Senior Director – Operations & Franchising, UK

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Purpose: The Senior Director – Operations & Franchising is a senior leadership role responsible for the operational performance, franchise strategy, franchisee performance and customer experience leadership of the UK business. As a member of the UK Leadership Team, the role contributes to the overall business strategy, commercial priorities and long-term growth agenda, ensuring strategy is translated into effective execution across the restaurant network. The role leads the UK Franchise Ownership Strategy, working closely with Development to connect franchise capability and ownership with new restaurant openings, network growth and non-traditional opportunities. The Senior Director also provides leadership for the end-to-end customer experience, ensuring the voice of the customer is represented across the business. Digital elements of the journey, including App, Web and aggregator experiences, are jointly led with the relevant functional partners. The role is ultimately focused on creating a high-performing franchise system that delivers sustainable sales and profit growth, strong franchisee economics, outstanding customer experiences and consistently high brand standards. Key Accountabilities: 1. Leadership & Business Strategy Serve as a core member of the UK Leadership Team, contributing to the strategy, commercial direction and long-term priorities of the UK business. Act as a strategic partner to the Managing Director and wider Leadership Team. Represent Operations, Franchising, franchise partners and the voice of the customer in key business decisions. Translate business strategy into clear operational priorities and measurable execution plans. Lead and sponsor major cross-functional initiatives impacting restaurants, franchisees and customers. Ensure decisions appropriately balance customer outcomes, commercial performance, franchisee economics and long-term brand growth. 2. Operations & Performance Own the operational strategy and performance of the UK restaurant estate. Drive improvement across sales, transactions, profitability, service, product quality, customer experience and brand standards. Establish clear KPIs, scorecards and performance routines, using data and insight to identify opportunities and drive action. Simplify restaurant operations and ensure effective implementation of new products, technology, channels and operating models. Drive consistent execution of strategic initiatives while identifying and scaling operational best practice. Champion a culture of operational excellence, accountability and continuous improvement. 3. Franchising & Franchisee Performance Lead the UK franchising strategy and franchise operating model. Build strong, commercially productive relationships with franchise partners. Establish clear expectations and accountability for franchisee and restaurant performance. Support franchisees in improving sales, profitability, customer experience and operational capability. Lead strategic and performance reviews with key franchise organisations and ensure appropriate action where performance falls below expectations. Develop franchise organisational capability to support sustainable multi-site growth. Strengthen franchisee engagement while ensuring the long-term interests and standards of the brand are protected. 4. Franchise Ownership, Development & Growth Lead the UK Franchise Ownership Strategy, ensuring the franchise network has the capability, capacity and ambition to support sustainable growth. Work hand in hand with Development to connect Ownership Strategy with the new-store pipeline, ensuring the right franchise partners are aligned to future growth opportunities. Shape the future ownership structure of the network, including consolidation, succession and Change of Hands. Identify franchise partners with the operational,