Director, Franchise Development

CAM Employees LLC • Nashville, TN

6d • $115,000 - $135,000

About The Position

Ugly Bagel is an emerging fast-casual restaurant brand headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with three locations in Middle Tennessee and a franchise development platform positioned for expansion. The company is seeking a hands-on, results-driven Director of Franchise Development to lead franchise recruitment and sales as Ugly Bagel builds its national franchise organization.

The Director will identify, recruit, qualify, and secure franchise partners in targeted markets, personally manage the sales process from initial inquiry through executed agreement, and take ownership of development results. The role also includes building scalable franchise sales systems and contributing to the company’s expansion strategy. The Director reports directly to the CEO and collaborates with marketing, operations, executive leadership, and franchise counsel.

The position is based in the Nashville, Tennessee metropolitan area; candidates must reside there or be willing to relocate before beginning employment. Travel is required for recruitment, candidate meetings, and industry events. Compensation includes a base salary of $115,000–$135,000 annually, uncapped performance-based commission on qualifying franchise sales, and stated on-target earnings of $180,000–$200,000+ annually. The company describes opportunities to work with its CEO and founding leadership, influence growth strategy and sales infrastructure, and potentially advance to a Vice President of Franchise Development role as the organization expands.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of experience in franchise development, franchise sales, or a closely related franchise growth role.
• Demonstrated track record of personally closing franchise agreements and achieving development targets.
• Strong understanding of franchise candidate recruitment, qualification, disclosure procedures, and sales processes.
• Experience selling franchise opportunities to qualified investors, owner-operators, and multiunit operators.
• Proficiency with CRM platforms, prospect management systems, and sales reporting.
• Excellent interpersonal communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to independently manage multiple prospects at different stages of development.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and ability to work effectively in a growing organization.
• Willingness to travel for franchise recruitment, candidate meetings, and industry events.
• Must reside in the Nashville, Tennessee metropolitan area or be willing to relocate before beginning employment.

Nice To Haves

• Franchise development experience within quick-service restaurants, fast-casual dining, food and beverage, or consumer-facing franchise concepts.
• Experience helping an emerging franchise brand grow from its initial locations into a larger regional or national presence.
• Established relationships with franchise operators, multiunit developers, and industry professionals.
• Experience developing and closing multiunit franchise agreements.
• Familiarity with digital franchise lead generation, CRM automation, and targeted outbound prospecting.
• Experience developing scalable franchise sales processes and organizational infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Own and execute the franchise development sales process from prospect identification through executed franchise agreements.
• Generate, qualify, nurture, and convert prospective single-unit and multiunit franchise candidates.
• Conduct discovery calls, franchise presentations, candidate interviews, and development meetings.
• Build and maintain relationships with qualified franchise investors, operators, and strategic partners.
• Coordinate candidate Discovery Days, leadership meetings, and franchise development activities.
• Manage candidate qualification to ensure prospective franchisees meet the company’s financial, operational, and cultural requirements.
• Work with executive leadership and franchise counsel to follow appropriate franchise disclosure and sales compliance procedures.
• Achieve established franchise development and signing objectives.
• Manage and optimize the franchise prospect database and active development pipeline.
• Maintain accurate prospect records, sales activities, follow-up schedules, and opportunity tracking in CRM and prospecting systems.
• Collaborate with marketing leadership to develop and optimize franchise lead-generation campaigns.
• Use digital prospecting, LinkedIn, targeted outreach, webinars, industry relationships, and other business development channels.
• Analyze lead quality, conversion rates, acquisition costs, and sales performance to improve results.
• Develop consistent reporting and forecasting processes for executive leadership.
• Identify ways to improve candidate engagement and shorten the franchise sales cycle without compromising candidate quality.
• Collaborate directly with the CEO to execute the company’s franchise expansion strategy.
• Identify and develop relationships with qualified franchise operators in priority geographic markets.
• Support recruitment of multiunit franchise development partners.
• Represent Ugly Bagel at franchise conferences, industry events, and strategic networking opportunities.
• Provide market feedback and competitive insights to inform franchise recruitment strategy.
• Help build scalable franchise sales processes, systems, and future team structures.
• Contribute to long-term national expansion initiatives.
• Take ownership of existing franchise prospects and development opportunities.
• Establish a disciplined sales process with measurable conversion and pipeline performance.
• Build a consistent pipeline of financially qualified franchise candidates.
• Collaborate with marketing to strengthen lead generation and candidate acquisition.
• Contribute toward the initial objective of securing 10–12 franchise unit commitments in 2027.
• Support development of a scalable franchise sales organization capable of accelerating growth in subsequent years.

Benefits

• Uncapped performance-based commission on qualifying franchise sales.
• Opportunity to work directly with the company’s CEO and founding leadership team.
• Meaningful influence over franchise growth strategy and sales infrastructure.
• Opportunity for career advancement into a Vice President of Franchise Development role as the company expands and organizational needs evolve.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed