Director, Lifestyle Leasing

AEP Kimco Realty Corporation & Subsidiaries; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel opportunities

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Kimco Realty is seeking a Lifestyle Director to drive leasing performance and curate a premier tenant mix across a multi-market portfolio. You will lead brand relationships, negotiate leases, and execute strategies to reposition space for stronger uses, with regular travel to markets and close collaboration with merchandising teams.

The role emphasizes relationship-building with brands across fashion, food & beverage, wellness, entertainment, and lifestyle segments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent, relevant experience considered.
• 7+ years of Lifestyle leasing experience.
• Demonstrated success negotiating and executing leases, renewals, relocations, and anchor transactions.
• Established relationships with national, regional, contemporary, and emerging brands preferred.

Responsibilities

• Drive leasing performance across a multi-market portfolio.
• Source new tenants and establish brand relationships.
• Lead and develop Leasing Associates and Coordinators.
• Collaborate with merchandising and brand teams to optimize space usage.
• Travel regularly to markets and maintain strong broker relationships.

Skills

Brand hunter

Relationship builder

Negotiation

Travel readiness

CRM proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Salesforce

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

The Lifestyle Director is responsible for the leasing performance, merchandising strategy, brand relationships, and deal execution across an assigned portfolio of Lifestyle assets. The role is focused on bringing new and relevant brands into the company, elevating the tenant mix, generating revenue, and finding creative ways to reposition or repurpose space for stronger uses. The Director is expected to actively build relationships with contemporary, emerging, and best-in-class brands across fashion, food and beverage, wellness, fitness, beauty, entertainment, and other Lifestyle categories as well as existing brands in the Lifestyle portfolio. Because the portfolio spans multiple markets across the country, this is a highly relationship-driven role requiring regular travel, face-to-face interaction with brands, strong local broker relationships, and firsthand knowledge of each market. The Director maintains direct production responsibility for the portfolio while also overseeing any Leasing Associates, and Leasing Coordinators assigned to support it. The Director is accountable for both individual production and the collective leasing performance of the team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent, relevant experience considered.
• 7+ years of Lifestyle leasing experience.
• Demonstrated success negotiating and executing new leases, renewals, relocations, and anchor transactions.
• Established relationships with national, regional, contemporary, and emerging brands preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively source new tenants and establish new brand relationships.
• Strong merchandising instincts and ability to identify creative solutions for challenging or underutilized space.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to evaluate proformas and deal economics.
• Experience managing and developing leasing professionals preferred.
• Strong understanding of demographics, trade areas, competitive centers, and rental-rate trends.
• Proficiency in Salesforce or a similar CRM platform.
• Advanced working knowledge of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Strong communication, negotiation, relationship-building, and execution skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly across a multi-state portfolio.
• Technology-curious mindset with a willingness to adopt new tools, systems, and data-driven approaches to improve leasing productivity and efficiency.

Key Competencies

• Lifestyle brand knowledge and connectivity
• Strong merchandising instincts
• Relationship builder and proactive brand hunter
• Revenue and production orientation
• Creative approach to space and asset positioningStrong negotiator and deal closer
• Sense of urgency and deal velocity
• Forecasting accuracy and pipeline discipline
• National perspective with strong local-market knowledge
• Cross-functional collaboration and problem solving
• Team leadership, mentorship, and accountability
• Financial and data-driven decision-making
• Strategic thinking with strong execution

Compensation

The expected compensation for this role is made up of a base salary and an advance against incentive compensation, in addition to incentive compensation. The expected range for the base + advance is $100,000 - $135,000. The actual compensation will be based on factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, job-related skills, internal peer equity, market and business considerations and other factors permitted by law.

About Kimco

Kimco's mission is to create destinations for everyday living that inspire a sense of community and deliver value to our many stakeholders. Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) and leading owner and operator of high-quality, open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and mixed-use properties in the United States. The company’s portfolio is strategically concentrated in the first-ring suburbs of the top major metropolitan markets, including high-barrier-to-entry coastal markets and Sun Belt cities. Its tenant mix is focused on essential, necessity-based goods and services that drive multiple shopping trips per week. Publicly traded on the NYSE since 1991 and included in the S&P 500 Index, the company has specialized in shopping center ownership, management, acquisitions, and value-enhancing redevelopment activities for more than 65 years. With a proven commitment to corporate responsibility, Kimco Realty is a recognized industry leader in this area. As of September 30, 2026, the company owned interests in 561 U.S. shopping centers and mixed-use assets comprising 99 million square feet of gross leasable space.