Sr Manager, Real Estate

Job Purpose

The Senior Manager, Real Estate serves as a strategic advisor to franchise partners and internal stakeholders, supporting Panera’s real estate strategy with a strong emphasis on portfolio optimization, reinvestment planning, and development governance. The Senior Manager partners with franchisees and internal stakeholders to support both traditional bakery-café development and non-traditional opportunities, ensuring alignment with Panera’s growth objectives, brand standards, and real estate strategy. They will focus on guiding franchisees through market planning, site evaluation, remodel/refresh/relocation decisions, and long-range portfolio strategy. The Senior Manager ensures alignment with Panera’s brand standards, financial objectives, and development processes while supporting the Director of Real Estate in executing enterprise-wide initiatives. The successful candidate will have a keen and up to date understanding of real estate trends and activities in their markets. They must make fact-based decisions and have the confidence to articulate them.

Location: Field-based/Remote

Duties & Responsibilities

• Advise franchise partners on portfolio optimization, including remodels, refreshes, relocations, closures, and reinvestment prioritization.
• Provide franchisees with guidance on site feasibility, trade area strength, and long-term market potential, ensuring alignment with Panera’s criteria for demographics, access, visibility, and operational feasibility.
• Conduct real estate performance reviews to help franchisees diagnose issues and help identify strategic actions.
• Support franchisees in evaluating existing cafés and determining appropriate reinvestment or repositioning strategies.
• Partner with the Director of Real Estate and Real Estate Strategy to support long-range market planning and ADA alignment.
• Support franchise partners through LOI review, lease negotiation guidance, and development process expectations.
• Present franchise opportunities to the Development Committee on behalf of the franchise partner.
• Build strong working relationships with Operations, Construction, Design, Legal, Finance, and Project Management.
• Partner with Portfolio Management to support lease renewals, relocations, remodels, and other portfolio actions.
• Monitor franchise development pipelines to ensure timely movement through intake, evaluation, design, and permitting.
• Ensure franchise partners understand Panera’s development standards, timelines, and approval processes.
• Support updates to market plans and maintain accurate documentation of market conditions and development activity.
• Maintain strong relationships with brokers, developers, municipalities, and other external stakeholders.
• Represent Panera professionally at industry meetings, conferences, and development community events.
• Maintain project information and timelines using tools like FranConnect and Sitewise.

Qualifications (Education & Experience)

• 5+ years of experience in commercial real estate, preferably in multi-unit restaurant or retail environments.
• Experience advising franchisees or managing franchise development processes is strongly preferred.
• Exposure to non-traditional development projects, alternative venue formats, or multi-channel restaurant growth is preferred.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret market data, financial performance, and real estate trends.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; highly organized and detail oriented.
• Ability to influence others through coaching, counseling, and fact-based communication.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Personal Qualifications

The successful candidate will:

• Be an innovative and strategic thinker that is detail and relationship oriented.
• Be a high-energy, creative, flexible, purposeful, self-starting individual who is capable of quickly building relationships. 
• Be a great communicator who will quickly develop credibility and rapport with franchisees and cross-functional partners.
• Utilize FACT-BASED COMMUNICATION skills with an ability to present complex data and problems in a concise, simplified, and effective manner.
• Provider of CLARITY via excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Take ownership and pride in growing the retail business.
• Be ambitious, initiative-taking, and willing to do whatever it takes to contribute to the Company’s continued success.
• Have excellent planning and organizational skills and demonstrate strong presentation skills.
• Customer service approach with ability to be HIGHLY RESPONSIVE to sensitive issues, complex inquiries, and concerns from both Field-Based and Corporate-Based associates and leadership.
• Strong BIAS TOWARDS ACTION through effective project and process management.

Working Conditions

• 50% travel

Physical Requirements

• While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans

Competitive Pay $145,305 - $165,648 annually

The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.