Dir. New Unit Economics

KFC; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 174,000 - 184,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock-based compensation

Bonus eligibility

Job summary

KFC seeks a Director, Franchise Profitability and Unit Economics to lead strategy and execution for restaurant-level returns and franchisee economics globally. You will set targets, run unit economics reviews, and drive cross-functional initiatives that improve profitability across markets.

This role partners with BMU unit economics leaders and supports scalable best practices worldwide. Ideal candidates have 8–10 years in a commercial function, strong financial modeling skills, Excel/PowerPoint

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Strategy, or related field.
• 8–10 years in a commercial function with strong analytics and leadership.
• Proven ability to translate data into actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Establish global unit economics framework, targets, and performance management.
• Lead comprehensive unit economics reviews across top priority countries.
• Coordinate with BMU leaders; drive initiatives to improve profitability and capital efficiency.

Skills

Unit economics

Financial modeling

Performance management

Cross-functional leadership

Executive reporting

Data-driven decision making

Strategic planning

Presentation to leaders

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance/Economics/Strategy

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

The Director, Franchise Profitability and Unit Economics will lead the strategy and execution of initiatives designed to strengthen restaurant-level returns, improve franchisee economics, and enable sustainable growth across a global franchise system. This role will establish performance targets and management routines, lead unit economics reviews across the top 20 priority countries, and drive cross-functional initiatives to improve profitability. The Director will also serve as the primary liaison to Business Market Unit unit economics leaders, build market capabilities, and scale proven solutions across the organization.

Unit Economics Strategy

• Establish the global framework, targets, and performance management approach for unit economics, including new-unit payback, restaurant profitability, sales performance, and capital efficiency.
• Embed unit economics priorities into strategic planning and annual operating plans including ownership of prioritizing unit economics initiatives.
• Track performance across markets, identify key gaps and opportunities, and translate findings into clear executive reporting and action plans.
• Serve as the primary liaison to BMU unit economics leaders and provide strategic direction to two to three dotted-line market resources.
• Lead Unit Economics SteerCo and updates to KFC Global Leadership Team on a monthly basis ensuring continuous progress against targets.

Market Engagement and Unit Economics Walks

• Lead comprehensive unit economics walks across the top 20 priority countries, assessing performance across sales, middle-of-P&L, capital investment, and new-unit ramp-up.
• Partner with market leaders and franchisees to identify the most material constraints and develop market-specific action plans with clear owners, milestones, and financial targets.
• Lead select global unit economics initiatives which includes project management, building of business cases, cross-functional partnership, and landing of results in franchise P&Ls.

Capability Building and Continuous Improvement

• Build standardized tools, playbooks, and governance routines for market reviews, initiative prioritization, benefits tracking, and performance reporting.
• Improve the quality, consistency, and accessibility of restaurant-level economic data across the franchise system.
• Design and facilitate KFC’s first unit economics global forum - bringing together market leads from across the world for a week of sharing ideas and building momentum
• Identify external benchmarks, emerging technologies, and analytical capabilities that can improve decision‑making and accelerate unit economics performance.

Education/Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Strategy, or a related field

Experience

• 8-10 of experience in a commercial function, such as strategy, finance, development, operations, revenue management, or business performance.
• Strong experience in business analytics, financial modeling, performance management, and translating complex data into actionable recommendations.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to develop robust analyses and executive‑level presentations.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams and influencing cross‑functional stakeholders in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including an understanding of unit‑level P&Ls, investment returns, sales drivers, and capital efficiency.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage senior leaders, market teams, and franchise partners.
• Experience managing multiple initiatives across markets or business units and driving projects from analysis through implementation.
• International experience and experience within the restaurant, franchise, retail, hospitality, or another unit‑based consumer business are preferred.

Salary Range: $174,240 - $183,920 annually + bonus eligibility and stock-based compensation. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job‑related factors.