Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Franchise Development Manager

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a Franchise Development Manager to lead franchise recruitment, territory strategy, site selection, and the end-to-end onboarding of new franchise partners. This role is responsible for sourcing qualified leads, managing the sales funnel, performing financial and market due diligence, negotiating franchise agreements, and coordinating cross-functional teams (legal, operations, marketing, real estate) to convert prospects into successful opening franchisees. The ideal candidate has a proven track record in franchise sales or complex B2B sales, strong financial modeling skills, and a consultative approach to partner development.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Regional Sales Manager or Area Manager with multi-unit retail/restaurant/operator experience
Franchise Sales Representative or Franchise Account Executive
Real Estate Development Manager or Commercial Leasing Manager

Advancement To:

Director of Franchise Development
VP of Franchise Operations / VP of Development
Head of International Franchising or Chief Development Officer

Lateral Moves:

Multi-Unit Operations Manager
Real Estate & Site Selection Director
Strategic Partnerships / Business Development Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Build and execute a territory development plan that identifies priority markets, validates opportunity sizing, and sequences outreach to achieve annual franchise sales targets and unit growth objectives.
Own the full lifecycle franchise sales funnel — prospecting, qualification, discovery calls, presentations, follow-ups, FDD delivery, discovery day coordination, and contract execution — while maintaining accurate pipeline data in the CRM.
Source, qualify and close high-quality franchise candidates through targeted outreach, lead generation campaigns, inbound lead qualification, and partnership channels; consistently meet or exceed quarterly development KPIs.
Perform robust market research and competitive analysis for designated territories, delivering go/no-go recommendations based on population demographics, trade area analytics, competitor density, and revenue potential.
Lead financial evaluation and modeling of franchisee candidates and locations, including pro forma P&L projections, ROI analysis, initial investment breakdowns, and sensitivity scenarios to ensure franchisee viability.
Coordinate site selection and real estate strategy with franchisees and real estate partners, including trade area analysis, drive-time mapping, lease negotiations, and final site approvals consistent with brand standards.
Manage the franchise disclosure document (FDD) and all disclosure timing requirements, ensuring compliance with state and federal franchise regulations in collaboration with legal counsel.
Negotiate franchise agreements, territory rights, renewal options, and localized terms in conjunction with legal and finance teams to protect brand integrity and maximize long-term company value.
Design and execute discovery days, candidate presentations and onboarding orientations to assess culture fit, train franchise candidates on brand systems, and accelerate time-to-open.
Build strong relationships with potential multi-unit operators, strategic partners, brokers, and real estate professionals to create a pipeline of qualified leads and referral sources.
Work cross-functionally with operations, marketing, training, finance and supply chain teams to create smooth transitions from signed contract to store opening, including project timelines, milestone tracking and risk mitigation.
Implement and maintain CRM best practices (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), pipeline hygiene, and reporting dashboards to provide leadership with weekly and monthly visibility into development performance and forecasting.
Create and present persuasive pitch decks, site justification reports, and financial underwriting memos to both internal executives and external franchise candidates to facilitate timely approvals and signings.
Develop and optimize the franchise recruitment playbook — messaging, qualification criteria, interview guides and closing strategies — to improve conversion rates and accelerate pipeline velocity.
Manage due diligence and background checks for franchise applicants, verifying financial statements, credit history, previous business experience and references to minimize franchisee default risk.
Deliver ongoing competitive intelligence and market feedback to the executive team to inform product, pricing and expansion strategy and to prioritize markets for future development.
Track and analyze key metrics such as leads-to-sign ratios, time-to-sign, average unit economics, candidate quality scorecards and territory penetration; use insights to iterate processes and improve performance.
Lead local launch planning for new franchisees, ensuring coordinated support across operations (opening training), marketing (local grand opening), supply chain (initial inventory) and real estate (build-out timelines).
Prepare and manage development budgets, incentive programs, and co-investment plans for strategic territories and high-value partners; negotiate promotional allowances and development incentives.
Mentor and coach junior development team members, share best practices for discovery, negotiation and closing, and contribute to a high-performance sales culture with structured feedback and training.
Represent the brand at industry conferences, franchise expos, broker events and community meetups to increase brand visibility, generate leads and nurture relationships with potential development partners.
Ensure strict adherence to brand standards, site criteria, and franchise system requirements during candidate selection and site approvals to protect long-term system performance.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc reporting requests, build custom territory heat maps, and present exploratory market analyses to senior leadership to validate expansion hypotheses.
Assist with the refinement of the franchisee onboarding checklist and project plans to improve time-to-first-sale and reduce pre-opening delays.
Coordinate periodic franchisee satisfaction surveys related to the development process and track remediation efforts when candidate or new franchisee issues arise.
Participate in cross-functional sprint planning for new market pilots, product launches and franchise operations improvements that affect development workflows.
Maintain and update the central repository of franchise documentation (FDD addenda, sample agreements, SOPs, candidate qualification forms) to ensure version control and compliance.
Provide training and enablement sessions for sales, customer service and field teams on the franchise development lifecycle, qualification criteria and referral processes.
Assist finance in structuring multi-unit and master development agreements, including phased rollout schedules and performance-based milestones.
Collaborate with marketing on lead gen programs, digital campaigns, content for discovery days and collateral for franchise expos to maximize inbound candidate quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Franchise sales and development: proven track record closing single-unit and multi-unit franchise agreements.
Territory planning & market sizing: population analytics, trade area analysis, and site selection methodologies.
Financial modeling & underwriting: pro forma creation, unit economics, ROI, break-even, and sensitivity analysis (Excel/Google Sheets).
CRM proficiency: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive or equivalent — pipeline management, reporting, and automation.
Contract negotiation & legal acumen: drafting/negotiating franchise agreements, SOWs, and understanding of FDD requirements.
Real estate fundamentals: lease negotiation, site feasibility, zoning awareness, and working with brokers.
Project management: Gantt timelines, milestone tracking, and vendor coordination (Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet).
Data analysis & reporting: KPI dashboards, lead funnel analytics, conversion metrics and quarterly forecasting.
Compliance & due diligence: managing background checks, financial verifications and regulatory timelines for disclosure.
Presentation & proposal development: pitch decks, site justification reports, and investor-style materials.
Marketing & lead generation tactics: trade shows, digital campaigns, referral programs and franchise expos.
Technology literacy: virtual meeting tools (Zoom), mapping tools (ArcGIS, Google My Maps), and e-signature platforms (DocuSign).

Soft Skills

Consultative sales approach: ability to diagnose prospect needs, recommend solutions and guide candidates to a mutual fit.
Exceptional negotiation and influence: win-win negotiation style with high emotional intelligence and resilience.
Strategic thinker with entrepreneurial mindset: balances big-picture market strategy and tactical execution.
High-level stakeholder management: collaborates effectively with cross-functional and executive teams.
Excellent written and verbal communication: persuasive storytelling and clear negotiation correspondence.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail: manages multiple deals and timelines without quality slip.
Problem solving and critical thinking: quickly resolves site, legal or financial obstacles during the development lifecycle.
Coaching and team leadership: mentors junior developers and shares best practices across the team.
Relationship building and networking: trusted by brokers, operators and franchise prospects.
Customer-first orientation: prioritizes franchisee success and long-term partner performance.

(Combined lists include 12 hard skills and 10 soft skills; total exceeds the requested minimum of 10 skills derived from common franchise development job descriptions.)

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, Real Estate, Hospitality, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, Master’s in Real Estate, or related advanced degree; certifications in franchise law or franchise management are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Finance/Accounting
Real Estate/Urban Planning
Marketing/Communications
Hospitality/Restaurant Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10+ years of progressive experience in franchise development, franchise sales, multi-unit operations, commercial real estate, or strategic business development.

Preferred:

3–5 years closing franchise agreements or equivalent B2B sales experience with demonstrated ability to reach quarterly targets.
Experience working with Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD), franchise legal teams, and multi-state disclosure compliance.
Track record of managing complex deals (multi-unit or market development agreements) and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to successful store openings.