Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager – Retail Expansion

Location: Mumbai

Experience: 5+ Years

Industry: Retail / Malls / Apparel

About The Souled Store

The Souled Store is a homegrown youth casual-wear brand started in 2013. We are one of India's largest online merchandising platforms, with licenses including Disney, Warner Bros., WWE, IPL, and Viacom18.

While we started as an online-first brand, we have expanded significantly into offline retail and currently operate 60+ stores, with aggressive pan-India expansion underway.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Business Development Manager – Retail Expansion to drive new store expansion opportunities across markets.

The role will focus on identifying and evaluating potential malls and high-street properties, conducting market and property assessments, negotiating commercial terms, and converting qualified leads into successful store contracts.

The ideal candidate should have strong exposure to malls, retail real estate, property evaluation, commercial negotiations, and end-to-end business development.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and source potential malls, high-street locations, and retail properties for store expansion.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with mall developers, landlords, leasing teams, brokers, and property owners.
• Conduct market research and evaluate properties based on catchment, footfall, visibility, competition, rentals, commercial viability, and brand fit.
• Conduct property visits and site evaluations across assigned markets.
• Shortlist and present qualified property leads as per company SOPs and expansion criteria.
• Prepare property evaluation reports and business cases for internal review.
• Drive opportunities from lead generation to negotiation and closure of commercial agreements.
• Negotiate key commercial terms including rentals, CAM, lock-in, deposits, revenue share, fit-out periods, and other relevant terms.
• Work closely with franchisees to understand their requirements and identify suitable property opportunities.
• Coordinate with Operations, Projects, Legal, Finance, and other internal stakeholders for smooth closure and execution.
• Maintain and track the complete BD pipeline, including leads, site visits, evaluations, negotiations, and closures.
• Ensure timely follow-ups and movement of shortlisted properties through approval and contracting.
• Track upcoming mall developments, retail projects, competitor expansion, and market/rental trends.
• Contribute to the company's overall retail expansion strategy.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in Business Development, Retail Expansion, Mall Leasing, Commercial Real Estate, or a similar field.
• Strong understanding of malls and retail real estate.
• Proven experience in property identification, evaluation, negotiation, and deal closure.
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end BD/leasing process.
• Experience with retail brands, mall developers, leasing teams, or real estate companies is preferred.
• Candidates currently working as Assistant Managers, Deputy Managers, or Senior BD professionals under a strong BD/Expansion Head would be preferred.
• Strong negotiation, communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong commercial and analytical acumen.
• Ability to independently evaluate properties and make commercially sound recommendations.
• Willingness to travel extensively for property visits and market evaluations.

Why Join The Souled Store

• You won't just be building stores—you'll be helping shape how fans experience The Souled Store in the real world as we continue our aggressive offline retail expansion.