retailer mix, customer flow, and recent activations. Discussing the Westfield heritage respectfully and showing genuine enthusiasm for the brand without sounding rehearsed is consistently noted as a positive signal.

What Scentre Group Looks For

  • Direct experience in Australian or New Zealand retail property, listed REIT operations, or premium consumer brands with an understanding of centre-based operations.
  • Commercial acumen: ability to read leases, valuations, financial models, and centre performance reports, and translate them into actionable decisions.
  • Customer-centric mindset aligned with the Westfield brand promise of premium experiences, hospitality, and reliable, safe environments.
  • Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to work with retailers, contractors, joint venture partners, councils, and internal cross-functional teams.
  • Demonstrated resilience under pressure, particularly during peak trading periods (Christmas, Easter, mid-year sales) and during incidents requiring rapid response.
  • Sustainability literacy and genuine engagement with ESG topics, given Scentre's Climate Active certification and ongoing reporting commitments.
  • Digital fluency, including familiarity with retail analytics platforms, customer experience tooling, and the integration of physical centres with digital channels such as the Westfield Plus loyalty programme.
  • Professional presentation, written and verbal communication, and confidence in board, executive, and external stakeholder settings.
  • Integrity and discretion, with a clean compliance and conduct record (police checks and reference checks are routine for many roles).
  • Cultural alignment with the group's stated values around safety, accountability, and customer focus, demonstrated through specific examples in the interview.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Scentre Group do, and how is it different from Westfield?
Scentre Group is the Australian listed REIT (ASX: SCG) that owns and operates the 42 Westfield-branded shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand. The Westfield brand and original group were founded by Frank Lowy and John Saunders in 1959. In 2014 the group demerged into Scentre (ANZ Westfield centres) and Westfield Corporation (US and UK Westfield centres). Westfield Corporation was sold to Unibail-Rodamco in 2018. Today, when Australians and New Zealanders refer to 'Westfield', they are almost always referring to centres owned by Scentre Group.
What does compensation look like for leasing versus property management versus corporate roles?
Indicative ranges (base plus superannuation, before short-term incentive): graduate and analyst roles A$70,000 to A$95,000; specialty leasing executives A$95,000 to A$130,000; senior leasing managers A$130,000 to A$200,000; centre experience and operations managers A$110,000 to A$170,000; asset managers A$140,000 to A$220,000; finance and capital markets roles A$140,000 to A$250,000+ at senior levels; senior corporate and executive roles A$250,000 to A$500,000+ with substantial LTI equity. These are typical market ranges, not Scentre-published figures, and individual offers vary by experience and centre tier.
Does Scentre Group sponsor international candidates for Australian or New Zealand work visas?
Sponsorship is uncommon for entry-level and most mid-career roles, since the Australian and New Zealand REIT sectors have deep local talent pools. Sponsorship is more realistic for senior and highly specialised roles (for example, advanced data and analytics, specific capital markets expertise, or development specialisms) where local supply is genuinely constrained. Always confirm sponsorship eligibility with the recruiter before progressing.
Does Scentre Group offer graduate, intern, or early-careers programmes?
Scentre Group periodically runs graduate, internship, and early-careers programmes across head office disciplines including property, finance, technology, marketing, and sustainability. Programmes are typically advertised on the Scentre Group careers portal and on Australian graduate platforms such as Prosple and GradAustralia. Universities with strong property and commerce schools (UNSW, USyd, UTS, RMIT, Bond, Auckland) are common feeder schools.
What is the difference between working at the Sydney head office and working at a centre location?
Sydney head office roles cover corporate functions: asset management, leasing strategy, finance, capital markets, development, technology, marketing, sustainability, HR, and legal. Centre-based roles cover the operational realities of running a Westfield destination: centre experience management, operations and facilities, security and risk, retailer support, marketing activations, and casual or specialty leasing on site. Centre roles offer closer exposure to retailers and customers, while head office roles offer broader strategic exposure across the portfolio.
How does Scentre Group compare to Vicinity Centres, Stockland, and Mirvac as an employer?
Scentre is the most pure-play premium retail REIT of the four, with a single-asset-class focus on Westfield-branded ANZ shopping centres. Vicinity Centres also focuses on retail but with a broader mix including Chadstone Melbourne. Stockland and Mirvac are diversified groups with significant residential, mixed-use, and logistics exposure alongside retail. Candidates seeking deep specialisation in premium retail property typically lean toward Scentre or Vicinity, while those wanting cross-asset exposure may prefer Stockland or Mirvac.
Can I build a career around the Westfield brand specifically?
Yes. The Westfield brand sits at the centre of Scentre Group's identity, and roles in marketing, brand, customer experience, Westfield Plus loyalty, partnerships, and centre activations are all explicit Westfield-brand careers. For candidates who care about premium consumer brands and hospitality-led retail experiences, this is a distinctive value proposition that few other Australian property groups can match.
Are there sustainability and ESG career paths at Scentre Group?
Yes. Scentre Group is Climate Active certified as carbon neutral in Australia and reports against frameworks including TCFD and GRESB. Sustainability roles span dedicated ESG strategy, NABERS ratings management, energy and emissions engineering, sustainable design within the development team, and ESG reporting within finance. Background in environmental engineering, sustainability strategy, or ESG-focused finance and reporting is highly valued.
What is Scentre Group's hybrid working arrangement?
Scentre Group's Sydney corporate functions typically operate on a hybrid arrangement of three to four days in the office per week, with full-time on-site presence required for centre-based roles, security, operations, and retailer-facing functions. Specific arrangements vary by team and are confirmed during the interview and offer process. Always discuss expectations openly with the recruiter to avoid surprises after acceptance.
Does the Lowy family still play a role at Scentre Group?
Frank Lowy founded Westfield in 1959 and led the group for decades, but the Lowy family's direct operational role at Scentre Group has reduced significantly since the 2014 demerger and the 2018 sale of Westfield Corporation to Unibail-Rodamco. The Lowy heritage remains an important part of the company's institutional story and is publicly acknowledged in corporate communications, but day-to-day leadership rests with the current executive team under CEO Elliott Rusanow and the Scentre Group board.
What kinds of technology and digital roles exist at Scentre Group?
Scentre Group employs a meaningful technology and digital function covering the Westfield Plus loyalty platform, the Westfield consumer app, retail analytics, customer experience tooling, centre operations technology, cybersecurity, data engineering, and enterprise systems. Engineers, product managers, data analysts, designers, and platform specialists all have roles within the group, particularly in the Sydney head office.
How should I prepare for a Scentre Group interview if I do not have direct REIT experience?
Visit two or three Westfield centres relevant to the role and observe retailer mix, customer flow, signage, and recent activations. Read Scentre Group's most recent annual and interim financial reports and investor presentations on the ASX. Read industry analysis from the Australian Financial Review, JLL, Colliers, and CBRE on the Australian retail property sector. Map your transferable experience (commercial property, retail operations, premium consumer brands, hospitality, finance) to the role's specific competencies, and bring two or three concrete examples for each.

Open Positions

Scentre Group currently has 4 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 4 open positions at Scentre Group

Related Resources

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Sources

  1. Scentre Group - Corporate website (About) —
  2. Scentre Group - Careers —
  3. Scentre Group - Investor Centre —
  4. ASX Company Profile - Scentre Group (SCG) —
  5. Westfield Group demerger 2014 - Scheme documentation —
  6. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield - Acquisition of Westfield Corporation (2018) —
  7. Elliott Rusanow appointed CEO of Scentre Group (November 2022) —
  8. Westfield Plus loyalty programme —
  9. Australian Financial Review - Australian REIT sector coverage —
  10. JLL Australia - Retail property research —
  11. CBRE Australia - Retail capital markets research —
  12. Glassdoor Australia - Scentre Group employee reviews —
  13. Frank Lowy - Westfield founder biography (Australian Dictionary of Biography / Lowy Institute) —
  14. GRESB - Real Estate Assessment (Scentre Group disclosures) —
  15. Climate Active - Certified Carbon Neutral organisations —