Director of Development

Description:

SOAPY JOE’S MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES

All Soapy Joe’s employees are expected to act responsibly, guided by our mission, vision and core values at all times to represent the Soapy Joe’s brand promise to employees and customers.

MISSION: We’re driven to clean cars, protect the environment and shine in our communities.

VISION: A Soapy Joe’s air freshener in every windshield in San Diego

VALUES:

• BUILD COMMUNITY: We love our neighbors and create an atmosphere where everyone is welcome.
• LEAD WITH HEART: We create trust and respect through listening, positive words and actions.
• CREATE FANS: We impress customers with a great experience defined by positivity and helpfulness.
• DO THE RIGHT THING: We operate with honesty and integrity — even when no one’s looking.
• BE PROUD: We’re proud of our quality services and clean sites, but most of all, we’re proud of our team.
• HAVE FUN: We believe creative solutions and genuine connections happen when you’re having fun.
• KEEP LEARNING: We take learning as seriously as we take having fun, which means we do it all the time!

POSITION OBJECTIVES

We are seeking an experienced Director of Development who will be accountable for delivering a repeatable, standardized, development program that supports aggressive expansion in San Diego and beyond. This role will own the full lifecycle from site identification through construction closeout, ensuring every project meets the company’s prototype standards, capex targets, and investment committee expectations. Success is measured by speed, cost discipline, prototype conformity, and predictable execution.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Pipeline Ownership

• Build and maintain a disciplined site pipeline aligned with the Executive Team and Boards growth targets.
  
• Apply a standardized underwriting framework, including (not limited to) demographics, traffic counts, ingress/egress quality, environmental risk, entitlement complexity, and unit-level EBITDA projections.
  
• Partner with brokers, landlords, and developers to source ground-up, ground-lease, and acquisition opportunities. Ensure that no one enters our market with a deal or site that we did not pass on.
  
• Enforce go/no-go criteria and stakeholder sign-off to ensure only high-conviction sites proceed.
  
• Negotiate LOIs, PSAs, and leases to maximize yield and control long-term economics.

Prototype Standardization & Design Governance

• Own the company’s standardized prototype: building design, tunnel layout, equipment specification, civil footprint, utility configuration, and brand aesthetics.
  
• Partner with Procurement, Site management, Strategy and Operations, to ensure that vendor and equipment selection is always best in class at best pricing. Continuous cost driving and service level improvement.
  
• Implement strict change-control procedures; no deviations from prototype without ROI-backed justification and executive approval.
  
• Manage architect/engineer partners to deliver consistent, permit-ready drawing sets across all markets.
  
• Drive value engineering to reduce cost per site without compromising throughput, guest experience, or structural quality.

Due Diligence & Entitlement Accountability

• Lead all due diligence workflows: ALTA surveys, environmental, geotechnical, utilities, traffic analysis, stormwater, and entitlements. Ensure work is done right before any meaningful capital outlay.
  
• Establish milestone gates and deadlines and hold vendors accountable to cycle-time metrics and ensure significant protections to offset any impact to our underwriting.
  
• Lead all zoning, entitlement, and permitting processes—including hearings, community outreach, and city negotiations. Ensure playbooks are established and are constantly adjusted for new findings and lessons for all of our locales.
  
• Report entitlement risk and expected timelines to leadership immediately.

Construction Execution & Capex Discipline

• Own the delivery of each project against budget, timeline, and prototype and show lessons learned after each build.
  
• Standardize the GC bid package, contract structure, and RFP cadence.
  
• Enforce cost controls: change-order governance, schedule variance reporting, and contingency management.
  
• Coordinate tunnel equipment procurement and ensure install aligns with development milestones. Constantly evaluate the standardized tunnel layouts and reconfigure future sites.
  
• Conduct site walks, manage weekly construction calls, and resolve RFIs proactively.
  
• Deliver sites with zero preventable delays, minimal punch items, and full readiness for Operations.

Performance Management & Reporting

• Establish KPIs for cycle time, cost per site, change-order rate, prototype compliance, permitting duration, and on-time delivery.
  
• Maintain dashboards for executive leadership that can be reviewed and understood with less meetings, with variance reporting and risk flags.
  
• Lead cross-functional alignment with Operations, Finance, Legal, and Real Estate.

Requirements:

REQUIREMENTS: DEGREE

• Undergraduate degree in Business is preferred

REQUIREMENTS: EXPERIENCE

• 10+ years of experience in development, construction, or real estate, ideally in multi-unit retail or express car wash.
• Proven track record delivering multiple ground-up development projects at scale.
• Strong understanding of permitting, entitlement, construction management, and municipal processes.
• Experience negotiating land acquisition, leases, and construction contracts.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, site plans, and budgets.
• Strong financial acumen — able to build project models and evaluate returns.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Willingness to travel across markets as required.

REQUIREMENTS: PHYSICAL

• Ability to remain in a stationary seated or standing position for various increments of time
• Able to move about to access a variety of tools and office equipment
• Able to consistently operate a computer or other electronic device
• Able to ascend or descend a ladder, crouch or crawl
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs, lift over head, twist and turn body when appropriate
• Must be able to communicate clearly through both verbal and written form

Salary Range: $150,000 - $210,000