Title: Specialty Leasing Manager
FLSA: Exempt
Department: Leasing
Reports To: VP, Specialty Leasing
Location: Bergen Town Center, Paramus, NJ
General Purpose of Job/Summary
The Urban Edge portfolio of shopping centers, located primarily in the supply constrained corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston, creates value for our retail partners through leasing, redevelopment, and first-class property management. We’re responsible for more than 73 properties and over 17.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. Our strategic plan is focused on improving retail real estate and making a positive impact on the communities we serve.
Urban Edge Properties is seeking a driven, highly proactive Specialty Leasing Manager to support and grow ancillary and specialty leasing revenue across its retail portfolio. This role functions as the right hand to the VP of Specialty Leasing, with a strong focus on strip centers with a strong focus on neighborhood shopping centers and powerhouse centers, hands-on sourcing, and day-to-day execution. The ideal candidate thrives in a dynamic environment, spending most of their time in-market, driving trade areas, visiting competitive properties, building relationships, and identifying new business opportunities.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Leasing & Revenue Generation
- Generate ancillary revenue through inline vacancies, kiosks, carts, pop-ups, short-term leases, storage, and other specialty uses.
- Proactively source new specialty tenants by canvassing trade areas, visiting competing shopping centers, cold calling, networking, and relationship building.
- Maintain a robust pipeline of prospective tenants to quickly backfill vacancies.
- Negotiate and prepare license agreements and documents, ensuring proper approvals and procedures are met.
- Ensure timely rent collection and address underperforming tenants with contingency plans.
Field-Based Market Coverage
- Spend time in the field travelling to visit properties, meet tenants, and source deals.
- Maintain deep knowledge of assigned properties, vacancy status, redevelopment plans, and tenant mix.
- Stay current on local market conditions, competitor activity, tenant trends, and experiential retail concepts.
- Identify expansion or growth opportunities for existing tenants.
Tenant Management & Customer Service
- Serve as a primary point of contact for specialty tenants throughout the lifecycle of the deal.
- Provide hands-on customer service, regular check-ins, and responsive follow-up.
- Coordinate tenant onboarding, permitting, setup, and teardown logistics.
- Maintain tenant insurance, documentation, and compliance requirements.
- Communicate honestly and realistically with tenants—balancing strong sales skills with integrity.
Reporting, Administration & Cross-Functional Support
- Maintain and update vacancy trackers and leasing activity reports.
- Prepare monthly leasing reports and assist with departmental reporting as needed.
- Support onboarding and training of new team members.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with property management, legal, accounting, marketing, and development teams.
- Assist with special projects as business priorities shift.
Analytics & Systems
- Use MRI, Power BI, and Placer.ai to pull, interpret, and communicate data supporting leasing decisions.
- Support budget assumptions, deal tracking, and performance analysis.
- Prepare presentations related to leasing, sponsorships, and advertising opportunities.
Additional Expectations
- Attend business conventions, trade shows, and industry events as needed (occasional travel).
- Respond to urgent matters outside regular business hours, including evenings and weekends.
- Maintain flexibility to pivot quickly in a fast-moving environment.
Education/ Experience Required
- 3-5 years of experience in specialty leasing, retail leasing, sales, or a related commercial real estate field
- Minimum education High School Diploma
- Valid Driver’s license required
- Real estate licensure (preferred, not required)
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
- Knowledge of specialty leasing and ancillary revenue programs.
- Knowledge of retail leasing lifecycle, including prospecting, negotiations, deal execution, tenant onboarding, and renewals.
- Working Knowledge of property-level financial drivers, including rent, percentage rent, occupancy costs, and revenue optimization.
- Knowledge of Microsoft 365 tools, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint
- Practical knowledge of data and reporting tools such as MRI, Power BI, and Placer.ai (or comparable systems) for interpreting performance and market data preferred.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong skills in sales to prospect, negotiate, close deals, communicate efficiently, and deliver difficult news when needed.
- Ability to multitask to manage multiple deals simultaneously while handling administrative details.
- Ability to operate independently, be a self-starter, and remain aligned with company direction.
- High ethical standards and integrity.
Benefits:
- Leasing Incentive Commission Bonus eligible
- Medical, Dental, and Vision eligible after first month of employment
- 401k Traditional & Roth eligible 1st month of employment with competitive employer match.
- Healthcare, and Dependent Care FSAs
- Health Savings Account (HSA)
- Long Term Disability (company paid)
- Basic Life Insurance (company paid)
- Supplemental Critical Illness and Accident Insurance
- Voluntary Life (Employee, Spouse, Child) Insurance
- Wellness initiatives & bonus
- 20 PTO days annually
- 12 Paid Holidays
Disclaimer: “Urban Edge is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in who we are, what we do, and the experiences we deliver. We sincerely value diversity with regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, and all the other characteristics that make us unique.”
