Manager, Real Estate Finance (Development)

Advance Auto Parts•Raleigh, NC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Real Estate Finance serves as the financial backbone of Advance’s growth and development agenda. The role leads financial planning and analysis across the full investment lifecycle for new stores, hub stores, market hubs, relocations, remodels, and other strategic real estate investments, from site-level underwriting and capital planning through forecasting, performance reporting, and post-investment analysis. This work equips leaders with the insight, rigor, and transparency needed to shape investment strategy, allocate capital effectively, and drive disciplined, profitable growth. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Real Estate Finance, this role builds, leads, and sustains a high-performing team of Senior Financial Analysts and Financial Analysts responsible for investment underwriting, growth capital planning, development pipeline analytics, and new-store performance. The Manager works directly with cross-functional leaders across Real Estate Development, Construction, Store Operations, Strategy, and Corporate FP&A, and regularly engages senior leaders to frame tradeoffs, challenge assumptions, and provide clear recommendations on material investment decisions. This high-visibility role requires a finance leader who combines strong investment and modeling expertise with sound business judgment, executive-level communication, and a demonstrated ability to lead through others. The successful candidate will navigate ambiguity, constructively challenge assumptions, and translate complex real estate economics into actionable insights that strengthen investment decisions and support profitable growth.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or another quantitatively rigorous field.
Six or more years of progressive experience in corporate finance, FP&A, real estate finance, investment analysis, or a related discipline, including direct ownership of complex financial models, forecasts, investment evaluations, and decision support for material business or capital-allocation decisions.
Advanced proficiency in building complex financial models from the ground up, including integrated cash flow, investment underwriting, capital planning, forecasting, scenario, and sensitivity models. Strong command of NPV, IRR, return-based evaluation, and the key financial and operating drivers of investment performance.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous business problems, synthesize large and varied data sets, identify key drivers, and translate analysis into clear, decision-ready insights and executive presentations. Working proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint and enterprise financial planning, reporting, and data-visualization tools.
Demonstrated ability to validate, document, maintain, and improve complex financial models, with disciplined assumptions, controls, and review standards that support accurate, scalable, and audit-ready analysis.
Proven ability to combine financial analysis with sound business judgment, communicate complex concepts clearly, constructively challenge assumptions, influence without direct authority, and advise cross-functional and senior leaders on consequential investment and capital-allocation decisions.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading, coaching, or developing analysts, project teams, or cross-functional workstreams, with demonstrated ability to set priorities, provide effective feedback, raise quality standards, and hold others accountable. Formal people-management experience is valued but not required.
Experience supporting a multi-unit retail, consumer, or service organization is strongly preferred, particularly with exposure to store growth, market expansion, new-unit economics, or portfolio performance. Candidates with relevant commercial real estate investment, development, or portfolio experience across retail, multifamily, industrial, office, mixed-use, or other property types will also be considered.
Experience supporting acquisitions or site selection, development pipeline planning, construction, lease economics, asset or portfolio analysis, and project opening or stabilization within a large or geographically dispersed portfolio.
Experience with Anaplan, CoStar, or comparable enterprise planning, commercial real estate analytics, lease administration, portfolio management, or development pipeline tools.
Experience with Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Alteryx, or comparable data-management, automation, and visualization tools.
MBA or other relevant graduate degree, CPA, CFA, or another finance, accounting, or real estate credential.
Experience supporting capital committees, site approval processes, executive investment reviews, post-investment performance programs, portfolio optimization, or finance transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

Lead the financial evaluation of new stores, hub stores, market hubs, relocations, remodels, and other growth investments. Establish site-level economics, evaluate returns and key sensitivities, pressure-test assumptions, and present clear recommendations to support capital-approval decisions.
Own the integrated financial view of the development pipeline, including unit volume, opening cadence, capital phasing, pre-opening costs, rent commencement, and earnings impact. Maintain scenario capability and align Real Estate, Construction, Operations, and Finance to a consistent set of dates and assumptions.
Lead the financial planning, forecasting, and governance processes for the growth portfolio. Monitor approvals, commitments, spend, accruals, and forecast changes; evaluate tradeoffs when capital is constrained; and recommend allocation actions that direct capital toward the highest-value opportunities.
Own the growth and development components of the Annual Operating Plan, periodic forecasts, and long-range plan. Explain changes in volume, timing, capital, revenue, and profitability, identify risks and opportunities, and provide leadership with a clear view of performance against plan.
Lead new-store and project performance reporting from opening through stabilization. Compare actual results with approved economics, identify the drivers of performance, and translate findings into stronger underwriting assumptions, investment guardrails, and development strategies.
Serve as the primary Finance partner to Real Estate Development and work directly with leaders across Construction, Store Operations, Strategy, and Corporate FP&A. Support senior leadership discussions on market prioritization, site selection, deal structures, capital intensity, and portfolio growth by framing tradeoffs, constructively challenging assumptions, and translating complex analysis into concise, decision-ready recommendations.
Own the integrity, consistency, and continuous improvement of development pro formas, pipeline models, reporting, and supporting processes. Establish clear assumptions, controls, documentation, and review standards that produce accurate, scalable, and audit-ready analysis.
Build, lead, and maintain a high-performing team of Senior Financial Analysts and Financial Analysts. Establish clear priorities and accountability, allocate work effectively, ensure consistently high-quality and timely deliverables, coach and develop talent, strengthen investment and modeling capabilities, and build a sustainable pipeline of finance leaders.