Key Responsibilities:

Role Objective

- Lead store network expansion by identifying, securing, and activating high-potential retail locations.

Over the next 12-18 months, the leader will drive the company's expansion goal of 500 new stores by:

- Defining and executing the network expansion strategy

- Building a high-performing property acquisition team

- Strengthening the location identification playbook

- Accelerating site evaluation and decision-making

- Negotiating commercially attractive leases with landlords

- This role is critical to enabling our long-term ambition of building a large national network of entrepreneur-led neighbourhood stores.

- Design & Execute the Network Expansion Strategy

- Develop the roadmap to open 500-800 stores in 12-18 months.

Responsibilities include:

- Identify priority markets and micro-markets

- Define market and micro-market expansion strategy

- Establish store rollout cadence

- Ensure site acquisition pipeline supports expansion targets

- Align expansion plans with operations, supply chain, and entrepreneur onboarding teams

Outcome: A clear and executable network expansion plan that enables predictable store openings.

Build and Lead a High-Performance Property Acquisition Team:

Responsibilities include:

- Hiring and developing strong property acquisition managers

- Setting clear productivity metrics (sites sourced, deals closed, cost improvements)

- Creating structured decision frameworks

- Coaching team members in negotiation, deal closure discipline and commercial thinking

Outcome: A scalable and disciplined expansion team capable of sustaining rapid growth.

Strengthen the Location Identification Playbook:

- Continuously improve the framework used to identify winning locations.

Responsibilities include:

- Refining the store location playbook

- Integrating learnings from existing store performance

- Defining catchment analysis methods

- Developing clear location scoring systems

- Ensuring consistency in site evaluation across cities

Outcome: A repeatable and data-informed approach to selecting high-performing store locations.

Introduce Tools & Technology for Faster Location Validation:

- Improve speed and quality of decision-making.

Responsibilities include:

- Identifying and implementing data tools for location evaluation

- Integrating maps, demographic data, and footfall indicators

- Developing dashboards for pipeline tracking

- Reducing time from site identification to approval

Outcome: Faster and more accurate site viability assessments.

Lead Commercial Negotiations with Landlords:

- Drive strong lease economics for every store.

Responsibilities include:

- Negotiating rent, lock-in terms, escalation structures, and fit-out clauses

- Building relationships with key brokers and landlords

- Establishing commercial benchmarks across cities

- Reducing rental costs while securing high-visibility locations

- Outcome: High-quality locations secured at competitive rental economics.

Success Metrics (12-18 Months)

- The leader will be evaluated on:

Expansion Metrics

- Number of stores successfully signed and opened

- Pipeline of qualified locations

- Time from site identification to deal closure

- Location Quality Metrics

- % stores meeting location playbook criteria

- Early store performance vs projections

Commercial Metrics

- Average rental cost vs benchmark

- Improvement in lease terms

- Team Metrics

- Team productivity

- Hiring and capability improvement

- Deal closure efficiency

Ideal Candidate Profile

- 10-15+ years of experience in retail expansion, real estate, or network development

- Experience scaling multi-location retail formats

- Experience in building retail networks at Lenskart, McDonalds etc

- Strong negotiation and commercial acumen

- Proven ability to build and lead teams

- Analytical mindset with structured problem-solving ability

- Comfortable working in fast-scaling entrepreneurial environments

Leadership Traits

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

- Ownership mindset

- Structured thinking

- Strong negotiation instincts

- Ability to operate at both strategy and ground execution levels

- High bias for speed and action