Estates Manager (maternity cover)

Founded in 2003, Wasabi's vision is to lovingly create and serve delicious Asian food for a busy nation. Wasabi now has 40 thriving restaurants across London and major UK cities and 4 in New York. In 2019, we introduced Wasabi Home Bento, launched exclusively in Sainsbury's. Building on that success, the grocery business broadened its reach to Tesco in September 2022, followed by exciting launches in Co-op and Morrisons in 2024. Today, Wasabi proudly stands as the No. 2 chilled ready-meal brand, setting new standards for quality and innovation.

Wasabi's menu is celebrated for its unique character, exceptional freshness, and bold flavours. Our diverse range is designed to delight a wide audience, delivering both comfort and excitement with every bite. We have an ambitious 5-year growth strategy, focusing on new restaurants, franchise partnerships, and international expansion. As we embark on our next phase of growth and innovation, we’re thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for an Estates Manager to join our Property Team based in Park Royal. Please note that this is a 12 month maternity cover.

The Role:

The Estates Manager will be responsible for maximising value of our 40+ restaurant estate in the UK, working with multiple landlords and agents to optimise relationships and long term value to the business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be the first point of contact for internal and external property enquiries, supporting Restaurant Operations teams, property, design and facilities colleagues.
• Ensure that general estate management functions i.e. rent reviews, lease renewals, re-gears, relocations, disposals and all other lease events are managed effectively with the aim of maximising value.
• Lead the commercial business case for restaurant refurbishments in order to maximise brand value and CAPEX payback periods.
• Maintain property databases and files ensuring that all information is accurate, up to date and accessible, providing accurate information.
• Be the first point of contact with external estates management suppliers and internal finance teams, advising and instructing them regarding the accurate and timely delivery of all rent, service charges, business rates, licenses and other liabilities.
• Communicate effectively with landlords and their representatives regarding on-site issues, consents and ad-hoc matters with the aim of minimising costs and building long term value and landlord relationships.
• Play a key part in the Property team, proactively contributing to improvements in property and cross-functional processes and procedures.
• Lead appropriate processes to obtain all necessary permissions, planning consents and licenses, to enable fitting out or NRO’s & refurbishments and operations in line with lease terms and statutory conditions.
• Collaborate with and support Design/PMs, Ops, Marketing, Facilities and other functions, for restaurant refurbishment projects at all planning stages and through to completion of fit-out and reopening.

Our Requirements:

• Experience of working within a Retail, F&B or Hospitality property-based environment.
• MRICS qualified – with 10 years post qualification experience.
• Detailed working knowledge of property law and legislation.
• Strong organisational, administrative and numerical skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Open and friendly with the ability to manage a broad range of responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to use initiative and work with limited supervision.
• Able to prioritise and work with strong attention to detail.
• Commercially astute with a clear focus on delivering customer expectations.

In Return we provide:

• A great working environment.
• Pension scheme.
• Target Bonus.
• Refer A Friend Scheme.
• Free Sushi or hot food (vegan options available).
• 50% discount in our Branches.
• Employee Assistant Programme (a service providing health and wellbeing support).
• Long Service Awards.
• Wagestream - a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you access your pay as you earn it in real time and manage savings.
• Life Assurance.
• Cycle To Work.
• Free on-site parking.
• A variety of discounts (shopping, food & drink, entertainment and health & fitness) through Perkbox.
• The opportunity to develop your skills within a growing company.

Our people make us who we are. If you’re looking for an exciting challenge and this sounds like the job for you please apply today as we can’t wait to hear from you.