Head of Real Estate & Development

Company: Sector Leading Convenience Retailer -

Title: Head of Real Estate & Development

Location: Southwest US

The Head of Real Estate & Development will be responsible for leading the strategic vision and execution for all new store development. This position will direct and oversee the full life cycle of development for the national portfolio. This executive will manage complex real estate projects including site selection, licensing, contracting, leasing, property management and investment strategy of the portfolio of assets, which currently consists of 300+ stores across the country, with a growth goal of adding over 50 stores annually through acquisition activity and greenfield development

The successful candidate must be prepared to locate or relocate at the company headquarters.

Responsibilities:

• Drive the strategy and execute on new store development
• Educate, develop and maintain strong relationships with the brokerage community; identify and execute on all types of retail purchases and/or leases
• Maintain a deal pipeline and report regularly to the CEO and the Board of Directors
• Collect site analytics, comps, and maintain knowledge of market conditions, trends, transactions
• Negotiate real estate legal agreements and developer business models with assistance from inside counsel
• Clearly present economics of new locations with detailed cash flow and investment return model, pre and post development
• Oversee developers to ensure projects are completed within established timelines and budgets 
• Lead the reporting process to third party debt providers and stakeholders
• Establish and maintain relationships with REITs and the 1031 market to realize best terms
• Manage existing leases to guarantee renewals are executed in a timely fashion at the appropriate rate
• Extensive domestic travel (national and local)

Qualifications & Experience

• Strong executive presence with an entrepreneurial, transaction-oriented mind set.
• Extensive experience in commercial real estate with a heavy focus on multi-site, multi region new unit growth
• Strong negotiation skills with the ability to adapt to varying personalities
• In depth experience in all aspects of the development process from site identification to store build-out, including exposure to related finance and legal activity 
• Successfully manage a real estate team of professionals, including goal setting, coaching, training, performance management, and personal development