<p>The hilly terrain, intense monsoon rainfall, weak soil composition, haphazard settlement expansion, and complex socio-demographic traits render Southeast Bangladesh highly prone to landslide risk. Despite the prevalence of catastrophic landslides and numerous government attempts, the region encounters substantial institutional hurdles while managing landslide risks, which remain insufficiently addressed in the literature. Hence, this research explores the barriers encountered by local-level institutions, along with their key enablers, in managing landslide risk in the southeast Bangladesh. This qualitative investigation utilized a semi-structured questionnaire to gather data from forty-five officials of relevant local institutions throughout sixteen sub-districts of southeast Bangladesh. The research revealed five categories of barriers and enablers (regulative/legislative, governance/political, financial, communicative, and cognitive) at distinct phases of the landslide disaster management cycle (mitigation, preparedness, emergency response, rescue and relief, and rehabilitation and reconstruction). The results revealed that most of the plans and policies have included disaster risk reduction approaches, however failed to recognize the key issues of landslide risk reduction in southeast Bangladesh. The analysis also found that local-level institutions regarding effective landslide risk mitigation measures are constrained by several factors, including a lack of landslide-specific legislation, inconsistent resettlement policy, poor hill management practices, land ownership conflict, political interference, an inadequate funding at the micro-level, a lack of knowledge about the risks, scarce shelters, inefficient early warning, inaccessibility and remoteness, inadequate transport route, and absence of financial instruments. In addition to identifying the barriers, the study revealed the key enablers such as functional emergency response, knowledge about risky hills, provisions of integrating indigenous knowledge with higher authority, and disaster management expertise. This study’s findings will aid academicians, practitioners, and policymakers in comprehending the distinct barriers, both at the institutional, regional, and community levels, that impede, as well as the enabling conditions that boost, effective landslide disaster management in southeast Bangladesh.</p>