Tierra Encantada, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN is actively expanding its brand presence across the United States via franchising. We are seeking a results-oriented Director of Franchise Development to join our Strategy & Growth team at Tierra Encantada. Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, this role is responsible for creating, implementing, and executing the Company’s strategic franchise expansion and growth plan.

Tierra Encantada is the leader in Spanish immersion early education®, and provides education and care to children 6 weeks through 6 years of age. Our award-winning concept has received numerous accolades, including Top 50 Franchise Companies Doing the Most to Champion Diversity by Entrepreneur Magazine, 10 Hottest Franchise Businesses in America by Inc Magazine, and The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies.

Primary Responsibilities

Business Development

• Develop annual individual franchise sales plan to achieve or exceed defined franchise development goals
• Partner with Director of Marketing to align marketing and sales plans and budgets into cohesive strategy
• Execute all aspects of franchise sales plan and own full life cycle of identifying franchisees, from initial contact to qualification to close
• Exhibit ongoing “hunter” mindset by enthusiastically seeking out and identifying franchisee prospects via cold calls and connections, networking, social media, referrals, events, etc.
• Cultivate strong relationships with prospects, serving as a trusted advisor, to educate on Tierra brand and model
• Manage and execute franchisor deliverables in the sales process including executive calls, review of franchise candidates, Discovery Day logistics, documents production, and awarding of franchises
• Coordinate and manage strategic broker partnerships to close new franchise partner development and franchise agreements and ensure external brokers maintain FTC and registration state compliance throughout the sales process
• Proactively maintain CRM to refine and update sales funnel and lead communication sequences to achieve sales targets and track all calls, emails, and other communication activities via CRM
• Identify, plan, and execute presence at industry events and targeted special events to attract new franchisee partners (responsible for all logistics - booth, collateral, labor, etc needs)

Franchisee Relationships

• Foster relationships with franchise partners to ensure development schedules are met according to their agreements, amend agreements as approved by corporate, consult existing franchisees on potential opportunities, and expand existing development agreements to meet growth plan targets
• Acts as liaison to franchisees from corporate during development and pre-opening phases, representing company-driven decisions, initiatives, and expectations to franchisees, sharing franchisee concerns and suggestions, and connecting franchisees with pre-opening team and support
• Ensure new franchisees experience a timely, positive onboarding experience to exceed their expectations and set them up for success
• Check-in with existing pre-opening franchisees regularly to answer questions, provide support, and connect them with appropriate resources
• Identify pre-opening marketing needs of franchisees and partner with marketing team to deliver
• Utilize the company’s analytics tools for market development strategy and real estate site selection

Leadership, Administration, & Other

• Maintain timely reporting of measurables on weekly scorecard, provide monthly sales report to executive leadership team, and develop annual acquisition cost report in partnership with marketing
• Develop SOPs, guides, processes, procedures, and organizational systems to ensure solid foundation for department and company growth
• Ensure Franconnect is used effectively and consistently for all steps of the prospecting and pre-opening process
• Develop, obtain approval on, and execute annual franchise development budget for highest ROI with strict compliance to budget and internal financial policies and procedures
• Spearhead annual FDD renewal and registration process in collaboration with internal stakeholders and external legal counsel
• Maintains key industry memberships to keep apprised of market trends and industry standards
• Develop strategic hiring plan that is aligned to attainment of sales targets for department growth to proactively identify labor needs to support growth plans
• Other related duties, tasks and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in franchise sales/development, business development/sales, executive recruiting, or 3 years with CFE
• Track record of achieving key performance indicators and sales/recruiting targets with demonstrated success of having closed at least 6 deals/hires in the past 12 months
• Bachelor’s in Business, Finance, Marketing, Sales, Entrepreneurship, or related field (additional experience in franchise development may be considered in lieu of degree)
• In-depth understanding of the franchise industry, including franchising laws, regulations, business models, best practices, and franchise disclosure documents and agreements
• Strong financial acumen and understanding of financial statements
• Strongly prefer experience with Franconnect, working with high net worth investors for a concept with an initial investment greater than $1 million, and working in a start-up/rapid growth franchise
• Relationship-driven achiever that is empathetic, confident, resilient, and thrives in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment
• Conscientiousness high-performer with excellent interpersonal skills and a high comfort level interacting with franchisees and prospects
• Self-motivated and naturally curious doer with superior problem-solving and time management skills
• Ability to travel as needed (less than 25% - a few times a year)
• Professional knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (primarily Excel and Word) and Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Gmail)
• Authorized to work in the United States with the ability to pass a criminal background check

Compensation & Benefits

Generous commission for each franchise unit sold that can increase compensation to $150k with no cap, and commission increases by 30% for all units beyond the first 10 sold in a calendar year. Base pay is $70,000 - $85,000 depending on qualifications, education, and experience. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance, paid parental leave, 12 paid holidays, 15 days paid time off, 401(k) with employer match, profit sharing plan (cash vesting retirement contribution), discounted childcare and waitlist priority for enrollment, company paid professional development, work from home Wednesdays, corporate office amenities (gym, wellness/nursing room, onsite company cafe with coffee, espresso bar, beverages, and snacks available to employees at no cost, onsite free parking), casual work environment, and employee-focused events (family picnic, happy hours, team outings, quarterly lunch & learns, employee holiday party). Once a job offer has been accepted, the candidate must pass a credit and background check. E-verify is used to verify work authorization status.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $70,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

• Commission pay

Travel requirement:

• Travel

Application Question(s):

• How many years of franchise sales/development experience do you have?
• How many new franchisees and new units have you personally closed so far in 2023? Please use this format: Sold __ units total - __ units to __ existing franchisee(s) and _ units to _ new franchisees (i.e. “Sold 8 units total - 2 units to 1 existing franchisee and 6 units to 2 new franchisees”)?

Ability to Commute:

• Minneapolis, MN 55406 (Required)

Work Location: In person