National Director, New Business Development-Specialty Leasing

Job Location:

Corporate Indianapolis

Primary Purpose

The primary purpose of this position is to develop new business by identifying, evaluating, and developing national brands, permanent retailers and e-retailers into national Specialty Leasing accounts as well as achievement of assigned revenue goals through package deal-making and account growth.

Principal Responsibilities

The successful candidate’s responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

• Identify, evaluate and develop new business with retail brands and negotiate deals to generate revenue that will result in the departments overall achievement of its financial goals. New business development is critical to the ongoing growth of this segment of our Specialty Leasing business.
• Work with Permanent Retailers (traditional & lux) on Popup activations. This will include working with Permanent Leasing Agents to identify current Permanent Retailers with interest in shorter term activations.
• Heavy national and international canvassing and overnight travel is required to cultivate new business opportunities with compelling brands and retailers. Identify, connect with, and launch new-to-portfolio brands through extensive physical and social media canvassing.
• Continue to help grow our international brand onboarding program. Canvass to, and work with international brands to open US stores within the SIMON portfolio (Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, etc.).
• Attend industry conventions and trade shows (CES Show, Spree/RECon, ASD, etc.). Review publications covering latest industry trends to identify the hottest retailers/brands and other potential income generating tenants.
• Evaluate retailers for their desirability as tenants within the SIMON portfolio. Evaluate general merchandise and brands carried, price points, level of service offered, store design and general store appearance. Maintain records of potential tenants for future reference.
• Work with our Regional STL Agents to identify the strongest regional brands who are ready to scale across the portfolio and facilitate their expansion.
• Structure creative deals through an outside-the-box approach to contribute to the achievement of the financial goals for the Specialty Leasing Department. Be the tenant point of contact for setting operational standards and presentation guidelines. Coordinate and monitor all administrative functions such as, lease generation, rent collection, accounts receivable oversight, sales collection, etc.
• Develop a strategy to source new brands through heavy canvassing, tracking the latest trends to identify budding brands (Shopping Centers Today, Retail Wire, Fierce Retail, WWD, Internet Retailer, Inc5000, etc.), utilizing social media to connect and network with brand decision makers (LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.).
• Establish rent guidelines and lend consistency across all regions and platforms with regards to pricing for like uses. Review and approve tenant design submittals.
• Submit regular reports for deal activity, revenue goal achievement and other program implementations to Senior Vice President- Specialty Leasing.
• Review Anaplan and other system generated reports for accuracy on a regular basis and report any found discrepancies to supervisor.
• Review and analyze tenant sales reports for opportunities as well as at-risk tenants. Analyze category sales to determine successful individual and category merchant types. Identify poorly performing tenants and de-leasing opportunities.
• Coordinate efforts with our Regional STL VP’s, Permanent Leasing team and Senior Management to identify new and existing national and regional tenants that have interest in pursuing locations within our portfolio. Bring an innovative approach to brand development and deal making to continue the evolution of the Specialty Leasing Department. Ultimately the development of new national accounts through piloting, incubation and brand development is vital to the growth of our Specialty Leasing business.
• Attend corporate portfolio review meetings when applicable.
• Travel to meet prospective tenants that do not typically participate in portfolio review but have expressed interest in exploring short term popup activations.
  
  

Preferred Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a business related discipline.
• Five years or more with SIMON or seven years of industry sales and brand development experience.
• Proven history of achieving Specialty Leasing income goals.
• Working knowledge of Specialty Leasing, procedures and policies.
• Strong math and accounting skills.
• Experience with SIMON budget process and program tools.
• Well developed interpersonal and negotiating skills.
• Resourcefulness, creativity, self-starter, innovative approach.