Description
JOB SUMMARY
The Permitting Manager owns the entitlements and permitting process for every new La La Land Cafe location, end to end. This role is the connective tissue between Construction, Architecture, and Engineering, ensuring plan submittals move through review efficiently, questions and RFIs are answered without delay, and every project stays on track toward a predictable opening date. As La La Land Cafe scales toward 100+ locations across an expanding footprint of states, this role builds and owns the standardized permitting process, jurisdiction relationships, and tracking infrastructure that makes rapid, repeatable growth possible.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Permitting & Entitlements Management
- Review, prepare, submit, administer, and close out complex permit applications for all new cafe development projects, ensuring compliance with local, state, and regulatory requirements from initial submittal through final approval and issuance.
- Track every open permit against a standardized timeline framework and proactively flag projects at risk of delay before they impact the construction schedule.
- Own permit fee management, including forecasting, tracking, approvals, and coordination of payments internally and with vendor partners.
- Oversee permit closeout activities to support project payment milestones, compliance, and audit readiness.
- Manage a network of local permit expeditors in new or unfamiliar jurisdictions and oversee their performance and turnaround times.
Municipal & Regulatory Relationships
- Develop and maintain relationships with municipalities, including Code Enforcement, Building Officials, Planning & Zoning departments, City Councils, commissions, and neighborhood associations, across all six-plus operating states.
- Serve as the primary point of escalation for complex permitting issues, jurisdictional disputes, and regulatory challenges.
Cross-Functional Liaison & Follow Up
- Serve as the single point of coordination between Construction, Architecture, and Engineering on all permitting-related questions, plan revisions, and requests for information (RFIs).
- Partner with Engineering, Construction, and Program Management teams, along with vendor design teams, to review designs against municipal requirements prior to submission and ensure permit drawings and construction documentation are permittable, cost-effective, and aligned with deployment strategies.
- Route reviewer comments and RFIs to the correct discipline, set clear response expectations, and follow up until items are closed out.
- Act as a cross-functional liaison to obtain approvals and ensure compliance with permit conditions through the construction and closeout phases.
- Escalate chronic delays or bottlenecks on the design or construction side to the appropriate leader rather than absorbing them personally.
- Attend project check-ins as the permitting subject matter expert, providing clear status updates on entitlement progress for every active cafe in the pipeline.
Process & Reporting
- Maintain a standardized permit submittal package and jurisdiction-specific requirements library to shorten ramp-up time on new markets.
- Establish and maintain a centralized tracking and reporting system covering permit status, submission dates, review cycles, revisions, approval dates, performance metrics, and risk flags across a high volume of active projects.
- Provide regular pipeline-level permitting status reporting to Development Services and NSO leadership to support accurate cafe opening timelines.
- Continuously refine the permitting process and documentation standards as LLLC scales into new states and jurisdictions.
Requirements
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
- Deep working knowledge of municipal, county, and state permitting and entitlement processes, ideally across multiple states and jurisdiction types.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to track and prioritize a high volume of concurrent projects at different stages of review.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to liaise credibly with building officials, plan reviewers, architects, engineers, and internal construction leadership.
- Proactive follow-up discipline and comfort escalating issues without personally becoming the bottleneck.
- Ability to build and manage relationships with third-party permit expeditors and hold them accountable to timelines.
- Experience with permit fee budgeting, forecasting, and vendor payment coordination.
- Comfort operating in a fast-paced, high-growth, multi-unit environment with shifting priorities.
- Proficiency with project tracking tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Excel, Asana) and Microsoft Office Suite.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of experience in permitting, entitlements, or construction coordination, ideally within multi-unit retail, restaurant, or hospitality development.
- Demonstrated experience managing permitting across multiple states or jurisdictions simultaneously.
- Experience working directly with architects, engineers, and general contractors on commercial construction projects.
- Bachelor's degree in construction management, architecture, urban planning, or related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
- Primarily an office-based role with occasional travel to project sites or jurisdictional offices as needed.
- Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working at a computer.
- Occasional travel (up to 10-15%) to support site visits, market launches, or jurisdiction relationship building.