Senior Director – Operations & Franchising, UK

Papa John's International , Inc.; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Papa John’s UK is seeking a Senior Director – Operations & Franchising to lead operational performance, franchise strategy and customer experience across the restaurant network in the UK. You will partner with the Leadership Team to translate strategy into execution, align franchisee performance with growth targets and drive sustainable profitability.

The role requires extensive senior leadership experience in large multi-site franchised or consumer-facing businesses, with a proven ability to

Qualifications

• Senior leadership across Operations and/or Franchising in a large multi-site organisation.
• Strong understanding of franchise business models and economics.
• Proven ability to lead dispersed multi-site operations.
• Experience shaping franchise ownership, network development and growth strategies.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with a track record of improving sales and customer experience.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and franchise partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the UK Leadership Team to translate strategy into execution across the restaurant network.
• Own operational performance, KPIs and franchisee relationships for sustained growth.
• Drive customer experience improvements through product quality, service and delivery.
• Shape franchise ownership strategy and network development in line with growth plans.
• Collaborate with Development, Finance, Marketing and Digital to align initiatives.
• Ensure governance, brand standards and regulatory compliance across the network.
• Coach senior leaders and develop talent within Operations and Franchising.
• Identify opportunities for new formats, channels and partnerships to accelerate growth.

Skills

Franchising leadership

Operations management

Strategic planning

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decision making

Change leadership

Job description

Role Purpose:

The Senior Director – Operations & Franchising is a senior leadership role responsible for the operational performance, franchise strategy, franchisee performance and customer experience leadership of the UK business.

As a member of the UK Leadership Team, the role contributes to the overall business strategy, commercial priorities and long-term growth agenda, ensuring strategy is translated into effective execution across the restaurant network.

The role leads the UK Franchise Ownership Strategy, working closely with Development to connect franchise capability and ownership with new restaurant openings, network growth and non-traditional opportunities.

The Senior Director also provides leadership for the end-to-end customer experience, ensuring the voice of the customer is represented across the business. Digital elements of the journey, including App, Web and aggregator experiences, are jointly led with the relevant functional partners. The role is ultimately focused on creating a high-performing franchise system that delivers sustainable sales and profit growth, strong franchisee economics, outstanding customer experiences and consistently high brand standards.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Leadership & Business Strategy

• Serve as a core member of the UK Leadership Team, contributing to the strategy, commercial direction and long-term priorities of the UK business.
• Act as a strategic partner to the Managing Director and wider Leadership Team.
• Represent Operations, Franchising, franchise partners and the voice of the customer in key business decisions.
• Translate business strategy into clear operational priorities and measurable execution plans.
• Lead and sponsor major cross-functional initiatives impacting restaurants, franchisees and customers.
• Ensure decisions appropriately balance customer outcomes, commercial performance, franchisee economics and long-term brand growth.

2. Operations & Performance

• Own the operational strategy and performance of the UK restaurant estate.
• Drive improvement across sales, transactions, profitability, service, product quality, customer experience and brand standards.
• Establish clear KPIs, scorecards and performance routines, using data and insight to identify opportunities and drive action.
• Simplify restaurant operations and ensure effective implementation of new products, technology, channels and operating models.
• Drive consistent execution of strategic initiatives while identifying and scaling operational best practice.
• Champion a culture of operational excellence, accountability and continuous improvement.

3. Franchising & Franchisee Performance

• Lead the UK franchising strategy and franchise operating model.
• Build strong, commercially productive relationships with franchise partners.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability for franchisee and restaurant performance.
• Support franchisees in improving sales, profitability, customer experience and operational capability.
• Lead strategic and performance reviews with key franchise organisations and ensure appropriate action where performance falls below expectations.
• Develop franchise organisational capability to support sustainable multi-site growth.
• Strengthen franchisee engagement while ensuring the long-term interests and standards of the brand are protected.

4. Franchise Ownership, Development & Growth

• Lead the UK Franchise Ownership Strategy, ensuring the franchise network has the capability, capacity and ambition to support sustainable growth.
• Work hand in hand with Development to connect Ownership Strategy with the new-store pipeline, ensuring the right franchise partners are aligned to future growth opportunities.
• Shape the future ownership structure of the network, including consolidation, succession and Change of Hands.
• Identify franchise partners with the operational, financial and organisational capability to grow.
• Work jointly with Development to support successful new restaurant openings, from franchise partner alignment and operational readiness through to post-opening performance.
• Support the development of new formats, routes to market and non-traditional channels and partnerships.
• Ensure new growth opportunities are operationally viable, scalable and capable of delivering sustainable economics.
• Provide the Leadership Team with a clear view of network health, ownership capability, development pipeline and future growth potential.

5. Customer Experience & Brand Leadership

• Provide leadership for the end-to-end customer experience across the UK business.
• Champion the voice of the customer at Leadership Team level and ensure customer outcomes influence strategic and commercial decision-making.
• Own operational delivery of the customer experience across product quality, service, delivery, order accuracy and issue resolution.
• Jointly lead App, Web and aggregator customer experience with Digital, Marketing and relevant commercial partners.
• Establish clear customer KPIs and lead improvements in satisfaction, complaints, resolution and service performance.
• Use customer insight and feedback to identify systemic issues and mobilise cross-functional action.
• Ensure franchisees maintain a strong customer-first culture and consistently deliver the brand promise.

6. Commercial & Financial Leadership

• Maintain a strong focus on restaurant economics, franchisee profitability and sustainable system growth.
• Partner with Finance to understand performance, restaurant P&Ls and return on investment.
• Identify opportunities to increase sales and transactions while improving productivity and profitability.
• Ensure operational and franchise initiatives have clear commercial outcomes and measurable returns.
• Ensure franchise economics and operational realities are represented in major business decisions.

7. People & Organisational Leadership

• Lead, develop and inspire the Operations and Franchising leadership teams.
• Build a high-performance culture based on accountability, collaboration and ownership.
• Develop organisational capability and succession across the function.
• Coach senior leaders and develop future leadership talent.
• Lead through influence across franchisee, cross‑functional teams and external partners.
• Build capability within franchise organisations to support sustainable growth and performance.

8. Governance & Risk

• Ensure restaurants operate in accordance with brand standards, franchise agreements and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain strong governance around food safety, health & safety and operational compliance.
• Partner with Legal, Finance and other functions on significant franchise and operational matters.
• Ensure appropriate intervention where brand, commercial, customer or operational standards are at risk.
• Protect the reputation and long‑term value of the brand.

Key Relationships:

1. Internal

Managing Director; UK Leadership Team; Development; Finance; Marketing; Digital & Technology; Supply Chain; People; Legal; International/Global Leadership.

External

Franchisees and franchise organisations; strategic commercial and operating partners; aggregator and delivery partners; non-traditional and development partners; industry bodies and relevant external stakeholders.

Experience & Capability:

The successful candidate will be an established senior operational and franchise leader with significant experience in a large‑scale, multi‑site, franchised or consumer‑facing organisation, demonstrating:

• Senior leadership experience across Operations and/or Franchising and experience operating as part of a senior Leadership Team.
• Strong understanding of franchise business models, franchise relationships and franchise economics.
• Proven experience leading large, geographically dispersed multi‑site operations.
• Experience shaping franchise ownership, network development and growth strategies.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with a track record of improving sales, profitability, customer experience and operational performance.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to translate strategy into execution.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, franchise partners and independent business owners.
• Experience leading significant change and developing high‑performing senior teams.