Head of Business Development, Sessions
£80-110k
OTE
+ Share Options
More information about location
3 days a week in office (Victoria Station, London)
Licensing and franchising of founder led food brands
Posted today
Licensing and franchising of founder led food brands
101-200 employees
Posted today
£80-110k
OTE
+ Share Options
More information about location
3 days a week in office (Victoria Station, London)
101-200 employees
Company mission
Bridging non-stop originality for every kitchen.
Role
Who you are
- Academic background from a top-tier university
- 3+ years of complex sales/ commercial leadership experience
- Experience growing a foundational team into a fully-fledged business
- Strong commercial and management experience
- Innovative thinker - can build a new model in a new region
- Passion for great food and an entrepreneurial mindset is essential
- Street hustler, prepared to ‘get stuck in’ and do what it takes to close deals and grow revenue
- Prepared to work very hard, take decisions at speed and get things done, comfortable finding order in chaos
- Strategic thinker - able to elevate the business from the day-to-day where appropriate
- Well-rounded individual able and willing to flex to take ownership where necessary outside of their areas of core responsibility
- Strong commercial acumen with strong negotiation skills
- Charismatic and energetic with a passion for food
- Expert level of English language
- Right to work in the UK
What the job involves
- As the Head of Business Development for our fast-growing Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) division, you will be the chief architect of our expansion, directly responsible for fuelling the company's growth through creating and delivering the franchise sales strategy for multiple brands including SoBe Burger, Ivan Ramen and future star brands
- This is a high-impact leadership role that requires a blend of strategic foresight, sales acumen, and exceptional people management skills. Your primary mandate is to ensure an ambitious, qualified, and diverse pipeline of future franchise openings that aligns with our aggressive expansion goals and brand standards
- You will lead, mentor, and motivate a high-performing team of Development Managers, providing them with the tools, training, and strategic direction necessary to successfully identify, qualify, and close deals with prospective franchise partners. Furthermore, you will take ownership of the entire open pipeline, from initial lead generation and discovery through to final contract execution, ensuring process efficiency and maximising conversion rates
- Success in this role will be defined by your ability to develop and execute a comprehensive, scalable franchise sales strategy across multiple headline brands, hitting annual unit growth targets, and establishing robust systems for long-term sustainable development
- Pioneering Growth Strategy: Create, develop, own, and execute the comprehensive sales strategy for the Sessions QSR vertical. This includes leveraging market data, competitive intelligence, and internal performance metrics to identify and prioritise high-potential growth territories and target demographics for new franchise partner acquisition
- Performance & P&L Accountability: Establish, monitor, and enforce ambitious, data-driven targets across the entire sales pipeline (including prospecting volume, conversion rates, and overall net new franchise launches), ensuring alignment with the QSR P&L and aggressive market penetration goals
- Cross-Functional Onboarding Excellence: Act as the Executive Sponsor and primary liaison with Operations and Launch Teams to design and enforce a seamless, high-velocity, and scalable new Franchise onboarding pipeline. Proactively resolve systemic bottlenecks to guarantee a "right first time" execution of new launches
- Franchise Value Maximisation & Retention: Direct and empower Operations teams to holistically monitor and improve operational and financial performance. Maximise partner lifetime value and overall system profitability, and own the strategy to prevent critical partner churn
- Team Leadership & Capability Building: Recruit, train, mentor and performance manage the QSR team’s Development Managers, growing the team as the business expands
- Strategic Market Intervention: Collaborate closely with the Growth and Finance functions to define and initiate targeted, high-impact commercial and discounting strategies that accelerate market share capture and optimise the quality and size of the acquired partner base
- Executive Reporting & Forecasting: Deliver high-stakes monthly and quarterly performance reviews and accurate forward-looking forecasts to the Managing Director and the wider Executive Team (including the COO/CEO), articulating key drivers, strategic risks, and necessary course corrections
Salary benchmarks
Our take
The traditional food industry can struggle with innovation and bringing new concepts to consumers. Scaling these concepts and maintaining consistent quality across locations can be another hurdle.
Led by former executives from Deliveroo, Brew Dogg, and Soho House, Sessions tackles this problem by acting as a launchpad for exciting new food brands. Considered 'the record label of food' it leverages expertise in technology, branding, and franchise operations to help brands flourish. This includes everything from initial concept development to partnering with existing kitchens to fulfil orders.
With a brand portfolio that includes UK crowd favourites, Sobe Burger, Little Bao Boy, and Kenny Tutt's Patty Guy, Sessions is focused on becoming the go-to platform for innovative food experiences.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Oct 2023
$4.3m
EARLY VC
Jan 2022
$10m
SERIES A
Total funding: $14.3m
Company benefits
- Monthly commission (sales roles only)
- Work from home opportunities
- Pension
- Wear what you like dress code!
- Paid after work socials
- £2,000 employee referral scheme
- Paid volunteer days
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Bonus Scheme
- Potential for Share Options in some roles
- 25 days holiday (excl. bank holidays)
- Health & Dental Benefit - Virtual GP
- Financial Benefits via Mintago
Company values
- Data-Led
- Ambitious
- Agile
- Fun
Company HQ
Belgravia, London, UK
Leadership
Dan Warne
(CEO)Director of Warne Consulting (for tech and hospitality sectors) and former Managing Director at Deliveroo.
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