Director of Leasing

The Director, Leasing will lead real estate development and leasing efforts for our QSR brand. This role is responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and securing prime retail locations to drive the company’s growth strategy. The Director will serve as the primary point of contact with landlords, brokers, and developers, while also working closely with Legal and Construction to ensure the long-term success of each site.

This is a hybrid role and requires 3 days in office at the Markham, Ontario office

This role requires exceptional negotiation ability, a deep understanding of retail leasing, and proven experience in the QSR or broader retail industry. The successful candidate thrives on building relationships. This individual must be passionate about achieving the best deal possible; strong desire to win (a natural-born negotiator).

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and evaluate new street real estate opportunities across high-traffic urban and suburban areas, while supporting mall programs.
• Analyze market conditions, demographics, co-tenancy, and competition to forecast sales potential (within 15% accuracy of actual first-year sales).
• Lead all LOI negotiations, including certain construction terms as required (Landlord’s work), ensuring terms that go beyond market standards by adapting effectively to different negotiation styles. Exercise well-reasoned judgement to determine appropriateness of when and how to side step and defer contentious issues as well as addressing issues and responding to Landlords in a timely manner without jeopardizing the deal, or conceding.
• Manage and maintain relationships with landlords, brokers, developers and other industry contacts to secure strategic deals, with a strong ability to interpret landlord dynamics and organizational connections.
• Assess and recommend deals in accordance with corporate criteria and represent a balanced and objective view of each deal (presenting both positive and negative aspects, giving due concern to all factors).
• Effectively negotiate specific legal and construction issues during LOI and lease negotiations, when required, and without sacrificing standard terms and criteria, and without losing the deal
• Maximize the number of profitable new deals as well as obtaining the best possible outcomes for renewals and relocations
• Maintain, update and manage a database and an active pipeline of prospective sites across multiple regions and maintain detailed, pertinent site details to facilitate regular follow-up with leasing contacts.
• Attend ICSC conferences and undertake Landlord visits for specific deals or when appropriate, portfolio reviews.

Key Qualifications

• Minimum 5–10+ years of progressive experience in retail leasing, preferably in QSR.
• Proven track record of securing prime sites and successfully negotiating commercial leases.
• Proven ability to engage in challenging negotiations with landlords and bring negotiations to successful conclusion
• Strong business acumen with the ability to analyze deals and forecast sales potential, as well as the ability to complete supporting documentation and apply sound judgment in deal analysis.
• Knowledge of QSR construction processes.
• Extensive industry network and long-term landlord/broker relationships.
• Required to travel extensively (to the US) (minimum one week per month, including weekends and can be with short notice).
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills. A self-starter with willingness to learn and negotiate terms important to the company.
• Demonstrated ability to build long-term relationships
• Persistent and creative negotiator who enjoys the process and celebrates achieving favorable outcomes.

Additional Considerations

• Must be comfortable working in an entrepreneurial, hands-on culture with frequent leadership involvement in deal review and strategy. Someone who celebrates being different with a deep appreciation for taking the road less travelled.
• Ideal candidates will have corporate leasing experience (not exclusively franchise or broker backgrounds).
• Prior experience in high-growth QSR brands or multi-site retail rollouts is a strong asset.

The expected compensation range for this role is $120,000 to $160,000.
Our team reviews applicants, and we do not use AI to screen and select candidates.