Store Expansion Senior Specialist (Mandarin… at Teso Life · New York

About TESO Group Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York, TESO Group is a rapidly growing Asian lifestyle retail group in the United States. Its portfolio includes TESO Life, its flagship general merchandise retail brand; TESO X, a collectible toy retail concept; TESO Mini, an Asian convenience store concept; and proprietary brands including MONKIMON and O’HOMNI.

The Group currently operates 35 stores across 14 states, with another 67 locations under construction or in development, and aims to open more than 300 stores by 2030. Its product categories include beauty, snacks, collectible toys, home goods, stationery, and pet products, serving more than 450,000 customers per month.

Job Responsibilities

1. Assignment Execution & Site Development

• Based on target cities, trade areas, store formats, size requirements, rental ranges, and store-opening timelines established by the Expansion Director, develop individual site sourcing and follow-up plans.
• Continuously source prospective store locations through commercial real estate brokers, shopping center leasing teams, direct landlord outreach, competitor-area research, field canvassing, and other compliant sourcing channels.
• Establish and maintain a pipeline of prospective sites, documenting the address, size, asking rent, contact information, floor plans, current status, next actions, and estimated timeline for each location.
• Provide weekly updates to the Expansion Director on newly identified sites, priority projects, reasons for stalled projects, and matters requiring coordination, ensuring project information is accurate, timely, and traceable.

2. Site Research & Store Suitability Assessment

• Conduct on-site inspections of prospective locations, evaluating location quality, visibility, storefront width, entrances, parking, transportation/accessibility, customer traffic flow, loading/unloading conditions, and the surrounding environment.
• Conduct required research on customer traffic by time period, target customer demographics, population characteristics, competitors, surrounding businesses and tenant mix, prevailing rental rates, and overall trade-area development.
• Review site specifications and conditions, including square footage, ceiling height, column layout, storage/back-of-house space, plumbing, electrical capacity, HVAC, fire/life-safety systems, signage locations, delivery conditions, and basic construction requirements.
• Conduct a preliminary review of permitted use, zoning/use classifications, government approvals, and operating restrictions. Any information that cannot be confirmed or presents potential risk must be clearly identified and submitted for professional verification.
• Based on the Company’s store format, merchandise mix, projected sales, occupancy costs, and anticipated opening timeline, prepare a site suitability assessment identifying key risks and a recommendation on whether the site should proceed to the next stage.

3. Site Review & Decision Support

• Prepare a site evaluation package for each proposed location, including the site selection assessment, site photographs, floor plans, commercial terms, cost estimates, strengths and weaknesses, and key risk items.
• Organize or support site visits and site review meetings with the Expansion Director, Construction, Operations, Merchandising, and other relevant stakeholders, and promptly provide any additional information required for evaluation.
• Based on the site review decision, classify each project as Proceed with Negotiation, Additional Information Required, On Hold, or Discontinued, and update the responsible party, next milestone, and target completion date.
• The Expansion Specialist is responsible for providing objective information and professional recommendations but does not have authority to make the final decision to select or discontinue a store location on behalf of the Expansion Director.

4. Commercial Negotiation & Terms Optimization

• Within the objectives and authority approved by the Expansion Director, negotiate with landlords, shopping centers, or brokers regarding rent, lease term, renewal options, rent-free periods, escalation rates, CAM/NNN charges, Tenant Improvement Allowance (TIA), security deposits/guarantees, delivery conditions, signage rights, exclusivity provisions, landlord work, and other commercial terms.
• Compare the initial proposal, Company targets, latest negotiated terms, and remaining gaps; develop alternative options and quantify their cost impact for the Expansion Director’s review and decision.
• Maintain complete records of each negotiation round, including counterparty feedback, Company positions, and outstanding items, to prevent loss of verbal information or inconsistencies among different versions.
• If material changes occur to key commercial terms, negotiations exceed authorized limits, or proposed terms may materially affect investment returns, the store-opening timeline, or operating restrictions, do not confirm the terms and immediately escalate the matter.

5. Contract Coordination, Approval & Execution

• Coordinate the drafting, collection, version circulation, consolidation of comments, and day-to-day communication for Letters of Intent (LOIs), leases, and related exhibits or attachments, and continuously advance the documentation until the parties have substantially aligned on the terms.
• Coordinate with landlords/shopping centers, brokers, and internal stakeholders—including Expansion, Legal, Finance, and Construction—to complete contract reviews and resolve outstanding comments.
• Maintain contract version-control and approval records, ensuring that rent, lease term, TIA, rent-free periods, delivery conditions, default provisions, guarantees, exclusivity rights, signage rights, key dates, and other material terms are consistent with approved conditions.
• The final contract version must be submitted to the Expansion Director for approval. Without approval, the Expansion Specialist may not communicate the Company’s final acceptance, issue documents for signature, or make any binding commitment on behalf of the Company.
• Following approval, coordinate with the Company’s authorized signatory and the counterparty to complete execution, countersignature, and collection of the fully executed agreement. The Expansion Specialist is not authorized to independently execute any LOI, lease, amendment, or other binding agreement.

6. Post-Signing Handover, Key Milestones & Documentation

• After execution by both parties, verify that the final executed version is consistent with the approved version and compile a complete set of executed transaction documents.
• Handover the lease, floor plans, property/landlord information, delivery conditions, key dates, landlord obligations, TIA requirements, insurance requirements, site-access requirements, contact information, and outstanding action items to the Construction Manager and other relevant project stakeholders.
• Organize or participate in post-signing project handover meetings and clearly communicate key contractual milestones related to construction commencement, site delivery, approvals, payments, store opening, defaults, and other critical obligations to prevent important requirements from being overlooked.
• Complete required system updates and electronic/hard-copy filing in accordance with Company requirements, ensuring that contracts, approvals, communications, evaluations, and project documentation are complete, properly controlled, and fully traceable.

7. Business Relationships, Market Intelligence & Project Coordination

• Establish and maintain relationships with commercial real estate brokers, landlords, shopping center leasing teams, and key project resources, while tracking relationship quality, responsiveness, and the effectiveness of opportunities provided.
• Continuously gather market intelligence regarding rental rates, vacancy rates, competitor store openings/closures, major commercial developments, and leasing activity within target cities and trade areas, providing frontline market information to support the Expansion Director in adjusting expansion strategies.
• Coordinate with Construction, Operations, Merchandising, Finance, Legal, and other relevant functions to resolve issues related to site evaluation, contract negotiation, and project handover. Escalate significant roadblocks in a timely manner.
• Perform other store development, negotiation, contract coordination, and expansion project support responsibilities assigned by the Expansion Director.

Qualifications

• Education: Associate degree or above. A degree in Real Estate, Business Administration, Retail Management, Marketing, Law, or a related field is preferred.
• Professional Experience: Minimum of 2 years of experience in retail store expansion, commercial real estate site selection, shopping center leasing, or lease negotiation. Experience managing the full site development lifecycle—from site sourcing and evaluation through contract execution—is preferred.
• Knowledge & Skills: Knowledge and practical experience in trade-area and customer traffic analysis, store/site suitability assessment, rent and investment analysis, key LOI and lease terms, commercial negotiation, contract version control and approval management, mapping tools, Excel, and project management. Ability to read and understand English-language contracts and communicate effectively in a business environment.
• Core Competencies: Strong market awareness, on-site assessment and judgment, business communication and negotiation, persistent follow-through, project execution, analytical thinking, risk awareness, confidentiality and integrity, and accountability. Must be willing and able to travel and conduct frequent on-site property visits.

Compensation

• $72,000 per year
• Quarterly Performance Bonus: This position is eligible for a quarterly performance-based bonus, subject to the eligibility requirements, performance criteria, and terms of the Company's bonus program.
• Annual Target Bonus

Benefits

• 401(k) & 401(k) matching - subject to the eligibility requirements
• Paid Sick Leave
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Paid Time Off

Language: Mandarin Chinese required

Job Type: Full-time (On-Site)