Kiddie Academy®, a leading provider of educational child care centers, is looking for a talented and dynamic National Real Estate Manager to join our Real Estate team to support our continued growth and expansion plans.  This position works as part of our collaborative team in assisting new and existing franchisees with securing real estate using a lease or purchase and sale agreement (“PSA”) for the operation of the franchisee’s Academy and reports directly to the Director of Real Estate. The ideal candidate should have experience in Retail Real Estate working with retailer or tenant seeking commercial space.

This is an “in-market” REMOTE work position.  Although our corporate office is located in Abingdon, MD, we are looking for the best qualified candidate who resides in the Greater Atlanta, Georgia area to better serve our franchisees in that region.   

About this role:

• Assist franchisees/franchise applicants in developing a site selection strategy
• Refer (upon franchisee’s request) and work with real estate brokers
• Provide guidance on KADF site selection guidelines
• Screen all potential sites for viability
• Conduct market research on potential sites
• In-market tours of potential sites with the franchisees and brokers
• Perform internal analysis on all qualified sites
• Create internal-only pro-forma business model for potential sites
• Assist in the negotiation of business terms to lease or purchase potential sites utilizing a letter of intent
• Provide support during lease or PSA negotiations
• Prepare site evaluation packages and present site for acceptance to the KADF Site Acceptance Committee
• Update and maintain internal business systems related to site selection functions

About you:

• Experience in the franchise industry is preferred

• Experience in child-care real estate and development is preferred

• Previous transactional real estate experience working directly for a retailer or as a commercial real estate broker primarily focused on commercial-retail real estate

• Thorough understanding of and experience with commercial real estate leases and contracts, and translating it into quality locations

• Ability to network with real estate brokers and developers

• Ability to negotiate business terms of a lease or PSA   

• Familiarity with tenant improvements and how it relates to the business terms of a commercial lease 

• Excellent communication skills

• Ability to utilize the latest business software regarding site selection, demographics, mapping, and Microsoft Office (proficient in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint)

• Ability to be persuasive and aggressive with franchisees, landlords and brokers to drive deals

• Ability to travel 20 - 25%

(Please note this position is not a property management role.)

Why join the Kiddie Academy team?

Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care has been preparing young minds for future success since its founding in 1981. With more than 280 independently owned franchises throughout the United States, this stable company is poised for continued growth to over 300 locations this year. In this role, you will:

• truly make a lasting impact in the lives of families, communities, and entrepreneurs nationwide
• enjoy generous benefits, including 100% company-paid medical and life insurance for you, plus company-paid dental and vision for you and your family; generous 401K match; childcare tuition discounts; paid maternity/paternity leave, and more
• have a balance of flexibility combined with in-person collaboration—while we value collaborating in person at our corporate headquarters, we also offer flexibility with generous paid time off and holidays, paid volunteer time off to support local nonprofits, and an allowance of remote workdays

For the second-straight year, Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care ranked tops among child care category in Entrepreneur’s 2021 Fastest-Growing Franchises rankings and in Franchise Gator’s 2021 Top Franchises List. Locally, we are ranked by the Baltimore Business Journal as #14 on its list of Top 100 Private Companies, #24 on its list of the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Greater Baltimore, and in the top 10 Best Places to Work in 2020 and 2021.

Our franchisees and customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger.