Franchise Development Marketing Director

Franchise Development Marketing Director Director to Senior Vice President level, calibrated to experience Remote, United States | Eastern Timezone (Charlotte, NC preferred) | Full-time Occasional Travel Required Reports to the Chief Marketing Officer and the Chief Development Officer About the brand We are a national preschool brand with roughly fifty schools open today and a development pipeline that takes us past one hundred in the near future. Most of our schools are independently owned and operated by franchise owners our corporate team supports directly, with a footprint anchored in the Southeast and expanding across the broader United States. Our brand is warm, relationship-driven, and centered on the individual child. Our marketing sounds like a person who knows the school, not like an ad. Largely, the marketing team works to craft and curate stories to build trust with families and prospective franchise owners. We are moving quickly on two fronts at once: growing unit count and strengthening sales at the school level. This is an opportunity to join a high growth company with outsized responsibility, a small team, and a direct line to the executives making the decisions. About this role The Franchise Development Marketing Director is responsible for the strategy, execution, and performance of all marketing that attracts, engages, and converts prospective franchise owners. Reporting jointly to the Chief Marketing Officer and the Chief Development Officer, and working directly with the CEO and the rest of the executive team. This leader owns the franchise candidate pipeline from first inquiry through franchise award: messaging, lead generation across all channels, introductory and training experiences, and sales enablement.You will be accountable for lead volume, lead quality, cost per qualified lead, and contribution to unit growth targets. Day to day: This is a lean organization, so this is both a strategy seat and an execution seat. You will set the plan and then build it: writing and content production, design and creative production, campaign and landing page build-out, and the data coordination and reporting that goes to the CMO, the CDO, and the executive team. Expect to play up and down on any given day. A candidate who needs a large team underneath them to be effective will not enjoy this role. Responsibilities Partner with Development leadership to develop messaging and positioning strategies that reflect the brand’s growth priorities and resonate with target franchise candidate profiles (owner-operators, multi-unit developers, and sophisticated operator groups)Develop and execute the annual franchise development marketing plan and budget; allocate spend across channels, manage pacing, and report results and variances monthlyOwn top-of-funnel lead generation: paid search and paid social, franchise portals, the franchise development website and SEO, content and email nurture, public relations and industry rankings, webinars, and eventsBuild and manage the franchise broker and referral channels, including broker network relationships, broker education and collateral, incentive programs, and channel ROI tracking; build a franchisee and vendor referral programSupport marketing touchpoints across the entire franchise candidate pipeline, from initial inquiry through award; monitor candidate engagement across marketing and sales touchpoints and identify opportunities to improve progressionDesign and manage lead handling and nurture within the CRM in partnership with the sales team (response-time standards, lead qualification criteria, automated sequences, and remarketing) to improve lead-to-application and application-to-agreement conversionDevelop and execute prospect-facing events and experiences, including conferences and webinars; own introductory marketing materials and the candidate experienceDevelop and maintain franchise sales collateral and the sales asset library: franchise brochure and presentation, FDD companion materials, Item 19 explainers, territory and market packages, testimonials, case studies, and videoOwn the franchise development website: content, conversion optimization, forms, tracking, and CRM integrationEstablish reporting frameworks that provide clear visibility into lead quality, sources, campaign performance, pipeline health, and conversion outcomes; own the franchise development marketing scorecard (leads, qualified leads, applications, introduction day attendance, awards; cost per lead, cost per qualified lead, cost per award; lead-to-award cycle time) and report to executive leadershipSelect and manage agencies, vendors, and lead-generation partners; hold them to defined performance standardsMonitor competitor franchise offerings and candidate feedback; bring insights back into positioning and channel strategyProduce the work rather than only direct it: write and edit franchise development copy, build and extend creative and design assets, assemble campaigns and landing pages, and maintain the sales asset library, in partnership with the marketing coordinator seatOwn data coordination and reporting for franchise development: maintain the source data, build and run the recurring reporting, and deliver it to the CMO, the CDO, and the executive team with the context the numbers alone do not showRepresent the brand at franchise industry events, broker conferences, owner conferences, and key candidate meetings Qualifications Five or more years of progressive marketing experience, with meaningful time spent owning demand generation for a considered, high-ticket purchase; franchise development marketing experience strongly preferredDemonstrated ownership of a candidate or lead pipeline from first inquiry through closed sale, in close partnership with a sales teamHands-on command of the franchise development channel mix: paid search and paid social, franchise portals, brokers, SEO and content, PR and industry rankings, webinars, and eventsCRM fluency, including designing lead routing, qualification criteria, nurture sequences, and attribution rather than only reviewing what someone else builtStrong analytical and KPI orientation, with fluency in cost per lead, cost per qualified lead, cost per award, stage conversion rates, and cycle time, and the ability to translate those numbers into a plan executives can act onExperience building sales enablement materials and collateral that a sales team actually uses; familiarity with FDD and Item 19 considerations is a plusBudget ownership and a track record of holding agencies, vendors, and lead partners accountable to defined performance standardsComfort operating hands-on in a lean, high growth organization where you will both set the strategy and execute itHigh emotional intelligence and credibility with sophisticated operators, brokers, and executives; you influence rather than dictateWillingness to travel for industry events, broker conferences, owner conferences, and candidate meetingsWillingness and ability to play up and down. You should be comfortable presenting to the executive team in the morning and writing the copy, building the campaign, or laying out the flyer that afternoonCurrent hands-on skill in the tools: Canva or Adobe Creative Suite, email and marketing automation platforms, CMS and landing page builders, the ad platforms, and spreadsheets deep enough to build your own reportingBachelor’s degree in a related field; advanced degree preferredSalary + Health Benefits + PTO This role is recruited exclusively by Salt Partners, a retained individual recruiter for the client. Eligible States of employment: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. Applicants needing accommodations to apply should also contact Salt Partners. The Company is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, genetics, disability, or age.