Development Manager - Memphis, TN

Macdonald & Company; Arkansas; On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Retirement plan with employer match

Flexible working environment

Job summary

Macdonald & Company has been retained by a privately held real estate investment and development firm to appoint a Development Manager to join its Memphis team.

The role involves leading projects from site evaluation through design, entitlements, construction, and delivery, coordinating with architects and engineers, and managing budgets across multiple initiatives in industrial real estate.

Qualifications

• Approximately 2–5 years of relevant real estate, development or construction experience.
• Strong understanding of construction, cost estimating, scheduling and contract administration.
• Experience managing multiple projects and workstreams simultaneously.
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to work directly with ownership and external stakeholders.
• Experience with project management platforms such as Procore, Bluebeam or Microsoft Project.
• Exposure to industrial development, particularly tilt‑up construction, would be highly advantageous.
• Experience with entitlements, permitting and municipal approval processes.
• Background with a private developer, owner or owner's representative would be particularly relevant.
• This is a strong opportunity for someone looking to move into a highly entrepreneurial development environment, take real ownership of projects and work directly alongside senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Leading projects from initial site evaluation through design, entitlement, construction and delivery.
• Managing pre‑development budgets including hard/soft costs and contingencies.
• Coordinating architects, engineers and stakeholders throughout the design and build process.
• Driving value engineering and constructability reviews.
• Overseeing entitlements, permitting and approvals with municipalities.
• Maintaining project budgets, schedules and ownership reporting.
• Managing capital expenditure projects across the existing portfolio.
• Overseeing tenant improvements for new and renewing tenants.

Skills

Construction management

Development management

Owner's representative

Industrial real estate

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Real Estate/Construction Management

Tools

Procore

Bluebeam

Microsoft Project

Job description

Macdonald & Company has been retained by a privately held real estate investment and development firm to appoint a Development Manager to join its growing team in Memphis.

The business is an entrepreneurial owner/developer focused on industrial real estate across key U.S. markets, with activity spanning ground‑up development, acquisitions and value‑add projects. This is a hands‑on opportunity offering direct exposure to senior leadership and the full lifecycle of industrial development and investment. Industrial experience IS NOT essential.

The Role

The Development Manager will help lead projects from initial site evaluation and pre‑development through design, entitlements, construction, tenant improvements and final delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Managing pre‑development budgets across hard costs, soft costs and contingencies
• Conducting construction and site due diligence on potential acquisitions and development opportunities
• Assessing project feasibility, entitlement risk, timelines and costs
• Coordinating architects, civil, structural and MEP engineers throughout the design process
• Driving value engineering and constructability reviews
• Managing zoning, permitting, site plan approvals and the wider entitlement process
• Coordinating with municipalities, utilities, consultants and other project stakeholders - Managing GC bidding, selection and contract processes
• Overseeing construction from groundbreaking through substantial completion and certificate of occupancy
• Reviewing pay applications, change orders and RFIs
• Maintaining project budgets, schedules and ownership reporting
• Managing capital expenditure projects across the existing portfolio
• Overseeing tenant improvement projects for new and renewing tenants

The Person

We are looking for someone with experience across construction management, development management or an owner's representative environment, ideally within industrial, logistics or commercial real estate.

The Successful Candidate:

• Approximately 2–5 years of relevant real estate, development or construction experience
• Strong understanding of construction, cost estimating, scheduling and contract administration
• Experience managing multiple projects and workstreams simultaneously
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to work directly with ownership and external stakeholders
• Experience with project management platforms such as Procore, Bluebeam or Microsoft Project
• Exposure to industrial development, particularly tilt‑up construction, would be highly advantageous
• Experience with entitlements, permitting and municipal approval processes
• A background with a private developer, owner or owner's representative would be particularly relevant
• This is a strong opportunity for someone looking to move into a highly entrepreneurial development environment, take real ownership of projects and work directly alongside senior leadership as the platform continues to grow.

A competitive base salary, annual performance bonus, benefits, retirement plan with employer match and a flexible working environment are offered.