Property Management Manager

The Property Manager is responsible for building and managing Les Schwab’s property management and lease administration function for the retail real estate portfolio. This role creates the processes, handoffs, reporting, and accountability needed to manage landlord obligations, lease compliance, store-impacting property issues, occupancy costs, and portfolio records in a consistent and scalable way.

Partnering with Real Estate, Construction, Facilities, Legal, Finance, Risk, and Operations, this role serves as the primary owner for landlord-controlled and lease-related property matters and the escalation point for recurring or unresolved property issues that impact store operations. The Property Manager leads the Property Management Coordinator and Lease Coordinator and serves as the primary liaison with landlords, developers, vendors, municipalities, and other key stakeholders.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES/FUNCTIONS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions/primary responsibilities.

20% - Function Buildout, Governance & Portfolio Support

• Build and document the property management and lease administration function, including processes, ownership model, reporting cadence, issue intake, escalation protocols, lease administration standards, landlord communication standards, and cross-functional handoffs.

• Support Real Estate leadership with portfolio data, lease obligations, occupancy costs, landlord issue history, property condition insights, and operational impacts related to renewals, relocations, acquisitions, redevelopments, and dispositions.

• Evaluate property performance and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce occupancy costs, and protect asset value.

• Provide guidance and visibility on property-related risks, lease obligations, market conditions, and operational impacts.

• Build and maintain relationships with landlords, developers, brokers, municipal agencies, and external partners.

• Serve as the escalation partner for landlord-controlled, lease-related, recurring, or unresolved property matters.

• Establish clear ownership and escalation paths across Property Management, Facilities, Construction, Legal, Finance, Real Estate, Operations, landlords, and vendors.

• Maintain portfolio reporting and risk tracking for critical dates, landlord issues, open property matters, recurring store-impacting issues, occupancy costs, lease risks, deferred maintenance trends, and other portfolio risks.

15% - Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the Property Management Coordinator and Lease Coordinator.

• Establish clear goals, performance standards, workload priorities, and development plans.

• Ensure cross-training across lease records, critical dates, landlord contacts, issue tracking, document retention, store support, and property-management workflows.

• Promote accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and Les Schwab’s “Grow Within” culture.

• Partner with HR and leadership on hiring, onboarding, training, and succession planning.

30% - Portfolio Management

• Oversee day-to-day management of the multi-state retail property portfolio.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for landlords and property-related matters affecting store operations.

• Own the intake, tracking, prioritization, escalation, and resolution process for landlord-controlled, lease-related, recurring, or unresolved property issues.

• Conduct property inspections and evaluate property conditions, deferred maintenance, safety concerns, and lease compliance issues.

• Coordinate with Facilities on maintenance and repairs, Construction on capital projects, and Legal on lease interpretation, landlord disputes, defaults, and enforcement actions.

• Clarify and document issue ownership across Property Management, Facilities, Construction, Legal, Operations, landlords, and vendors.

• Monitor vendor and landlord performance and escalate concerns as needed.

• Support emergency property issues and coordinate timely solutions to minimize business disruption.

• Support environmental, safety, and risk-management initiatives across the portfolio.

• Participate in new-store turnover to ensure lease obligations, landlord responsibilities, warranties, utilities, access, signage, parking, common-area obligations, and property-management ownership are clearly transferred.

• Support post-opening stabilization by tracking property-related issues and ensuring responsible parties resolve them.

• Support onboarding of acquired properties by reviewing lease obligations, landlord relationships, property conditions, critical dates, facilities risks, occupancy costs, and near-term capital needs.

• Track and enforce landlord obligations related to maintenance, repairs, common areas, signage, access, parking, utilities, use restrictions, delivery conditions, and other negotiated requirements.

• Establish a regular issue-review cadence with Operations and Facilities.

20% - Financial Management

• Develop and manage annual property operating budgets and capital expenditure forecasts.

• Monitor occupancy costs, CAM charges, taxes, insurance, utilities, and other property-related expenses.

• Review landlord invoices, reconciliations, rent charges, and other property-related financial obligations.

• Validate CAM, tax, insurance, and operating expense reconciliations for accuracy and lease compliance.

• Prepare financial analyses and reports related to lease renewals, relocations, acquisitions, and capital investments.

• Track savings, recoveries, avoided costs, and financial impacts from CAM audits, landlord disputes, lease enforcement, invoice corrections, tax reviews, vendor management, and occupancy-cost analysis.

• Partner with Finance and Accounting on reporting, expense management, approval thresholds, occupancy-cost trends, and property-level financial input.

15% - Lease Administration & Compliance

• Oversee lease administration activities to ensure lease obligations are understood, tracked, and fulfilled.

• Direct the Lease Coordinator in maintaining accurate lease abstracts, critical dates, rent schedules, lease documentation, and reporting tools.

• Monitor lease renewals, expirations, rent escalations, options, notices, landlord obligations, and other critical terms.

• Coordinate with Legal, Real Estate, and Operations on lease interpretation, dispute resolution, notices, amendments, and enforcement actions.

• Maintain complete and accurate lease records, document retention processes, and lease administration system data.

• Own the handoff from Real Estate to Property Management after lease execution, including final lease documents, abstracts, critical dates, landlord obligations, rent schedules, operating expense provisions, notices, amendments, site plans, and key property obligations.

• Own lease-administration intake for new stores, acquired locations, renewals, amendments, relocations, dispositions, and closed stores.

• Establish and manage a critical-date governance process.

Educational/Experience Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Real Estate, Finance, Property Management, or related field preferred.

• Minimum of 7 years of commercial property management, real estate, or related experience.

• Retail portfolio management and multi-site or multi-state portfolio experience strongly preferred.

• Prior experience leading team members preferred.

• Experience building or improving property management, lease administration, landlord-management, or portfolio-support processes preferred.

• Professional designations such as CPM, RPA, FMA, or ICSC certifications are a plus.

Required Technical Skills/Knowledge: 

• Strong understanding of commercial lease administration, retail real estate operations, property maintenance, facilities coordination, vendor contracting, risk management, and expense controls.

• Ability to manage budgets, financial reporting, CAM reconciliations, occupancy costs, and property-related financial obligations.

• Strong analytical, negotiation, communication, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to build processes from the ground up, define ownership boundaries, document workflows, and create practical reporting tools.

• Ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, stakeholders, and priorities.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel.

• Experience with lease administration and property management software preferred.

• Ability to travel within Les Schwab’s operating footprint as needed.

• Ability to respond to urgent property matters outside normal business hours when necessary.

General Knowledge and Abilities: 

• Strategic and business acumen

• Financial and portfolio management discipline

• Process building and continuous improvement

• Issue management and operational support

• Lease compliance and governance

• Cross-functional collaboration and handoff management

• Communication, influence, and relationship building

• Customer focus and accountability

• Talent development and team leadership

• Up to 40% travel.