Chief Executive Officer - Franchise

Leap Brands; New York (NY); On-site; USD 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Leap Brands is seeking a CEO who can scale a distributed consumer services business while maintaining strong unit economics, customer experience, employee engagement, and operating discipline. You will have full P&L responsibility and work with the Board and private equity sponsor to build long-term enterprise value.

The role involves leading operations, growth, people, finance, development, and strategy, with a mandate to build leadership, systems, and infrastructure for a significantly larger

Qualifications

• Significant C-level or senior operating leadership experience within a scaled, multi-unit consumer services organization.
• Full P&L ownership for a substantial operating business.
• Proven track record scaling organizations through growth and acquisitions.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall strategy, P&L, operating performance, and growth of the company.
• Partner with the Board and sponsor to execute the value creation plan.
• Lead a multi-brand, multi-state portfolio of childcare and pet care locations.
• Drive revenue growth, EBITDA, margins, and customer retention.
• Build scalable operating models with clear accountability across locations.
• Recruit, develop, and lead an executive leadership team.
• Establish KPIs and operating rhythms to guide performance.
• Oversee real estate, development, openings, and capital allocation.
• Prepare the organization for future strategic opportunities including acquisitions.

Skills

Leadership

P&L ownership

Multi-unit management

Strategic planning

M&A

Private equity exposure

Franchise experience

Executive leadership

Job description

We are looking for a CEO who understands how to scale a distributed consumer services business while maintaining strong unit-level economics, customer experience, employee engagement, and operating discipline.

This person will have full responsibility for the business and work closely with the private equity sponsor and Board of Directors to execute the investment thesis and build long-term enterprise value.

The CEO will have full P&L responsibility for the organization and lead all aspects of operations, growth, people, finance, development, and strategy.

The mandate is not simply to operate the existing business. The CEO will be expected to build the leadership team, systems, processes, and infrastructure necessary to support a significantly larger organization.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Own the overall strategy, P&L, operating performance, and growth of the company.
• Partner with the Board and private equity sponsor to develop and execute the value creation plan.
• Lead a multi-brand, multi-state portfolio of childcare and pet care locations.
• Drive revenue growth, unit-level EBITDA, margins, customer retention, and overall profitability.
• Build a scalable operating model that creates consistency and accountability across locations and markets.
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing executive leadership team.
• Develop strong regional and field leadership capable of supporting continued unit growth.
• Establish clear KPIs, operating rhythms, dashboards, and accountability throughout the organization.
• Lead organic growth through new unit development and improved performance of the existing portfolio.
• Evaluate and execute acquisition opportunities where appropriate, including integration of acquired businesses.
• Partner with Finance to improve forecasting, budgeting, cash flow management, capital allocation, and financial reporting.Oversee real estate, development, construction, and new location openings.
• Build a strong people strategy focused on recruiting, retention, leadership development, and succession planning in businesses with large frontline workforces.
• Maintain strong relationships with franchisor partners and ensure the organization is positioned as a high-performing franchisee within each system.
• Ensure compliance with applicable licensing, safety, employment, and operating requirements across the portfolio.
• Create a culture that balances performance and accountability with the customer and employee experience.
• Identify underperforming locations quickly and develop actionable plans to improve their performance.
• Prepare the organization for future strategic opportunities, including additional acquisitions, recapitalization, or an eventual exit.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate has previously served as a CEO, President, COO, Division President, or senior operating executive within a scaled multi-unit consumer services organization.

Direct childcare or pet care experience is valuable, but it is not a requirement. We are equally interested in executives from businesses such as fitness, wellness, healthcare services, home services, restaurants, education, automotive services, beauty, or other location-based consumer businesses with recurring customers and large hourly workforces.

Candidates should have:

• Significant leadership experience within a multi-unit, multi-state organization.
• Full P&L ownership and responsibility for a substantial operating business.
• Demonstrated experience scaling an organization through significant growth.
• Experience managing through regional or field-based leadership structures.
• Strong understanding of unit-level economics and the operating levers that drive four-wall profitability.
• Experience building leadership teams and organizational infrastructure ahead of growth.
• A track record of improving underperforming locations and markets.
• Experience opening new locations at scale.
• Strong understanding of customer acquisition, retention, frequency, and lifetime value.
• Experience managing businesses with significant frontline or hourly workforces.
• Strong financial and analytical capabilities.
• Experience working with franchise systems is highly preferred.
• Experience working with private equity sponsors and Boards of Directors is highly preferred.
• M&A and integration experience would be particularly valuable.
• Experience operating businesses with licensing, regulatory, safety, or compliance requirements is beneficial.