Manager Location Research

Category/Area of Expertise: Strategy
Job Requisition: 475944
Address: USA-PA-Carlisle-1149 Harrisburg Pike
Store Code: Site Location (5139333)

Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands, which includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands - Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Our associates support the brands with a wide range of services, including Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Commercial, Digital and E-commerce, Technology and more.

Primary Purpose:

The Manager of Location Research conducts and directs the location research feasibility studies for capital deployment in supermarket real estate development. Responsibilities include sales forecasts and recommendations to senior management for acquisitions, new market entries, new stores, remodels, and new wholesale/independent customers. Thoroughly understands markets and is the expert on existing, announced, and theoretical competitive entries. Works with Senior Management on strategies to grow sales, minimize competitive impacts, and store level capital deployment. Coordinates the data specialists, vendors and mapping information needed for forecasting. Provide unbiased real estate strategy using data, software and historical information to assist management in decision-making through spatial analysis.

Our flexible/hybrid schedule includes 3 in-person days at one of our core locations and 2 remote days. Our core office locations include Scarborough, ME or Carlisle, PA.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Thoroughly evaluates market dynamics including competitive demographic and economic factors; identifies and evaluates potential supermarket sites and acquisition candidates, selects best strategy for entering or expanding a market
• Designs and conducts a wide range of location research projects
• Prepares a concise analysis and presents recommendations to senior management
• Enlists support for recommended strategies, as necessary, in various areas of the company including senior management
• Lead/Participate in strategic regional projects, as needed (i.e. new formats, Merchandising rollout projects, competitive field research, etc.) Collaborate cross functionally with Real Estate, Legal, Investment Analysis and Retail leadership to execute corporate development plans
• Lead a team of Site Location resources primarily dedicated to a specific geography
• Initiate communication and associated research to Management on anticipated competitive threats within the geography
• Review, discuss, present and recommend ongoing research projects to Brand Presidents, Sr. Management, Investment Analysis, Real Estate, governance approval bodies and other retail and corporate teams
• Participate and support company store portfolio optimization efforts
• Work with peer geography leaders to lead and drive innovation, change management and best practice implementation across all ADUSA banners
• Strategically and tactically participate in and support M&A activity
• Is the regional competitive expert for budgeting and three-year sales projections
• Serves as expert on competitive Brand Strategy and activities in selected markets
• Keeps abreast of forecasting technology and methodologies
• Develop accurate, consistent forecasts for multiple possible locations under multiple possible competitive scenarios
• Accurately estimate competition sales and predict competitive changes
• 50% travel on average, juggle multiple priorities, supervise and train others
• Additional job duties may be assigned as needed to meet the needs of the business and support our Values

• Bachelor's Degree with emphasis in GIS, Urban Planning, business, social sciences or statistics or equivalent relevant experience
• Minimum of 7-10+ years in retail site location research; with 5+ years using GIS for market research or geo-demographic analysis
• Leadership experience
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Needed to perform the job:
• GIS platforms such as ArcView or MapInfo., Power BI, Microsoft Suite including MS Access, Alteryx, AI
• High degree and confidence in Math, Analytics and GIS systems
• Strong presentation and written skills and the ability to influence without authority
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent verbal and written skills
• Strong presentation skills

• Master's Degree in Market Research, Data Science or GIS preferred
• Extensive knowledge covering retail and supermarket industry business practices and trends
• In-depth experience using various GIS, forecasting tools, especially gravity, reverse analogue, and new AI modeling