Head of New Space - Ireland

We are seeking a strategic and commercially astute Head of New Space to lead and shape the delivery of our ambitious store expansion programme across Ireland. This is a strategically critical, high-impact leadership role, responsible for driving national growth through the identification, acquisition, and end-to-end delivery of new retail locations — from major supermarkets to high-footfall convenience stores.

As a senior leader within the Property team, you will report directly to the Property Director and play a pivotal role in engaging with the Executive Leadership Team and PLC stakeholders, influencing investment decisions, and aligning expansion strategy with overall business objectives.

You will lead a high-performing internal team and a trusted network of external consultants, while maintaining full accountability for planning, governance, risk, commercial delivery, and stakeholder engagement across all phases of development.

You will be responsible for:

Strategic Leadership & Expansion Planning

Define and deliver the strategic growth roadmap for new store development across the Republic of Ireland
Develop and maintain a robust new space pipeline aligned with business priorities and long-term objectives.
Lead cross-functional alignment with Commercial, Finance, Retail Operations, and wider leadership teams.
Present investment proposals and development updates to the Executive Team and PLC Board as required.

Executive & Stakeholder Engagement

Act as the primary property lead for senior internal stakeholders and PLC representatives.
Build and manage strong relationships with local authorities, planning bodies, agents, developers, and legal partners.
Champion transparent, proactive communication to ensure strategic alignment and stakeholder confidence throughout the development lifecycle.

Leadership & Team Development

Build, lead, and develop a high-performance team spanning site acquisition, planning, and construction.
Foster a culture of ownership, pace, and continuous improvement, ensuring delivery excellence and team engagement.
Provide hands-on leadership and strategic direction to direct reports and project leads.

Planning, Development & Delivery Oversight

Oversee all phases of development: site identification, due diligence, legal, planning, pre-construction, and build.
Manage third-party consultants including architects, engineers, contractors, planners, and project managers.
Ensure timely, efficient, and commercially sound delivery of new stores through effective planning and risk mitigation.

Governance, Commercial Management & Reporting

Lead the development of compelling business cases and investment proposals for new sites.
Monitor pipeline performance against key metrics: cost, timeline, ROI, and delivery risk.
Ensure adherence to all relevant planning, environmental, accessibility, and building control regulations.
Stay ahead of market dynamics, competitor activity, and regulatory developments to maintain a competitive advantage.

You will need:

Experience

8–10+ years of relevant experience in retail property development, site acquisition, or capital projects within Ireland.
Demonstrated success delivering large-scale, multi-site expansion programmes, ideally in grocery, convenience, or retail.
Deep understanding of planning processes, legal frameworks, and development lifecycles within the Irish market.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage external networks across acquisition, planning, legal, and construction.

Skills & Attributes

Inspirational leadership with a people-first approach.
Strong commercial and strategic acumen, with the ability to influence Board-level decisions.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
Confident decision-maker with the ability to navigate complexity and drive results under pressure.
High standards of professionalism, discretion, and integrity.

Qualifications

Degree in Real Estate, Planning, Construction, Surveying, or a related discipline.
Chartered status (e.g. SCSI, RICS) desirable but not essential.
Full clean Irish or EU driving licence and flexibility to travel across ROI and NI.

What's in it for you:

We offer excellent benefits that help make Tesco a great place to work. These include but aren’t limited to:

Competitive Salary
Life Assurance
Pension Scheme*
Bonus Scheme*
Our Virtual GP service provides free and confidential access to an online GP through video GP consultations, and online prescription service for colleagues. The service is also available to families of colleagues who live at the same address for a reduced cost.
24/7 access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and family members for in the moment emotional support along with free access to a range of wellbeing services supporting you under our new Wellbeing First approach of Body, Mind and Life.
Colleague Clubcard offering 10% discount across stores and online, with 15% discount weekends once a month (Friday to Sunday), and 20% off twice a year. There is also 20% off F&F clothing, all year long, these various discounts can be extended to a family member with a 2nd Clubcard available.*
Annual leave starting at 23 days
Save As You Earn Scheme*

*Entry requirements and rules of the scheme apply

About us:

Our vision at Tesco is to become every customer's favourite way to shop, whether they are at home or out on the move. Our core purpose is 'Serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day'. Serving means more than a transactional relationship with our customers. It means acting as a responsible and sustainable business for all stakeholders, for the communities we are part of and for the planet.

We are proud to have an inclusive culture at Tesco where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. At Tesco, we not only celebrate diversity, but recognise the value and opportunity it brings. We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued, and make sure that all colleagues are given the same opportunities. We're a big business with diverse working patterns and many business areas which means that we can find something that works for you. Everyone is welcome at Tesco.

We have recently announced that we will be moving towards a more blended working week – combining office and remote working. Our offices will continue to be where we connect, collaborate and innovate. Please talk to us to about how this can work for you.

NOTE: Should you be successful in your application, your offer will be subject to and conditional upon you providing your bank account details on your agreed start date.

We're proud to have been accredited Disability Confident Leader and we're committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support we can offer, please visit https://www.tesco-careers.com/accessibility