Your Purpose
This position will lead the strategic planning and execution of Harris Teeter's real estate portfolio, driving growth and operational excellence through innovative deal-making, capital project delivery, and market expansion. This role oversees a team of engineers, attorneys, and consultants to deliver high-impact real estate projects, including new store development, joint ventures, fuel centers and surplus property disposition. This position will also manage a robust broker network across multiple markets to source prime sites, develop a growth and storage strategy, and position the company to serve current and future customers while outpacing competitors.
What You’ll do
Principal Responsibilities Include:
Strategic Deal-Making and Capital Projects
- Lead complex real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leases, and joint ventures, to secure high-value sites for new stores, fuel centers, and mixed-use developments.
- Oversee the vendor/contractor relationships with engineers, attorneys, and consultants to deliver major capital projects on time and within budget, ensuring alignment with company objectives.
- Negotiate and structure deals with developers, landowners, and partners to maximize ROI and support long-term growth.
- Develop and execute joint venture partnerships to optimize capital investment and share risks in large-scale real estate projects.
Surplus Property Strategy
- Identify and manage surplus properties, developing strategies to monetize or repurpose underutilized assets through sales, leases, or redevelopment.
- Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to evaluate surplus property potential, ensuring alignment with financial and operational goals.
- Create innovative approaches to transform surplus properties into revenue-generating opportunities or community-focused developments.
Broker Network Management and Site Sourcing
- Build and lead a high-performing network of real estate brokers across multiple markets to identify and secure prime locations for new stores and facilities.
- Develop strong relationships with brokers, ensuring consistent communication and alignment with the company’s growth objectives.
- Analyze market trends, demographics, and competitor activity to select sites that optimize customer access and operational efficiency.
Growth and Storage Strategy
- Design and implement a comprehensive real estate growth strategy to expand the company’s footprint, targeting high-potential markets to serve current and future customers.
- Develop a storage and distribution strategy to support operational scalability, including the identification of sites for warehouses and logistics hubs.
- Conduct competitive analysis to ensure real estate decisions position the company to outcompete rivals in key markets.
- Collaborate with operations, marketing, and supply chain teams to align real estate strategies with customer demand and business goals.
Team Leadership and Collaboration
- Lead and mentor a team of real estate professionals, engineers, attorneys, and consultants, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
- Provide strategic direction and oversight for project timelines, budgets, and deliverables, ensuring seamless execution of real estate initiatives.
- Partner with cross-functional teams, including finance, operations, construction and legal, to align real estate strategies with corporate objectives.
Financial and Risk Management
- Develop budgets and financial models for real estate projects, ensuring cost efficiency and alignment with company financial goals.
- Mitigate risks associated with real estate transactions and projects through thorough due diligence, legal oversight, and market analysis.
- Monitor portfolio performance, providing regular updates to senior leadership on project status, market trends, and financial outcomes.
Supporting Leadership Through the 5 Es
- As a leader, you are expected to model and reinforce our leadership expectations through the 5Es Leadership Framework – serving as both an example and a multiplier of leadership impact across teams and functions:
- Envision: Craft a bold, strategic vision that aligns with the company’s direction. Communicate clearly and consistently to ensure every team understands the “why” behind the work and feels connected to the bigger picture.
- Energize: Cultivate a high-energy, resilient environment where passion, recognition, and urgency fuel momentum. Drive engagement across levels by being visible, present, and inspiring in your leadership.
- Enroll: Build alignment and commitment by involving others early and often. Create clarity around change, communicate transparently, and ensure all stakeholders feel heard, valued, and empowered to act.
- Enable: Break down barriers, advocate for necessary resources, and build capability across your teams. Champion development, empower decision-making, and foster a culture of continuous learning and ownership.
- Execute: Deliver results that matter. Turn strategy into action with prevision and agility, ensure accountability, and continuously improve outcomes through clear priorities, strong follow-through, and data-driven decision
What You Bring
Required:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field and 10+ years of experience in commercial real estate, with at least 5 years in a leadership role, preferably in retail or grocery – or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Proven track record of leading complex real estate deals, including acquisitions, leases, and joint ventures.
- Experience managing large-scale capital projects and multidisciplinary teams, including engineers, attorneys, and consultants.
- Strong network of real estate brokers and industry contacts across multiple markets.
- Expertise in surplus property management and portfolio optimization.
- Exceptional negotiation, analytical, and strategic planning skills.
- Ability to interpret market data, demographic trends, and competitor strategies to inform site selection and growth plans.
- Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire and align diverse teams.
- Proficiency in real estate financial modeling, budgeting, and risk management.
Preferred:
- Knowledge of grocery retail industry trends and logistics requirements.
- Experience with mixed-use developments and public-private partnerships.
- Familiarity with zoning, permitting, and regulatory processes across multiple jurisdictions.
- Strong understanding of supply chain and storage infrastructure needs.
Work Environment:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and taste or smell.
Job Title: Manager of Real Estate
Job Code: 953
Department: Real Estate & Store Development
Reports To: Sr. Director of Store Development/Strategy - Real Estate
Supervises: N/A
FLSA Status: Exempt
Location: Matthews, NC – Store Support Center
Created/Updated: October 2025