Franchise Growth Lead

KFC Corporation; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fast-food chain seeks a Franchise Growth Lead to oversee operations across Central and Eastern Europe. The role includes developing franchise strategies, improving customer experiences, and building relationships with partners. Candidates should have 8-10 years of operations experience, preferably in QSR or Food Service, and be fluent in English. This full-time position is based in Woking, England, with remote work flexibility.

Qualifications

• 8-10 years of experience in Operations, preferably in QSR, Retail, or Food Service.
• Experience in the Central and Eastern Europe market is a plus.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken); knowledge of a CEE language is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Oversee KFC CEE Franchisees and improve customer experience.
• Develop franchise strategies and strong relationships with partners.
• Lead onboarding of new franchise partners and market openings.

Skills

Operations strategy

Leadership

Fluency in English

Analytical skills

Negotiation skills

Education

Operations strategy or business degree

Job description

The role of KFC CEE Franchise Growth Lead is both a tactical and operational role that covers the oversight of KFC CEE Franchisees by owning the executional areas of Customer Experience Improvement, People & Culture, Sales & Profit Growth and Compliance through the implementation of the World Class Operations (WCO) framework.

Success will be measured through the continuous improvement and upholding of WCO KPIs (including but not limited to OSAT - taste, speed, accuracy & B2B across all sales channels, ROCC, RGM certified, SSSG/TG, 4W EBITDA…)

KFC CEE is a business with more than 1000 stores, 20 franchisees and 1.8 Bio USD with the ambition to double size by 2030.

KFC CEE Franchise Growth Lead will

Work with cross functional teams to define Franchise strategy at Market level

Foster strong partner relationships with Franchisees that cultivates an open exchange of ideas and information sharing that will help develop future programs that add value to franchise support

Build strong relationships across all facets of the organization to provide leadership Franchisee Operations Leads

Provide operational support to Franchise principal Operators from guidance on strategic direction to day-to-day operations

Develop a culture of high performing heart-led leadership to unleash Franchisee capability and growth

Responsibilities

Franchisee Governance (60%)

Routine & Governance

Develop rhythm and routine for communication, change and performance management: KFC CEE Business Reviews process, Cross functional comms meetings, Market Visits, Know-how/comms calls and webinars, Newsletters, Recognition programs,

Is responsible for layout approval new and remodeled restaurants, and for Operation handover of New Store Opening

Own the performance management cycle from risk > to notification > to escalation > to exit

Lead cross functionally the Onboarding of New Partner and/or the Opening of New Markets.

Support

Act as key point of contact and advocate for Franchisees

Partner with franchisees to problem-solve operational challenges, providing coaching, mentoring and best practice guidance to develop short and long-term action plans effective at driving strong results

Assess partners against World Class Ops Capability and co-author plans to address KPI improvement:

Customer Satisfaction (OSAT) (including inherent drivers Taste, Speed & Accuracy) across all sales channels

Adherence to Food Safety & Operating Standards

4 Wall Profit

Influences buy-in/adoption/execution of all new KFC programs

Formulates specific implementation plans and evaluates the effectiveness of actions/programs implemented

Advocacy

Create trust & credibility-based relationships with all stakeholders

Develop an empathy-based understanding of Franchisee challenges to be their voice within the organization, while leveraging negotiation and conflict management skills with Principal Operators and Head of Operations to deliver business goals and priorities.

Update KFC Leadership on all relevant developments, recognizing progress when made

Projects & Change Management

Work collaboratively with REX (Restaurant Excellence) Lead to support change management plans for projects and/or change initiatives

Evaluate the impact of planned organizational change and identify risks and developing risk mitigation tactics

Anticipate and manage resistance to change

Own document & tracking/governance for all in-market initiatives

Restaurant visits (20%)

Combine restaurant visits with franchise operational reviews to provide coaching, identify commercial opportunities

Conduct unannounced restaurants visits to build a clear understanding of guest experience in market

Always recognize restaurant teams for their contributions

Utilize restaurant visits to follow up and validate implementation of agreed systems, tools and processes with franchise operations and HR teams.

Visit restaurants for the launch, support and communication of key strategic cross-functional projects across the BU, or when required by the LT team for the purpose of franchise business reviews

Communication & Know-How Building (15%)

Elevate operator capability to best-in-class levels through know-how cascading

Work collaboratively with HRBP/ Field training to provide Franchisees with exhaustive training material

Play a central role in best practice sharing across the entire Operations Community

Develop Capability building programs (when needed)

Lead through motivation to create excitement for all initiatives both at the RSCs and field levels (founders week activations, Ops summit/conferences)

Develop proposals for stakeholders outlining proposed project structure, approach and work plan

Communicates results/recommendations to project sponsors

Analytics, Insights & Commercials (5%)

Deep dive into operations performance to define key insights and root causes to address for continuous improvement

Provide business driving context and impact analytics for each initiative and influence financial planning process to prioritize Operations initiatives

Participate to cross functional squads and CoE activities as needed

In CEE

Direct report: KFC CEE Franchise Business Coach

Reports to KFC CEE COO

Works directly with KFC CEE REX, FSQA, HRBP/field training, Development, DigiTech

Support cross functional initiatives and squads with KFC CEE SCM, FIT, Marketing

In Yum!:KFC Pan-Europe and Global (inc. CoEs), PH Europe and TB Europe

External:KFC CEE Franchisee Principal Operators and Ops Leaders, Vendors ad-hoc

Qualifications

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

Operations strategy, business degree, or equivalent experience

Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required, speaking a CEE language would be advantageous

EXPERIENCE

8-10 years of experience in Operations, preferred gained within QSR, Retail or Food Service.

Experience in Central and Eastern Europe market place is a plus.

Job Info

• Job Identification 4528
• Posting Date 12/05/2025, 09:37 AM
• Job Schedule Full time
• Locations Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom (Remote)