Leadership Development Program

Chick-fil-A; Charleston (SC); On-site; USD 52,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company matching

Paid time off

Free meals on shift

Scholarship opportunities

Defined leadership path

Job summary

Chick-fil-A Ashley Crossing and Chick-fil-A Bees Ferry in Charleston, SC, offer a nine-month Leadership Development Program that is full-time and requires 45–50 hours per week. You will learn every restaurant position, run shifts, and progress through Cornerstone, a leadership curriculum designed to prepare you to lead.

Upon completion, you’ll move along a development path toward Director, with mentors and ongoing conversations about growth and next steps.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience in a relevant setting (restaurant, retail, etc.).
• Desire for a long-term career and willingness to be coached.
• Ability to lead teams with dignity and high standards.

Responsibilities

• Learn every restaurant position and run shifts to standard.
• Develop operations through curriculum and hands-on challenges.
• Lead people through mentorship and performance discussions.

Skills

Leadership

Job description

You've led people before. This is where you learn to lead a business.

Our Leadership Development Program is a nine-month, full-time track for people who already know how to lead and want to build something long-term with Chick-fil-A. It's a real commitment - 45 to 50 hours a week - and it's built to return that investment. You'll learn every position in the restaurant, learn how to run shifts and manage the business, and work through Cornerstone, our own leadership curriculum. You won't finish this program merely trained. You'll finish it ready to lead.

WHO WE ARE

We're a two-restaurant organization in West Ashley: Chick-fil-A Ashley Crossing and Chick-fil-A Bees Ferry.

Our vision is to be the most caring and impactful organization in our community, developing leaders whose lives change the places they serve. We pursue elite performance in how we execute and intentional care in how we treat people. That shapes the promise we make to everyone who works here: your time with us will be a positive one that prepares you for the next chapter of your life.

WHAT THE NINE MONTHS LOOK LIKE

Months 1-3: Learn the business from the inside. You'll train and become certified in every position, front of house and back of house. Not a tour - you'll actually run the positions to our standard. You can't hold a team to a standard you've never met yourself.

Months 3-6: Learn to run the restaurant. Our operations development curriculum takes you through both rotations: food safety and quality, kitchen throughput and food prep, inventory and ordering, managerial tasks, our POS and business systems, and business performance including labor and productivity. Each area comes with hands-on challenges, and you'll begin leading shifts with a director beside you.

Months 6-9: Learn to lead people. Cornerstone is our leadership development curriculum, delivered through our own app. You'll work through modules on character, self-awareness, ownership, and execution - completing assignments and written reflections, then meeting one-on-one with a mentor to work through what you learned.

HOW YOU'LL GROW

You'll join our team as a Team Member and earn promotion to Team Leader, and then to Coordinator, as you progress. Throughout all nine months you are a member of the Leadership Development Program, with a mentor, a curriculum, and regular one-on-one conversations about where you are and what's next.

Our development path runs Team Member to Team Leader to Coordinator to Director. This program is designed to move you along it deliberately, and to keep developing you after it ends.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Proven leadership experience - restaurant, retail, military, athletics, ministry, or anywhere else you've been responsible for both people and results
• A genuine desire for a long-term career, not a stop along the way
• A high standard for your own work, and the humility to be coached toward a higher one
• Someone who treats every person - guest, teammate, vendor - with dignity
• Comfort with hard work: this is a fast, physical, high-standard environment

PAY AND SCHEDULE

• Expected annual earnings of $52,000-$65,000, paid hourly with overtime on hours over 40
• Your rate increases as you advance through the program
• 45-50 hours per week
• Closed Sundays - always

BENEFITS

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company matching
• Paid time off
• Free meals on shift
• Scholarship opportunities through Chick-fil-A's Remarkable Futures program
• A defined path, a curriculum, and a leader personally invested in getting you to the next step

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be 18 years of age or older
• Mostly open availability - we staff the restaurant from 5:00am to 11:00pm, Monday through Saturday, and you should expect to work across that full range including opening and closing shifts
• Proven leadership experience

Working at Chick-fil-A® Ashley Crossing and Chick-fil-A® Bees Ferry means being part of a team that values people first—both inside our restaurants and throughout our community. We strive to serve with excellence, lead with humility, and make a lasting impact through genuine care and intentional hospitality. Together, we aim to be elite in how we work and authentic in how we serve.