Chief Executive Officer - Restaurant Franchisor

The Role

We are seeking a CEO to lead the next phase of growth for a restaurant franchise brand that is moving from founder-led to scale-led. This role owns enterprise strategy, franchise system health, unit economics, leadership team performance, and long-term value creation. You’ll be responsible for building a brand that franchisees can scale profitably, not just growing unit count for the sake of growth.

This is a builder role. You’ll set the vision, build the operating system, and assemble a leadership team that can take the brand from regional to national relevance while protecting franchisee economics and brand integrity.

What You’ll Own

• Set and execute the company’s long-term growth strategy (unit growth, market expansion, enterprise value creation)

• Lead and build a high-performance executive team across Ops, Development, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and Real Estate

• Own franchisee success and unit-level economics as the foundation of sustainable growth

• Drive disciplined franchise development and territory strategy

• Ensure operational excellence and consistency across the system

• Strengthen brand positioning and guest experience

• Partner with the Board and ownership group on strategy, capital allocation, and performance

• Build scalable systems, processes, and KPIs to support growth

• Create a culture of accountability, performance, and franchisee partnership

• Own financial performance, budgeting, forecasting, and profitability

• Represent the brand with franchisees, investors, lenders, and strategic partners

• Lead through change as the company professionalizes its structure and leadership bench

What Success Looks Like

• Franchisees are profitable, growing, and aligned with the brand

• Unit economics improve year over year

• Development growth is disciplined and sustainable

• The leadership team scales and executes without founder dependency

• Brand awareness and guest loyalty grow in priority markets

• The system is operationally tight, financially disciplined, and culturally aligned

• Enterprise value increases meaningfully over a 3–5 year horizon

Who We’re Looking For

• Proven CEO, President, or senior executive (COO/Brand President) experience in franchising, restaurants, or multi-unit retail

• Track record of scaling a franchise or multi-unit brand

• Deep understanding of franchise economics, FDDs, and franchisee relations

• Strong operator who respects the unit-level P&L

• Experience building and leading executive teams

• Comfortable partnering with Boards, private equity, or institutional ownership

• Disciplined operator with strategic range

• High integrity leader who balances growth with system health

• Willingness to travel and be present in the field with franchisees

Nice to Have

• Experience leading a PE-backed or growth-stage franchisor

• Multi-brand portfolio experience

• Turnaround or plateau-breaking experience

• New market expansion experience

• Experience taking a regional brand national