[Hiring] Senior Manager, Real Estate @Panera Bread

Role Description

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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Requirements

• 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.

Benefits

• 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.

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.