Principal Program Lead, Real Estate Market Strategy

This Restaurant Development position is responsible for developing comprehensive, location-based market build-out plans that drive strategic and tactical growth priorities across the country for Chick-fil-A. This real estate strategy role includes working in close collaboration with partners across the business to influence and drive the most effective strategic location solutions (new site selection and existing restaurant asset strategy) that will best support our Owner/Operators and the communities they serve. This position requires ownership and communication of comprehensive local, regional, and national strategic site selection plans, enabling Chick-fil-A to make the best decisions possible for short and long-term restaurant growth. This role will help lead and influence through the following capabilities: both strong analytical and communication skills, strategic-level leadership and guidance on cross-functional teams related to our real estate growth strategy, market expertise (local knowledge, context, perspective) of markets served, data analysis and interpretation (details + big-picture thinking), sound understanding of financial return and analysis, ownership of our real estate growth strategy, fosters a positive and collaborative partnership with key stakeholders in a team environment, portfolio management (perspective on broader asset ecosystem strategy and financial metrics), strategic thinking, develop and effectively communicate objective insights and recommendations and apply strong consultative skills with key partners.

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.

Growth Strategy

• Develop, adapt, and update an integrated location strategy for new and existing markets, in conjunction with New Restaurant Growth and Existing Restaurants.
• Evaluate, drive, and influence innovative solutions and platforms through the complex lens of the market ecosystem. This role requires the Strategist to explore pioneering methods and sales channels to serve the ever-growing customer demand for the brand.
• Champion the adoption of submarkets across Restaurant Development (“RD”) and the broader enterprise, including Operators.

Market Expertise

• Market-Level Expert: have an intimate understanding of the trade areas within the entire AST including demographic and psychographic makeup, customer patterns, traffic drivers, and future growth and development opportunities for the area.
• Equip business leaders across RD with understanding around key concepts such as consumer movement data, sales forecast and cannibalization analysis, shared customer base calculations, and advanced demographic analysis.
• Provide critical market strategy insights/maps/data to key leaders to help inform strategy.
• Understand and communicate the competitive landscape across local areas, markets, and regions.
• Crucial role as a “storyteller”, providing context and perspective for markets that help drive key decisions.

Partnerships, Collaboration, and Consulting

• Drive and influence decisions around the Area Support Team (“AST”) table within Regions. This person will serve as the integrated strategy leader and will help determine, educate, and communicate the growth strategy for this team.
• Engage with teams across the business – notably, other teams within Restaurant Development, Field Operations, Franchisee Selection, and Marketing. This responsibility is critical to our group as it connects us to longer term projects and initiatives within the organization and offers the Strategists an opportunity to increase their scope and grow their influence.
• Represent Market Strategy for the Region on cross-functional teams, in strategic-level meetings, and in working on other business-critical initiatives.
• Key partner with the Strategic Insights Leadership team bringing timely updates and helping shape future work.
• Maintaining a positive, collaborative, and optimistic attitude is critical to the culture, influence, and success of the team.

Forecasting, Financial Modeling, and Scenario-Building

• Generate sales forecasts and financial analyses for potential and existing Chick-fil-A location scenarios.
• Accomplish sales transfer studies leveraging internal customer data.
• Evaluate multi-scenario situations for existing and potential future deployment strategies, as needed.
• Create and complete other strategic analyses and innovative business solutions as requested by Restaurant Development Leadership, Chick-fil-A’s Planning Teams, and Executive Committee.
• Perform mapping functions and spatial analyses, including management of the existing restaurant strategy and site characteristics layers, utilizing GIS capabilities.
• Ability to make complex analysis easy to understand and interpret for key partners and stakeholders
• Provide analyses and recommendations for existing restaurant strategies (remodels, relocations, rebuilds) and potential cross-platform market solutions.

Data Strategy/Interpretation

• Communicate strategic insight and growth recommendations for Chick-fil-A markets and locations to end-users across the business, including Restaurant Development, Region Teams, and Operators.
• Produce input and strategic guidance around the tools and models that could impact location-based strategies, in conjunction with analytics in Existing Restaurants.
• Play an active role as the conduit between our team’s data-driven insights and recommendations, and the teams we interact with across the business.

Portfolio Management/Stewardship

• Measure financial return of asset and capital deployment options on a broad scale, gauging potential ramifications.
• Consistently implement a forward-thinking approach toward resource stewardship through integrated market deployment strategies.
• Foster “impact” thinking around non-financial resources, stewarding Operators, team members, and communities.

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience

• Master's degree in Business, Finance, Real Estate, Economics, Analytics, Geography, or other relevant areas of study
• Experience in retail site selection, consulting, real estate development, finance/accounting
• Experience in real estate site selection, consulting and/or finance background, previous leadership role
• Strategic Thinking and Problem Solving
• Strong communication skills
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
• Relationship building skills and ability to influence
• Collaborative team player
• Enterprise mindset
• High comfort level with computer usage/new software, technology & tools
• Prefer aptitude with GIS software and Microsoft Excel modeling
• Builds Organizational Trust & Collaboration
• Forward Thinking
• Understands return on investment and investment analysis principles
• Self-starter with the ability to work both independently and on teams