Job Snapshot
Role: Mall Manager - Retail Operations
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Industry: Real Estate
Function: Property Management
Experience: 10-15 years of mall management experience
Job Type: Full-time
Gender: Any; Candidate Nationality: Any
Salary: 35000-55000
Overview
The Mall Manager - Retail Operations in Dubai is a senior management role responsible for leading daily mall operations, protecting asset performance, improving footfall, strengthening tenant relationships, and ensuring the shopping centre meets its commercial and operational goals. The role requires a confident leader who can manage budgets, service charge recovery, tenant communication, specialty leasing, marketing activity, mall operations, team performance, and guest satisfaction.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee daily mall operations and ensure the shopping centre meets financial, operational, customer service, and tenant management objectives.
- Prepare retail operations budgets covering capital expenditure, manpower, income forecasts, operating expenses, and board-level review requirements.
- Review budgets regularly, compare actual performance against projections, and recommend corrective actions for negative variances.
- Use market trends, retail knowledge, and operational experience to prepare accurate revenue and expenditure forecasts.
- Manage service charge budgets and service charge matrix requirements to ensure operational expenses are recoverable from tenants where applicable.
- Support monthly and annual financial reporting, including reforecasting, profit and loss review, lease abstracting, and budgeting activity.
- Monitor EBITDA performance, debtor levels, revenue delivery, cost control, and asset profitability.
- Oversee the condition, maintenance, and commercial life of key mall assets to support long-term value and operational reliability.
- Lead mall marketing and event activity in coordination with senior management and marketing teams.
- Support initiatives that increase footfall, improve tenant sales, and strengthen the mall's market positioning.
- Enhance guest experience by reviewing customer feedback, resolving complaints, and improving service quality across customer-facing touchpoints.
- Maintain positive relationships with tenants and ensure clear communication on lease terms, operational standards, and centre requirements.
- Conduct regular tenant meetings to review performance, address issues, support visual merchandising, and improve collaboration.
- Supervise specialty leasing activity and support opportunities that add commercial value to the mall.
- Ensure external works and service contracts are tendered appropriately with consideration for price, quality, urgency, and business need.
- Supervise concierge, specialty leasing, administration, and reception teams to ensure smooth centre management operations.
- Evaluate property requirements, recommend improvements, and ensure approved projects are delivered on time and to expected standards.
- Appraise employees regularly, identify training needs, and coordinate suitable development support where required.
- Keep teams motivated, accountable, and aligned with company standards, service expectations, and operational goals.
- Coordinate with departments that impact centre management, including leasing, finance, marketing, facilities, security, legal, and customer service.
- Prepare and present reports covering tenants, income, expenditure, competition, market positioning, leasing performance, and operational updates.
- Monitor local community matters, political developments, regulatory changes, and market conditions that may affect mall operations.
- Ensure the mall operates in line with company policies, lease requirements, safety standards, service expectations, and asset management objectives.
Ideal Profile
- Degree in Business Administration with specialization in Marketing and Real Estate.
- Master's degree in Business Administration with Marketing or Accounting specialization (preferred).
- 10-15 years of experience in mall management with reputable organizations.
- 5-7 years of experience in a senior or top management mall leadership role.
- Strong understanding of shopping mall operations, property management, retail leasing, tenant relations, and mall marketing.
- Proven experience managing large retail assets, service charge budgets, operational expenditure, income forecasts, and commercial performance.
- Strong financial acumen with the ability to manage budgets, P and L reports, reforecasting, debtor control, and EBITDA delivery.
- Solid knowledge of leasing strategies, specialty leasing, occupancy management, and retail tenant performance.
- Experience supervising multi-functional centre management teams and external service providers.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage tenants, customers, senior management, service partners, and internal departments.
- Strong leadership style with the ability to motivate teams, manage standards, and build a performance-driven culture.
- Good understanding of marketing programs, events, footfall generation, guest experience, and retail destination positioning.
- Effective time management, decision-making, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to read market trends, competitor activity, customer behavior, and retail performance data.
- Professional, commercially aware, and capable of managing complex operational priorities in a busy mall environment.
Skills Set
- Mall management
- Retail property operations
- Property management
- Shopping centre operations
- Tenant relations
- Occupancy management
- Specialty leasing
- Retail leasing support
- Mall marketing
- Event coordination
- Footfall growth
- Tenant sales support
- Guest experience management
- Customer complaint resolution
- EBITDA management
- Service charge budgeting
- Budget forecasting
- Profit and loss review
- Reforecasting
- Lease abstracting
- Debtor control
- Operational expenditure control
- Capital expenditure planning
- Asset maintenance oversight
- Service provider management
- Tender management
- Concierge supervision
- Reception team supervision
- Administrative team leadership
- Visual merchandising support
- Market research
- Competition analysis
- Report presentation
- Team performance appraisal
- Training needs assessment
- Regulatory awareness
- Community relations