Professional Expertise

David Gialanella serves as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Savills Global Occupier Services. In his role, Gialanella works closely with business line CEO Rick Schuham as well as teams and regional leaders in North America, EMEA and APAC. His focus is managing operations to strengthen and expand Savills integrated occupier services platform to continuously enhance client service. The group’s service offerings enable the delivery of tailored real estate solutions to clients with multi-market portfolios through the use of multidisciplinary account teams and local brokerage partnerships.    

Prior to his current role, David served as vice chairman and chief integration officer, responsible for working with all of our business leaders on growth strategies involving the acquisition of people and organizations. Dave has spent 35-plus years in the commercial real estate industry working in various capacities and running both global and domestic operations. He has extensive international experience.

Dave began his real estate career at Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), where he spent 20 years in a number of roles including serving as the operating executive for the New York region and leading the firm’s retail business unit. Dave also led the initiative to elevate the C&W brand internationally and established the firm’s first overseas venture. He served on C&W’s board of directors, global management committee and joint initiative board with its European partner.

Following his tenure with C&W, Dave spent seven years at CBRE where he was a member of the New York regional management team. He also served as the operating executive for the Americas Brokerage Group, as well as having had P&L responsibility for the firm’s global transaction management practice. Prior to entering the commercial real estate industry, Dave spent five years in management consulting in both New York and Washington, DC.

Awards, Achievements and Activities

Dave and his wife Kathleen, an attorney with a nursing background, are active supporters of nursing education. Through the New Jersey League for Nursing, they sponsor several scholarships annually to support nursing students in need of financial support.