Business and Relationship Lead

The Business & Relationship Lead is a trusted, strategic advisor who fosters growth in the business by serving as the primary relationship owner between Chick-fil-A, Inc. and the Operator and is tasked to Serve, Advise, Connect and Respond. Serves as the primary representative of Chick-fil-A as the Franchisor to the Operator. The Business & Relationship Lead displays a breadth of subject matter knowledge and expertise (5 Critical Success Factors), depth in the Operator relationship and is responsible for supporting the continued growth, health, and expansion of a portfolio of Restaurants. They provide immersive, front line Operator support, accessible 24 hours per day, seven days each week, including holidays to meet the unique demands of Operators they support and their restaurant. The Business & Relationship Lead will support 25 – 35 Operator relationships across 35 - 50 restaurants, responsible for approximately $175M in sales.

The Business & Relationship Lead is entrusted with partnering with Operators and Markets to achieve their vision and goals, execute the Area vision and strategy, and uphold the Operator Agreement. The Business & Relationship Lead will serve as a strategic business partner, building trusted advisor relationships and coaching Operators—including Priority Operators and Strategic Operator Groups—to maximize their potential. The Business & Relationship Lead will act as a thought partner to individual Operators and Markets to strengthen their leadership capabilities, foster their growth, and develop sub-Area strategies while helping individual Operators align their plans to these Area strategies. The Business & Relationship Lead will advise Operators in individual and group/market settings. The Business & Relationship Lead will promote and facilitate collaborative and performance building opportunities among Operators in the Area, including Marketing Advisory Panels. The Business & Relationship Lead is a core member of the Area Support Team, representing and influencing on behalf of individual Operators and Markets as well as influencing and consulting on selection, real estate and reinvestment decisions.

At the Support Center, the Business & Relationship Lead will spearhead special teams, projects, and task forces that have Area and Region implications. The Business & Relationship Lead will direct critical in-field initiatives and correspondingly represent the Voice of the Operator.

The Business & Relationship Lead will report to the Area Director.

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.

Steward of the Franchise Agreement

• Upholds the Franchise Agreement
• Ensures Brand protection by driving accountability to Operating Standards and Operational Requirements
• Shepherds improvement opportunities by recommending action plan and leveraging specialists
• Proactively takes measures to reduce or eliminate organizational and/or Operator risks
• Provides input and point of view for Operator selections and terminations

Total Business Advisor

• Uses a wholistic approach to analyze and diagnose Operator business challenges and opportunities
• Serves as a Strategic Business Coach; sees big picture/how it all fits
• Consults to Winning Hearts Every Day
• Ensure Quality and Safe experiences
• Conducts Annual Business Assessment related to brand standards and Five CSF’s with every Operator
• Bridges the gap between Support Center strategy, Restaurant-specific circumstances, and Operators’ viewpoints
• Lead special teams, projects, and task forces that have restaurant / Area / Region implications
• Consults to effective Planning and Goal Setting
• Translate the Area vision into a tactical Area strategy and create actionable Area plan

Collaborator and Connector between Operators and Chick-fil-A

• Represents the voice of the Operator and Chick-fil-A, Inc., effectively
• Stewards and shares best practices as well as connects Operators to available resources
• Monitors key interactions to remove barriers and ensure progress (e.g. Specialty Consulting engagements)

Facilitator of Market Collaboration

• Leads the effort to connect Operators within markets to promote healthy Operator dynamics and Market-level collaboration
• Pulls in resources to support specific market needs
• Promotes Operator to Operator learning

Ambassador of Care

• Represents Chick-fil-A’s presence in personal, critical/milestone moments
• Discerns level of Chick-fil-A presence/ approach and directs the coordination of response (pulls on partners for execution)
• Champions Chick-fil-A’s culture of care through effective people acumen

Lead Point of Contact for Emergency Business Issues

• Serves as the lead point of contact for supporting Chick-fil-A related business emergencies and ensures appropriate response by cross-functionally partnering internally when needed

• 8-10 years of relevant business experience
• Experience facilitating groups to reach common goals
  
• Foundational business and restaurant operations acumen
  
• Strong business judgment
  
• Ability to build strong, positive relationships and communicate effectively to positive performance influence
  
• Strong emotional intelligence
  
• Cross-functional collaboration
  
• Ability to manage conflict
  
• Consulting
  
• Takes initiative and ownership
  
• Communicates effectively and with candor
  
• Ability to balance multiple, sometimes conflicting stakeholder interests
  
• Ability to distill complex, disparate data into simplified, actionable insights
  
• Experience driving continuous improvement and motivating individuals to act
  
• Ability to anticipate and decipher market trends to develop strategies and plans
  
• Ability to ensure food quality and provide recommendations by executing food tastings of the Chick-fil-A menu
  
• Ability to work within a restaurant as a team member for up to 30 days
  
• Ability to lift up to 50lbs when necessary, in the restaurants