Site Development Team Leader

Job description

Purpose of the role:

This role owns and grows Indaba’s asset base by turning the expansion strategy into a disciplined, evidence-backed site pipeline. It is accountable for sourcing the right sites in the right corridors, securing them compliantly, managing development and lease costs responsibly, and improving the quality of the existing portfolio. It also drives innovation in how we identify, assess, commercialise and future-proof sites.

Key responsibilities:

Strategic asset pipeline

• Own the site pipeline end to end — corridor and node targeting, identification, feasibility, landlord engagement, negotiation, permitting, lease signature and handover to build.
• Translate the growth plan into a provincial and corridor-level sourcing plan with clear targets and sequencing.
• Maintain a live, staged pipeline with realistic timelines and probability, visible to leadership.
• Feasibility, site scoring and portfolio quality
• Review and sign off feasibility packs and site scorecards before any commitment of time or capital.
• Work with technology, data and measurement on GIS inputs — traffic, corridor, catchment, competitor density and visibility analysis — so site decisions are evidence-led.
• Run a continuous portfolio-quality review: identify underperforming assets for upgrade, re-facing, relocation or exit.
• Feed inventory gaps back from sales into the sourcing plan, so we build what the market is actually buying.

Compliance, permits and regulatory risk:

• Track and maintain all permits, municipal approvals, zoning and signage compliance across the portfolio.
• Own the lease register — renewal dates, escalations, options, obligations — and ensure nothing lapses unnoticed.
• Engage municipalities and regulatory bodies; manage applications, objections and renewals.
• Escalate compliance and expiry risk to the GM and ops and fulfilment lead early, with a proposed remedy.

Landlord and stakeholder relationships:

• Build and maintain landlord, property owner and municipal relationships; negotiate new leases and renewals on commercially sound terms.
• Resolve access, encroachment and dispute issues before they threaten an asset.
• Represent Indaba credibly with landowners, councils and community stakeholders.

Team leadership:

• Lead, develop and hold accountable the site executives and the site development administrator.
• Set weekly priorities, review pipeline progress and unblock obstacles.
• Ensure documentation discipline — site records, permits, leases, photographs and the asset register are accurate and current.
• Onboard and coach new team members; build succession depth in site sourcing.

Capital and commercial decision support:

• Prepare and support investment cases for new builds and upgrades — cost, expected yield, payback and risk.
• Work with finance on capex planning, build cost control and lease economics.
• Monitor development costs, lease commitments and ongoing site economics to ensure assets are built, upgraded and retained within approved commercial parameters.
• Support the CEO and GM on expansion decisions with grounded site and market evidence.
• Champion innovation in site development by exploring new formats, smarter use of data, improved build methods and partnerships that strengthen the quality, profitability and future relevance of the portfolio.

Cost management:

• Own the cost-management discipline for site development, including build costs, lease costs, renewal economics, upgrade spend and value-engineering opportunities.
• Work with finance and operations to monitor actual spend against approved budgets, flag variances early and recommend corrective action before costs compromise site profitability.
• Challenge supplier, contractor and landlord costs where required, ensuring every site decision balances growth ambition with commercial discipline.

Innovation and future-fit site development:

• Lead innovation within the site-development function by identifying smarter ways to source, assess, secure, build, upgrade and commercialise assets.
• Explore new formats, data-led site selection, DOOH opportunities, improved build methods and partnership models that strengthen Indaba’s asset base and market relevance.
• Convert innovation opportunities into practical pilots, business cases or portfolio improvements, with clear ownership, timelines and commercial rationale.

Required knowledge and experience:

• 5+ years in site development, property, acquisitions, infrastructure rollout or out-of-home asset development, including at least 2 years leading a small team.
• Strong working knowledge of South African municipal signage regulation, outdoor advertising by-laws, zoning, permitting and lease structures.
• Proven track record of sourcing and securing sites, and of negotiating leases and renewals.
• Comfortable with GIS, mapping and site-scoring data as decision inputs (does not need to build the analysis, but must be able to read, interrogate and act on it).
• Working knowledge of assetsphere or a comparable asset/inventory system, and disciplined about record accuracy.
• Commercially literate — understands yield, occupancy, payback and how a site earns its keep.
• Strong cost-management discipline — able to interrogate budgets, control build and lease costs, and protect site-level profitability.
• Innovation-minded — actively looks for better ways to source, evaluate, package and optimise sites in line with market demand and future OOH/DOOH opportunities.
• Valid driver's licence and willingness to travel for site inspections across provinces.

Posted on 16 Sep 16:42, Closing date 15 Nov