Marketing Consultant

The Marketing Consultant (MC) serves as the trusted advisor to Operators and a strategic member of each Area Support Team (AST*) by providing timely, tailored solutions to address the evolving, unique marketing challenges of each area across Chick-fil-A. The Marketing Consultant is a unique role, tasked with consulting both to markets within each area, as well as consulting to local Operators across each area.

At the market level, the Marketing Consultant influences and consults Operator groups to align on their market-level strategy, accrual, marketing tactics and marketing investment for the year. At the local level, the Marketing Consultant also identifies where each area has the greatest opportunity to grow in a given year, and partners with the rest of the AST members to provide a series of consulting solutions that help local Operators and Restaurant Marketing Directors leverage marketing to move from their current state toward achieving their growth goals for that year.

The Marketing Consultant should be able to balance their expertise with accessible language and a posture that invites conversation, collaboration, and a spirit of partnership amongst Operators and Operator groups. The Marketing Consultant is expected to take a leadership role in marketing planning and must serve at times as a strategist, account manager, and liaison all in one.

This role must be able to:

• Challenge, while maintaining trust
• Provide objective analytical rationale, while recognizing subjective group dynamics
• Influence Operators, without having a decision-making role on their final plans

The Marketing Consultant acts as a vital bridge between Operators, the field, and key internal stakeholders and partners – both within Chick-fil-A’s marketing department and beyond. The role is fast paced, engaging, intellectually stimulating, collaborative by design and creative in approach.

The Marketing Consultant will report to a Sr. Principal Team Leader, Marketing Consulting Team.

*An Area Support Team is an integrated, cross-functional team that collaborates to foster Area health and develop tailored strategies and solutions for each Operator, Restaurant, and Area that promote long term growth and performance.

Our Flexible Future model offers a healthy mix of working in person and virtually, strengthening key elements of the Chick-fil-A culture by fostering collaboration and community.

Success in the Marketing Consultant role will be determined by performance in the following areas of responsibility:

1. Consulting to Operators, both at the market and local level, on marketing strategies and tactics that generate demand and build the brand.

• Seeking to understand and influencing Operators on their marketing strategies and plans
• Building market-level recommendations, strategy & annual growth plans
• Creating multi-year market-level growth strategy
• Uncovering, analyzing and articulating marketing insights into meaningful action
• Leading workshops for Operators within assigned Area Support Team(s) (ASTs) for specified local targeted growth opportunities, with appropriate 1:1 follow-up consulting engagements.
• Fielding weekly questions/considerations from internal consultants and Operators, and ensure questions are brought to timely and strategic resolutions. 

2. Serve as a Marketing Subject Matter Expert/trusted advisor on at least one Area Support Team (AST) to provide marketing strategy and tailored solutions to fuel long-term, healthy growth.

• Work to align marketing strategy and plans with the AST’s strategy, developed uniquely for each of the areas, as well as the strategic priorities outlined by brand strategy and other enterprise-level strategic objectives and platforms.
• Work with both Chick-fil-A’s media agency and Chick-fil-A’s sponsorship management agency to provide clear direction and accountability across market-level media plans and partnerships on behalf of Operators.
  • Outcomes include:
  • Developing each market’s media plans.
  • Developing a strategic point of view on the best partnership opportunities within a given market, based on data and insights for each given market.
  • Advising on community partnerships and tailored market-level promotional efforts.
  • Developing an approach to a prospective new partner, including benchmarking on price, assets, and terms.

3. Partner across the Support Center by:

• Collaborating to build scalable local content and programs.
• Leading a specialty assignment focus area.
• Advocating for Operator needs and priorities in marketing programs and initiatives. 

Skills and Abilities: 

• Rising Star: Candidates currently in dynamic positions at agencies or brands, with a track record working on complex projects.
• Passion: Go-getter with the relentless pursuit of excellence in a competitive, changing landscape.
• Influencer: Proven ability to influence groups that may start out with varied point of views and bring those groups together around shared strategies and plans that lead to effective execution.
• Versatile and Savvy: Enjoys the blend of being skilled at relationships, communication, analytical synthesis, innovative thinking and conflict resolution; an enthusiastic bridge builder across disciplines, groups and personalities.
• Motivation: Strong relationship building and communications skills, able to balance demanding needs while simultaneously motivating people to think strategically and creatively.
• Analytical: Strong analytical sensibilities, able to drive and dig into the analytics process and champion insights.
• People: Personable and approachable with enthusiasm for Chick-fil-A’s culture. Exhibits strong interpersonal skills that encourage team cooperation, promotes positivity, and motivates relationship-building
• Strategic: relentlessly searches for solutions, elements of strategy to tweak, and understands Operator and Market mindsets – finding key win-win-wins as a result. Sees the necessity and power of advertising to grow business. And adjusts and adopts new practices as needed and quickly.

Critical Behaviors: 

• Excellence: Gives personal best every day; demonstrates positive attitude and confidence; sets high standards and meets self- expectations; pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish.
• Communication Skills: Writes and speaks clearly and succinctly, in a variety of settings and styles.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals and maximize capacity.
• Creativity: Thinks across disciplinary lines; uses the insights or techniques from one field to take on the challenges of another. Passionately curious.
• Making Complex Decisions: great at gleaning meaning from whatever data is available; adds personal wisdom and experience to come to the best conclusion and solution, given the situation; uses multiple problem-solving tools and techniques.
• Continuous Learner: Being a student of Marketing (internal and external) and the restaurant business.
• Collaborative: resourceful through partnering with teammates, other teams, and agencies. Share knowledge and skills. Able to achieve results through others.

• Bachelor’s degree, with preference in Marketing, Business or Communications.
• At least 8 years of experience in account management, consulting, marketing strategy, or similar.
• Professional experience in at least one of the following areas: restaurant, hospitality, entertainment, food and beverage marketing, consulting, or media.
• Experience with marketing analytics and insights.
• A creative and analytical thinker with a strong strategic mind and a willingness to take risks.
• Manages deadlines and quickly adapts and re-prioritizes to deliver results.
• Ability to work independently with minimal direction.
• Ability to “think on their feet” in front of an audience.
• High attention to detail.
• Maintains highest level of confidentiality.

• More than 8 years of experience in an account management, consulting, marketing strategy, or similar.