Pre-Development Manager

Scooter's Coffee; United States; Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading coffee brand is seeking a Pre-Development Manager to oversee the development process for new franchise locations, ensuring compliance with brand standards and facilitating communication with various teams. The role requires at least 5 years of experience in commercial development and project management, alongside strong problem-solving skills and proficiency in project management tools. Regular travel to Omaha, NE, is expected for candidates outside the area, and the position allows for remote work from states where the company operates.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of commercial development and project management experience.
• Strong understanding of surveys, environmental reports, and civil engineering plans.
• Proficient in reading and interpreting construction documents and codes.

Responsibilities

• Lead activities from LOI signing through due diligence and construction preparation.
• Educate franchisees on brand standards and development requirements.
• Manage the property development process and timelines.

Skills

Commercial development

Project management

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Technical data analysis

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Power BI

Smartsheet

Job description

This position may be performed remotely, in the United States. Candidates must live in a state where Scooter’s Coffee operates coffee shop locations. Scooter’s Coffee is headquartered in Omaha, NE. Regular travel to Omaha will be expected for candidates that do not reside in Omaha, NE.

Description

The Pre-Development Manager leads all activities from signing of the LOI through due diligence, entitlement approvals, and final preparation for construction on new franchise locations. In this role, you will partner closely with franchisees and cross-functional teams – including real estate, design, construction, legal, and operations – to evaluate sign feasibility, oversee technical reviews, and ensure every project aligns with brand standards and development requirements.

The Pre-Development Manager plays a vital role in accelerating development timelines, mitigating risk, maintaining brand compliance, and ensuring a seamless handoff of the construction team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for franchisees from site acceptance through all phases of pre-development. Educate the franchises on the schedule of responsibilities, brand standards, SOPs, development requirements, timelines, and approval processes. Provide ongoing support to ensure franchisee preparedness, alignment, and timely decision making
• Direct and manage all aspects of the property development process with responsibility for developing project scope, feasibility, sign exhibits, scheduling, working budget, construction quality control, issue resolution, permit deliverables and turnover for construction
• Establish, implement, and manage a schedule for the design development and review process, documentation, and development of multiple new sites
• Initiate project file setup and coordinating dissemination of project forecast to interested parties and overseeing project start up by preparing architectural portions of standard initial design package, manage key deliverables and milestones.
• Identify, qualify, hire, direct and monitor outside design consultants and other services to support the development process.
• Responsible for contract administration, and cost tracking for consulting service, ensure quality control, maintain a liaison with consultants while holding consultants accountable for scope, cost, schedule, and quality.
• Drive parallel workstreams to reduce total development duration while keeping franchisees informed. Proactively address delays, bottlenecks, and missing inputs to keep projects on track
• Oversee all submittals, applications, public hearing process necessary to construct and open the proposed restaurants. Execute and direct the tasks for obtaining all necessary government, developer, and landlord approvals.
• Understanding of municipal processes, timeline expectations, and approval requirements. Ability to foresee entitlement challenges and guide consultants or franchisees accordingly.
• Work closely with construction managers to address design and documentation related issues and articulate direction as required.
• Act as a resource for technical information to ensure an effective decision-making process throughout the real estate development and construction process.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years of commercial development and project management experience, including managing design consultants and navigating permitting/entitlements within mixed-use and QSR environments
• Strong understanding of surveys, environmental reports, geotechnical studies, traffic analyses, and civil engineering plans.
• Proven ability to read, interpret, and apply construction documents, design schedules, building codes, and municipal ordinances.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build trust, collaborate effectively, and maintain professional relationships through clear and proactive communication.
• Ability to adapt to changing business needs, solve problems quickly, analyze technical data, identify risks, and recommend solutions that reduce timelines and minimize project costs.
• Demonstrated success managing complex, multilayered processes and overseeing multiple projects of varying scope and construction types simultaneously.
• Strong judgment and decision making skills; capable of working independently across all aspects of site design and predevelopment while proactively addressing issues before they impact downstream phases.
• Skilled in developing SOPs, checklists, templates, and standardized workflows to improve efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across markets.
• Proficient in project management software (Microsoft Office Suite, Power BI, Smartsheet).

Disclaimer

The functions and skills described here are general in nature and represent the type of work performed, but they do not constitute an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities performed on the job. A successful candidate must be able to meet the listed essential duties and physical demands of the position, either with or without reasonable accommodation.