Franchise Executive (Automotive)

Carter; Bronkhorstspruit; On-site; ZAR 1 200 000 - 1 500 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading automotive dealership group is seeking a Franchise Executive in Bronkhorstspruit. This role involves overseeing multiple dealerships to ensure profitability and customer experience while managing a team of General Managers. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of automotive experience, with a proven track record in multi-brand P&L management and OEM relationships. Key skills include strategic acumen and strong leadership capabilities. This position offers the opportunity to significantly influence the growth of the dealership group.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years in the automotive industry, with at least 3 years in a multi-site leadership role.
• Proven success in managing multi-brand P&Ls and driving aggregate group KPIs.
• Ability to balance unique CI and differing brand requirements under one group vision.

Responsibilities

• Overseeing multi-site performance, profitability, and brand alignment.
• Driving performance from a KPI and OEM perspective across multiple locations.
• Enforcing group-wide structure, ethical conduct, and standardized reporting metrics.

Skills

Multi-Brand Management

Strategic Commercial Acumen

Executive Leadership

Performance Management

Diplomacy & Negotiation

Education

Tertiary qualification in Business, Commerce, or Retail Automotive Management

Tools

DMS

CRM

Business Intelligence (BI)

Job description

FRANCHISE EXECUTIVE

Business Overview

HeyCarter Dealerships is an automotive dealership group based in Bronkhorstspruit with a diverse brand portfolio inclusive of Chery, Tata, Volkswagen, Ford, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, GWM, and Mahindra.

As we drive exponential growth across this portfolio, we are seeking a Franchise Executive to lead this business. This role is for a "Builder": a high-level operator capable of overseeing multiple dealerships and brands to ensure group-wide synergy, profitability, and excellent customer experience.

Role Description

The Franchise Executive is a seasoned operator who will be responsible for the multi-site performance, profitability, and brand alignment of a specific cluster of franchises within HeyCarter Dealerships Group. Reporting to the Executive Team, you will oversee multiple General Managers, ensuring that each dealership adheres to the group’s business blueprint while exceeding OEM-specific requirements.

This role requires an exceptional results-driven leader to provide day-to-day dealership sales and after-sales management, financial oversight, and long-term brand strategy. The Franchise executive will be the bridge between the Group Executive team and the operational dealership level.

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• Experience: Minimum 10 years in the automotive industry, with at least 3 years in a multi-site leadership role (Franchise Director, or Senior Dealer Principal overseeing multiple brands).
• Education: Tertiary qualification in Business, Commerce, or Retail Automotive Management
• Track Record: Proven success in managing multi-brand P&Ls, driving aggregate group KPIs, turning around non-performing dealerships and navigating OEM relationships while exceeding OEM scorecard requirements.
• Technical: Proficiency in DMS, CRM, and Business Intelligence (BI) tools for high-level data analysis.

Critical Skills Synopsis

• Multi-Brand Management: Ability to balance the unique CI and differing Brand requirements of various OEMs under one group vision.
• Strategic Commercial Acumen: Ability to build high-level business cases and forecasts to support capital allocation. Ability to assess and communicate strategic trade-offs.
• Executive Leadership: Mentoring General Managers into high-performance leaders.
• Performance Management: Driving Performance from a KPI and OEM perspective across multiple locations. Ability to assess and streamline processes to achieve business objectives.
• Diplomacy & Negotiation: Managing high-stakes relationships with OEM executives and financial institutions.

Key Areas of Responsibility - High Level Activity

• Strategic Portfolio Oversight: Align all franchises with HeyCarter Dealerships long-term growth roadmap.
• Group Financial Performance: Aggregate P&L responsibility for the franchise cluster; driving economies of scale and optimizing group-wide working capital.
• GM Leadership & Coaching: Performance management of GMs; ensuring leadership pipelines are robust and culture-aligned.
• Dealership Performance Management: Performance management of Dealership floors; ensuring operational processes and systems are robust and effective, together with ensuring a premium dealership experience aligned to HeyCarter Dealerships Blueprint of exceptional customer experience.
• OEM Relationship Management: Serving as the primary point of contact for OEM National Sales/Service Managers to ensure brand compliance and incentive optimization.
• Operational Governance: Enforcing group-wide structure, ethical conduct, and standardized reporting metrics.

Performance Targets (Cluster Level)

• Profitability: Achieve aggregate 1st and 2nd Gross targets across all assigned Dealerships whilst ensuring the group meets its overall profitability targets
• Market Share: Ensure dealership sales targets set are achieved or exceeded
• OEM Scorecards: Ensure the group meets and exceeds OEM scorecard requirements
• Customer Loyalty: Maintain a cluster-wide CSI & SSI scores as per OEM requirements
• After-sales Absorption: Ensure all dealerships maintain a high service-to-expense absorption ratio through tech-driven efficiency.