Director, Real Estate

At Home Group•Coppell, TX

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Real Estate is a senior dealmaker and market-facing leader responsible for originating, negotiating, and advancing new-store opportunities that support At Home’s profitable growth. The role owns the front end of the real estate lifecycle, from market prioritization and deal sourcing through investment recommendation, executive approval, transaction execution, and handoff for development. The Director is accountable for the quality, pace, and commercial value of the new-store pipeline, representing At Home with landlords, developers, brokers, and other decision-makers. The portfolio includes second-generation and ground-up large-format retail opportunities. The Director partners with Real Estate, Finance, Legal, Construction, Store Operations, Store Planning, Analytics, and executive leadership. The role leads complex negotiations and investment recommendations, coordinates due diligence and development feasibility, directs matrixed deal teams, and maintains a prioritized pipeline with milestones, economics, closing probabilities, and risk flags. Regular travel is required for market tours, site visits, negotiations, industry events, and other business needs. Work location is the Home Office in Coppell, Texas. The schedule is hybrid: onsite Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and work from home Mondays and Fridays.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
10+ years of progressive corporate retail real estate, site selection, acquisitions, leasing, or development experience.
Substantial independent responsibility for complex transactions and a successful multi-unit store growth program.
Demonstrated record of personally originating, negotiating, and closing complex retail real estate transactions, including competitive site wins, creative deal structures, and measurable economic outcomes.
Strong experience with second-generation space and ground-up development, including shopping centers, power centers, malls, and other retail formats relevant to a large-format retailer.
Credibility with retail landlords, developers, and brokers, and advanced command of LOIs, leases, purchase agreements, ground leases, development agreements, REAs, and commercial deal levers.
Strong understanding of new-store economics and ability to interpret pro formas, occupancy costs, capital requirements, and investment returns.
Ability to evaluate trade areas, demographics, competition, access, visibility, co-tenancy, and other drivers of store performance.
Ability to manage a high-volume pipeline, prioritize competing opportunities, anticipate obstacles, and maintain momentum against milestones.
Strong judgment, presence, persuasive communication, and ability to negotiate with sophisticated counterparties, influence executives, and align stakeholders without direct authority.
Ability and willingness to travel regularly for market tours, site visits, negotiations, industry events, and other business needs.

Nice To Haves

MBA, J.D., CCIM, or another relevant advanced credential.
Large-format or big-box retail experience.
Experience helping a retailer or other multi-unit consumer business restart, accelerate, or materially scale its new-location pipeline.
Active, productive relationships with national and regional retail brokers, landlords, and developers that can generate differentiated deal flow in target markets.
Experience using site-selection, GIS, mobility, demographic, or market-intelligence platforms such as Placer.ai, Buxton, Esri, or comparable tools.
Experience navigating entitlements, municipal approvals, incentives, and other public processes affecting site viability and development timing.
Experience leading matrixed teams and developing others; direct people management is beneficial but not required.

Responsibilities

Shape and recommend market-entry and expansion strategies aligned with enterprise growth and return objectives.
Challenge and validate whitespace, trade-area, demographic, competitor, cannibalization, and site-performance assumptions with leadership and Analytics.
Source proprietary and competitive opportunities through national and regional networks, build a multi-market pipeline, and position At Home as a preferred retail tenant or buyer.
Prioritize second-generation, ground-up, and power-center opportunities based on strategic and financial fit.
Lead commercial negotiations and own relationships for complex LOIs, leases, purchase agreements, ground leases, development agreements, and REAs.
Structure commercially compelling transactions, resolve impasses, and partner with Legal through documentation and execution while protecting At Home’s economics and risk position.
Develop the commercial case for recommended transactions with Finance and Analytics, considering rent, tenant improvement allowances, occupancy costs, capital, development costs, pro formas, returns, and downside risks.
Present clear go/no-go recommendations and alternatives to executive decision-makers.
Coordinate site-level diligence with Construction, Design, Legal, and external partners, including zoning, access, parking, signage, utilities, entitlements, environmental considerations, and development risks.
Identify diligence issues early and drive practical resolution.
Direct matrixed deal teams and external advisers through diligence, negotiation, approvals, and development handoff; establish milestones, escalate risks, and hold stakeholders accountable.
Present decision-ready market and deal recommendations to executive leadership and approval committees; lead executive market tours and secure alignment on material business terms.
Represent At Home externally and cultivate relationships with landlords, developers, brokers, municipalities, and industry organizations.
Build market intelligence, represent the brand at relevant industry events, and pursue appropriate incentives.
Maintain an accurate, prioritized deal pipeline with stage gates, economics, closing probabilities, milestones, and risk flags.
Track progress against growth objectives and improve transaction speed, quality, and execution discipline while modeling At Home’s values.