Job Description

Director of Real Estate, Vale Matcha

Vale Matcha is a company looking to turn matcha on its head, creating the first modern matcha company. 

Our Director of Real Estate will take everything they've learned from a more traditional restaurant group's market expansion and develop an innovative approach, leveraging Vale's unique technological and concept-specific advantages to create a competitive advantage to building the market-leader in matcha. 

The Director of Real Estate leads Vale's market expansion and new-location strategy. This person is responsible for identifying high-potential sites, evaluating the financial and operational viability of each opportunity, negotiating favorable business terms, and guiding transactions from initial market research through lease execution.

Key responsibilities

• Develop a market and site-selection strategy aligned with the company's growth plans.
• Leverage Vale's unique mix of concepts to creatively enter new markets
• Identify and evaluate potential locations, including street retail, shopping centers, mixed-use developments, food halls, hospital complexes, educational facilities, and nontraditional venues.
• Build relationships with landlords, developers, brokers, property managers, and other real estate partners.
• Analyze trade areas, customer demographics, foot traffic, visibility, access, parking, competition, occupancy costs, and projected sales.
• Prepare financial analyses and site recommendations for company leadership.
• Negotiate letters of intent, leases, renewals, amendments, tenant-improvement allowances, rent structures, exclusivity provisions, and other key commercial terms.
• Coordinate with legal counsel through lease review and execution.
• Conduct site tours and manage the company's pipeline of prospective locations.
• Partner with operations, finance, construction, design, and marketing teams to determine whether a location can operate successfully.
• Manage due diligence, including zoning, permitted use, utilities, mechanical requirements, licensing constraints, delivery access, and construction feasibility.
• Maintain real estate schedules, deal summaries, approval materials, and reporting.
• Support lease administration and landlord relations for the existing portfolio.
• Track projects through lease execution and handoff to design, construction, and operations.

Qualifications

• Experience in restaurant, retail, hospitality, or commercial real estate.
• Demonstrated experience sourcing locations and negotiating commercial leases.
• Strong understanding of restaurant occupancy costs, unit economics, and site-performance drivers.
• Ability to interpret letters of intent, leases, site plans, demographic data, and financial projections.
• Strong negotiation, relationship-management, and project-management skills.
• Comfortable working independently in an entrepreneurial, growth-oriented organization.
• Willingness to travel within target markets and visit sites regularly.

Success measures

• Quality and volume of the new-site pipeline
• Number of approved and executed locations
• Achievement of target occupancy costs and deal economics
• Tenant-improvement allowances and other landlord concessions secured
• Speed from site identification to lease execution
• Performance of new locations relative to underwriting
• Accuracy and completeness of site due diligence

Benefits

• Company Equity
• ORCA Card
• Medical, Dental, and Vision
• Unlimited matcha

Compensation

• 150,000 - 170,000 annual salary + commissions
• Annual bonuses
• Equity

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