National Real Estate Growth & Site Strategy Lead

Ace Hardware

Oak Brook (IL)

On-site

USD 138,000 - 176,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Company Car, phone and fuel card

21 days vacation

6 paid holidays

Tuition assistance program

Employee discounts on Ace merchandise

Ace Cares Week

Job summary

Ace Hardware seeks a National Real Estate Development Manager to lead real estate strategy and development for Ace's growth across the United States. You will source, evaluate, negotiate, and secure high-quality locations in collaboration with New Business leadership, Market Development Managers, brokers, landlords, and developers.

The role emphasizes market analysis, financial modeling, occupancy-cost optimization, and cross-functional execution to accelerate new store growth.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Business, Real Estate, Finance, Urban Planning, Economics, or a related field.
Minimum of seven years of commercial retail real estate experience, with demonstrated experience in site selection, commercial leasing, landlord negotiations, retail development, and market analysis.
Expertise in market analysis, retail site selection, lease negotiation, deal structuring, occupancy-cost and deal-economics analysis, and financial modeling.
Ability to build and manage national relationships with brokers, landlords, developers, REITs, shopping center owners, and real estate disposition firms, and to influence without authority across New Business Leadership, Market Development Managers, retailers, Legal, Finance, Retail Operations, and external partners.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, including the ability to prepare clear site recommendation packages and present findings to senior leadership and retailers.
Ability to travel extensively throughout the United States, with 40–60% national travel.

Responsibilities

Own the national strategy and execution for sourcing real estate opportunities that increase the number, quality, and velocity of sites for Ace's new store development; lead site selection and market analysis.
Translate growth priorities into broker assignments, market searches, and deployment strategies; identify markets where real estate limits growth and develop intervention plans.
Establish and manage Ace's national network of local tenant representation brokers; set expectations, accountability, and communication cadence.
Develop and maintain a national real estate pipeline and inventory of potential locations, including second-generation sites, redevelopment projects, and new construction opportunities.
Coordinate cross-functionally to support the transition from site identification to lease execution and activation; improve speed-to-site and pipeline visibility.
Prepare and present financial, site, and decision-support analyses to senior leadership, including occupancy cost assessments, deal economics, and ROI considerations.
Own or influence national real estate process standardization for broker engagement, site submissions, market tours, LOIs, and cross-functional handoffs.
Support lease negotiation and deal structuring through the local broker network; evaluate terms related to rent, TI allowances, CAM, renewal options, and exclusivity.
Develop a national landlord and developer account strategy to generate portfolio-wide and off-market opportunities for Ace as a top national retail tenant.