Job Description

The Operations Manager / Franchise Business Leader is responsible for partnering with assigned KFC franchisees to grow profitable, sustainable businesses while protecting the KFC brand and delivering consistent operational excellence across every restaurant.

The role serves as the primary business and operations partner between KFC LAC and assigned franchise organizations, combining strong operational expertise with commercial thinking, strategic leadership, and franchisee influence.

The FBL is accountable for ensuring franchise partners understand, implement, and sustain KFC operating standards, brand requirements, food safety expectations, training systems, and agreed business commitments. The role identifies compliance and performance gaps early, establishes clear accountability with franchise partners, and follows through until sustainable corrective actions are implemented.

At the same time, the FBL helps franchise partners strengthen sales, transactions and profitability, build organizational capability, and develop the systems and leadership required for future growth. Ultimately, the FBL helps franchisees protect the brand, run great restaurants today, and build stronger businesses for tomorrow.

Franchise Business Leadership

• Serve as the principal business and operations partner to assigned franchise organizations.
• Build trusted relationships while setting clear expectations for business performance, brand standards, compliance and commitments.
• Understand each franchisee's strategy, economics, capabilities, risks and growth opportunities; connect them to KFC LAC priorities.
• Lead constructive conversations and escalate material or recurring risks when required. Brand Standards, Compliance & Risk
• Safeguard the KFC brand by ensuring restaurants execute KFC/Yum! standards, policies, systems and required programs.
• Monitor compliance through restaurant visits, audits, operational KPIs, guest feedback, FSQA results and other performance indicators.
• Ensure gaps have clear corrective actions, owners and timelines, with follow-through to sustainable closure.
• Partner with FSQA on food safety and quality risks and ensure critical requirements are consistently executed. Operational Excellence
• Champion consistent execution of Safety, Standards, Experience and Value/Efficiency across assigned markets. • Use field observations and data to address root causes, simplify execution and reduce operational variation without compromising standards.
• Share and scale successful operating practices across restaurants, franchisees and markets. Training & People Capability
• Ensure franchise organizations have the training systems, resources, routines and leadership ownership required to execute KFC standards.
• Partner with Training/People leaders to implement required programs, certifications and new initiative readiness; assess effectiveness, not only completion.
• Coach franchise owners, GMs and Operations leaders to build stronger teams, leadership pipelines and sustainable capabilities.

Commercial Impact & Business Planning

• Help franchisees translate great operations into stronger sales, transactions, profitability and restaurant economics.
• Use financial and operating data to prioritize high-impact opportunities and balance short-term performance with long-term investment.
• Lead regular business reviews and ensure annual plans, KPIs, actions, owners and timelines are aligned with KFC LAC commitments.

Growth, Development & Change

• Partner with franchisees and Development teams on new builds, relocations, remodels and asset investments, ensuring operational and organizational readiness.
• Support flawless openings and ensure people, training, equipment, brand and food safety readiness before opening.
• Lead adoption of new KFC programs, technology and innovation; translate changes into clear business, restaurant and guest benefits.

Integration & Continuous Improvement

• Connect Operations, Marketing, Digital & Technology, Development, Supply Chain, FSQA, Finance and People priorities into a clear market agenda.
• Prevent competing priorities and unnecessary complexity at restaurant level; engage stakeholders early and clarify ownership and follow-through.
• Use performance trends to identify systemic opportunities, improve the operating system and multiply impact through others.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Restaurant/Hospitality Management, Engineering, Finance or related discipline; MBA preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive restaurant operations or multi-unit business leadership experience, including meaningful above-restaurant leadership; KFC/QSR experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of restaurant operations, brand standards, compliance, training systems, guest experience and restaurant economics.
• Experience working with franchise organizations and influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Ability to understand financial statements, use data to identify business opportunities and recommend practical solutions.
• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to translate strategy into practical restaurant execution and scalable systems.
• Strong coaching, influencing, communication, presentation and negotiation skills; able to have difficult conversations while maintaining trusted relationships.
• Strong problem-solving, project management and change-management capabilities; highly organized and results oriented.
• Fluency in English and Spanish required; Portuguese preferred.

Salary Range: $110,500 to $152,010 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.