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