Specialist - Franchise Management

Wendy's Franchise Management Specialist

When our square shaped burgers made their first sizzle on the scene more than 50 years ago, people knew our approach wasn't like any other. Same goes for the way we support our employees. Our culture of openness, flexibility, and inclusiveness allows everybody to flourish in their own way. If you're looking for a career where you can be part of the action as we continue to grow our iconic brand We got you!

Responsible for day-to-day management, administration and coordination of U.S. New Franchisee Onboarding program, collaborating with approximately 20 cross-functional teams and newly approved franchise candidates. The Specialist will lead the organization and coordination of global Franchisee / AFC Networking groups and events, assist in managing Wendy's U.S. lender relationships, facilitate the vetting process of preferred lenders and maintain Wendy's U.S. Preferred Lender List.

Working closely with the Franchise Management team, DVPs, Franchise Operations Coaches, the Design team, and franchisees, the Specialist will build, manage, and analyze the reimage pipeline through Brand Sustainability, Portfolio Reviews, and daily communications. This role is also responsible for creating new build sites and assigning site numbers in SiteHub (EDMCS) that feeds all other systems within Wendy's.

Superior communication skills and an understanding of franchise related matters, including franchise agreement renewals, new franchise grants, franchise contract compliance, transactions, and various franchise incentive programs is essential. Specialist must also possess excellent project management skills and the ability to create presentation decks.

This role requires a schedule of 4 days onsite and 1 day remote.

Responsibilities

• Specialist will actively engage with our newest franchisees serving as a catalyst for their development needs and build sustainable partnerships to aid in successful franchise organizations within the Wendy's U.S. network.
• Responsible for managing collaboration of approximately 20 cross-functional teams across the U.S., ensuring a comprehensive and cohesive approach to onboarding that sets the stage for the growth and success of each our new franchisees by effectively communicating Wendy's core values, culture, best practices, and focus areas of the brand.
• Specialist will act as the central point of contact for new franchisees, facilitating cross-functional coordination and communication for both new franchisees building their way into the system and those acquiring restaurants as their point of brand entry.
• Specialist must monitor new franchisees new build project and acquisition progress, identifying and addressing any issues or delays to ensure timely delivery of objectives.
• Specialist will manage the AFC tracker with various departments to gather necessary data and insights and provide regular updates to cross-functional teams through regular maintenance and monthly distribution of U.S. AFC tracker, ensuring accurate and timely documentation of all relevant activities and milestones.
• Specialist will also lead the organization and coordination of global franchise / AFC networking groups and events, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and fostering engagement among participants.
• Specialist will partner with the Wendy's Restaurant Development team, Field Operations and franchisees to initiate and manage all aspects of the Renewal Process for expiring franchise agreements.
• Maintains ongoing communication with cross functional teams to ensure completion of renewal requirements and execution of necessary legal documentation prior to the expiration of the franchise agreement.
• Processes franchise agreement extension requests from the franchisees as necessary.
• Drives the approval process for the issuance of new franchise agreements granted as a result of completed reimaging activities.
• Manages and coordinates the approval process to facilitate the grant and issuance of new franchise rights in conjunction with the New Restaurant Development process.
• Drives reporting and tracking related to franchise agreement expirations and renewals.
• Specialist is responsible for managing the reimage process (Image Activation and Lite Touch reinvestment) for one (1) U.S. division, which includes monitoring, revising, reporting, to ensure the accuracy of the reimage pipeline.
• This involves not only tracking dates in the Gateway system but also verifying and updating the roles of various cross-functional team roles within the system, ensuring company's reliance on Gateway is precise and effective.
• Daily communication with franchisees, Franchise Management and Franchise Operations Coaches for reimage project verification detail (eg : a real project, architect on board, submitted for permit, construction start, reopen dates) to continually build and track the reimage pipeline. Create reimage projects in Gateway.
• Update and track the project's 4 key milestones, Project Completion Year, Notes and other required fields ensuring the reimage pipeline is accurate for month-end / quarter-end reporting / dashboards seeing each project through to completion.
• Specialist is responsble for ordering Facility Evaluations (FE) for each planned reimage in the division and responsible for ensuring Design Affidavit is reviewed / approved including the items on the FE. Deactivate projects as needed.
• Manages and ensures compliance with Franchise requirements such as reimaging, development agreements, legal agreement provisions, and other key brand initiatives or projects (e.g., incentive programs).
• Creates reporting and supporting materials required to drive decisions with Senior Leadership.
• Audits and / or assists Coordinator, as necessary, in performing updates to various franchise databases and systems (e.g., Gateway, SiteHub).
• Supports internal and external audits of systems and databases. Ensures timely and accurate documentation of franchise restaurant details and / or obligations (e.g., open / close status, reimaging dates, incentive rates).
• Helps to identify and develop system and process improvements.
• Will manage an essential role in cultivating relationships with U.S. lenders, actively managing the vetting process for our preferred lenders to stay current. Working closely with leadership and QSCC on lender convention invitation detail.
• Assist Franchise Management leadership on the annual Lender Business Update annual meeting.
• Globally, creating new sites and assigning site numbers to include ownership structure, address, restaurant type, etc in SiteHub (EDMCS). Work closely with domestic and International Senior Development Specialists to acquire all needed data.
• Serves as a proficient and knowledgeable representative of the Franchise Development department to the franchise community, regional and support center personnel and outside contacts (e.g., attorneys, lenders, and brokers) through phone contact and correspondence.
• Assists with development of new programs and / or procedures to support department functions.
• Prepare presentations and materials required to drive decisions with Senior Leadership.
• Performs other job related duties as may be assigned or required.

Education : Bachelors Degree BS Business degree or equivalent background.

Wendy's was built on the premise, "Quality is our Recipe," which remains the guidepost of the Wendy's system. Today, Wendy's and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide with a vision of becoming the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand.

The base pay range for this position is listed below. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and budget for the open position and also may vary depending on the candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other relevant factors. This range does not include an estimated value for any benefits, bonus, or other incentives that may be applicable based on position. The target annual bonus for this role is XX% of annualized base salary, based on actual company and personal performance.

Our square burgers make us different and so do our benefits! Our restaurant support roles are eligible for a wide array of benefits, including things such as parental leave, free EAP sessions, company 401k match and other great offerings. For more details about our benefits, please visit our benefits website.

Wendy's is an equal employment opportunity employer who may provide reasonable accommodation to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Pay Range : $60,000 - $102,000 Annually