Director of Real Estate Development

Tierra Encantada HQ • Minneapolis, MN

1d • $130,000 - $150,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Tierra Encantada is the fastest-growing Spanish immersion early education® company in the U.S., providing high-quality care and education to children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. Our model blends language immersion, strong operational standards, and a focus on whole-child development to deliver a differentiated experience for families and educators alike. Backed by a $30M investment from a premier minority investor, we are scaling nationally and on track to double in size every 18-24 months over the next five years. Our growth and performance have been recognized by the Financial Times (The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies), Inc. Magazine (10 Hottest Franchise Businesses in America), and Entrepreneur Magazine (Top 50 Franchise Companies Championing Diversity). We are building a company where operational excellence and accountability are non-negotiable. As we scale rapidly, ensuring consistent performance and strong leadership across centers is critical, making this role a key driver of our continued success. This is an opportunity for a leader who thrives on solving problems, driving measurable results, and building high-performing teams in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
At Tierra Encantada, our values fuel everything we do. We are passionate about nurturing children's growth and creating intentional learning environments that inspire curiosity and development. We celebrate the richness of diversity, embracing the unique perspectives it brings to our community. Guided by optimism, we are driven by a shared vision for a brighter future for every child, family, and team member we serve. Join us and be part of a mission-driven team that is committed to making a lasting impact-one child, one family, and one community at a time.

Position Overview
Mission
Rapidly improve underperforming centers by diagnosing root causes, strengthening leadership capability, reinforcing operational discipline, and building sustainable performance habits so each center can achieve company standards for quality, customer experience, compliance, and profitability within defined improvement timelines.
Role Summary
The Director of Location Excellence is a high-impact, field-based leadership role responsible for improving the performance of underperforming childcare centers across the company's portfolio. This individual serves as a hands-on turnaround leader, coach, and trainer, embedded within centers to help diagnose challenges, stabilize operations, strengthen leadership, and improve enrollment, labor management, and financial performance. This role is not only responsible for addressing immediate issues, but also for building the capability of Center Directors, Assistant Directors, and local teams so improvements are sustained after the assignment ends. The Director of Location Excellence operates with strong judgment, urgency, and a practical, supportive approach to change leadership. This position reports into Finance to reinforce a data-driven, objective focus on center performance and profitability improvement, while working in close partnership with Operations leadership, HR, and other support functions. This role requires 80%+ travel, with assignments typically lasting 4-12 weeks per center. The role is expected to provide clear weekly progress updates for each assigned center, including KPI movement, wins, risks, talent actions, and next-step priorities.

Requirements

• 5–10+ years of experience in multi-unit operations, turnaround, or field leadership roles
• Proven track record of improving underperforming locations and delivering measurable results
• Demonstrated ability to lead through change, assess talent, make difficult people decisions, and build strong teams
• Strong coaching and training capability, with the ability to develop struggling or inexperienced leaders into stronger operators.
• Ability to influence without direct authority and build trust quickly in challenging environments.
• Proven success leading turnarounds while preserving team morale and strengthening culture.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous, high-pressure environments
• Strong financial acumen (experience with P&L, labor, and cost management)
• Experience in childcare, education, hospitality, retail, healthcare, or similar multi-site environments preferred
• Strong written communication skills with the ability to synthesize findings, track KPI movement, and provide concise executive-level weekly updates.
• Ability and willingness to travel 80%+ and temporarily relocate as needed (4-12 weeks at a time)

Responsibilities

• Embed on-site in assigned centers and take ownership of or coach on performance improvement efforts.
• Complete a root cause assessment and establish initial turnaround priorities within the first 10-14 days of each assignment.
• Coach and train Center Directors, Assistant Directors, and key staff on leadership routines, labor management, enrollment practices, staffing discipline, and accountability.
• Model high-performing operational and leadership behaviors in-center.
• Evaluate talent using Right Person, Right Seat principles and recommend coaching, role changes, or talent upgrades in partnership with HR and Operations.
• Reinforce consistent execution of company standards, routines, and SOPs.
• Identify barriers to enrollment, parent experience, staffing, and service delivery, then help implement stronger practices.
• Partner with Finance to improve labor management, scheduling efficiency, cost discipline, and progress toward center-level profitability.
• Quantify the primary financial drivers of underperformance and identify the highest-impact actions needed to improve contribution margin and operating discipline.
• Provide weekly written progress updates for each assigned center, including wins, risks, KPI movement, talent actions, and next-step priorities.
• Prepare the center for handoff with stable leadership, clear accountability, improved operating routines, and a practical 30/60/90-day action plan.
• Ensure center leaders can independently sustain core operating, labor, and enrollment routines prior to transition back to Operations.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 12 paid holidays
• PTO accrual of 160 hours
• 401(k) with 3% employer match
• Discounted childcare and waitlist priority for enrollment
• Company paid professional development
• Corporate office amenities (gym, wellness/nursing room, onsite company cafe with coffee, espresso bar, beverages, and snacks available to employees at no cost, onsite free parking), casual work environment, and employee-focused events.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees