Assistant Manager Retail Expansion & Store Development

Watsons Vietnam is looking for an experienced Retail Expansion & Store Development professional to support our growing store network.

This role will take ownership of the new store development journey — from identifying the right location and securing the lease to coordinating store development and opening.

Role Description

• Identify and source potential retail locations across shopping malls, hypermarkets, commercial developments and street-store locations.
• Conduct site and market assessments covering catchment, footfall, visibility, competition, demographics, accessibility and commercial potential.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with landlords, mall developers, property owners, leasing agents and real estate partners.
• Negotiate key commercial and lease terms and coordinate the lease finalization process with relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare site proposals, financial feasibility and investment analysis for Management approval.
• Manage the new store development process after site approval, coordinating with Design, Construction, Operations, Finance, Legal and external partners.
• Monitor CAPEX, project timeline, fit-out/construction progress, contractors and vendors to ensure stores are delivered on time and according to required standards.
• Support store handover, operational readiness and opening.

Qualifications

• Around 5+ years of experience in Retail Expansion, Property/Site Development, Real Estate or Store Development, ideally within retail, F&B, beauty, fashion or other multi-site consumer businesses.
• Proven hands-on experience in site sourcing, feasibility assessment, landlord negotiation and lease management.
• Experience with retail store development projects from site acquisition through to store opening.
• Exposure to shopping malls / hypermarkets / modern trade, with street-store or high-street expansion experience being an advantage.
• Good understanding of store fit-out, construction process, contractors, CAPEX and project timelines — technical engineering expertise is not required.
• Strong commercial negotiation, stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Good understanding of Vietnam's commercial real estate market and landlord/property network.
• Vietnamese and English communication skills.