Director, Franchise Operations – Mid Africa

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, or related field required
  
• 12+ years of CPG experience in sales, commercial operations, franchise, or trade marketing; experience partnering with bottlers is a strong plus.
  
• Proven track record delivering near-term commercial results while building longer-term capabilities with cross-functional teams.
  
• Strong analytical skills and comfort with multiple data sources (e.g., NielsenIQ, Kantar, sell-in/sell-out, cooler telemetry/IoT, footfall/mobility, geospatial & sociodemographic); demonstrated ability to source new data when needed.
  
• Fluency in BI tools (e.g., Power BI) and advanced Excel; SQL/Python are a plus but not required.
  
• Ability to influence without direct authority, manage senior stakeholders across cultures, and communicate insights simply and persuasively.
  
• Understanding of local market dynamics.
  
• Willingness to travel as required to support franchise team and partner engagement.
  

Franchise & Bottler Leadership

• Ensuring clarity, alignment, and follow‑through across Franchise, bottler, and cross‑functional stakeholders.
  
• Provide senior thought leadership with the bottler, shaping a focused agenda that balances short‑term execution priorities with a long‑term capability and growth roadmap.
  
• Lead joint performance routines across revenue, volume, share, distribution, visibility, and asset productivity; drive corrective action plans with clear ownership, timelines, and impact targets.
  

End‑to‑End Integration & Orchestration

• Act as the core horizontal integrator, connecting Commercial, Marketing, RGM, Finance, Supply, and Insights to ensure cohesive planning and execution.
  
• Ensure commercial priorities and marketing strategies are fully aligned, sequenced, and resourced across the Franchise and system.
  
• Identify interdependencies, risks, and trade‑offs across initiatives and proactively drive resolution.
  

Budget, Performance & Governance

• Orchestrate the cross‑functional operating and budget agenda, ensuring investments are aligned to priorities and performance expectations.
  
• Own Franchise‑level Direct Marketing Investment effectiveness, translating insights into actionable interventions and performance decisions.
  
• Maintain disciplined operating rhythms, governance forums, and escalation mechanisms to ensure results delivery.
  

Execution Excellence & Results Delivery

• Orchestrate outcome‑focused sprints on pricing compliance, in‑store visibility and displays, cooler placement and productivity, and outlet expansion.
  
• Co‑lead route‑to‑market improvements and pilots (direct, indirect, micro‑distribution) with the bottler; scale proven models.
  
• Anticipate and mitigate operational, supply, and competitive risks through proactive scenario planning and issue resolution.
  

Franchise Capability & Ways of Working

• Act as a senior capability leader for the Franchise team, strengthening end‑to‑end thinking, execution management, and cross‑functional collaboration