Commercial Manager - Franchise

Commercial Manager - Franchise

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.42,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 37 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of around 550 international, national and local brands.

These include our own brands Upper Crust, Millie's Cookies etc. as well as franchise brands such as M&S, Starbucks and Burger King.

Our purpose is to be the best part of the journey, and this is underpinned by our aim to bring leading brands and innovative concepts to our clients and customers around the world, with an emphasis on great value, taste, quality and service.

Main purpose of the role:

• To create and execute the commercial plan for a portfolio of Franchise brands; such as M&S, to deliver profitable sales growth.
• Building and managing brand partner relationships forms an integral part of this role; working collaboratively to build and deliver a joint business plan, and utilising effective communication, influencing and negotiation to deliver value-adding initiatives whilst satisfying brand requirements.
• The candidate will be expected to use a variety of levers to drive profitable sales growth; keeping the customer at the core of everything we do. Levers such as range improvement, optimisation of price and promotion, upselling and maximisation of the use of space will be used to drive category performance, as well as the performance of the brand or brands.
• The candidate will also strive to improve gross margin: working with stakeholders to identify and take advantage of supplier income opportunities; drawing upon the expertise of the culinary team to simplify and standardise recipes or develop new ones; and finding ways to reduce the impact that commercial activity has on waste and labour.

What you'll be Doing:

• Support the Head of Commercial to create the commercial plan for each of the specified brand or brands
• Work collaboratively with brand partners to deliver activities which are mutually beneficial for both parties
• Ensure that every initiative is modelled on a product by product / unit by unit basis and forecast outcomes. Test and learn based on the commercial results
• Submit proposed sales and gross margin improvement activities to weekly trade / monthly commercial forum meetings for approval (background, financial value and suggested next steps)
• Report results at weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings. Assess whether forecast has been achieved and EBITDA can be banked. Course correct where necessary
• Roll out and look for optimisation opportunities either in other brands or in other product categories where the same principles can be applied
• New openings – manage the commercial set up for new openings including range, pricing, POS. Deliver action plans to drive sales and profit if business cases are not delivering to target
• Monitor competitor and brand partner activity• Spend time in the field– observing and supporting implementation in operational units
• Effective management of Commercial Executives who implement the commercial plan where required.
• Proactively looks for ways to optimise results and stay competitive with our competitors

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Experience of using price, range, display and space, upselling, margin and category optimisation to deliver commercial results
• Experience of delivering profit targets preferred, but experience of working in a sales environment also desirable
• Must be able to drive decision-making through analysis and based on evidence, rather than intuition
• Must be able to develop innovative ideas to drive top and bottom line, testing, learning and refining and then operationalizing them
• Experience of managing and influencing senior stakeholders
• Experience of managing client/brand relationships
• Excellent knowledge of external trends in the food and beverage and/or grocery industry (depending on brands allocated)
• Good understanding of the impact of external factors on growth, including competition and seasonality
• Good understanding of the operational reality in units i.e. a good understanding of waste management and minimisation, labour planning and optimisation, equipment, space and layout etc.
• Retail experience preferential
• Analytical and commercial
• Exceptional attention to detail

Diversity and Inclusion is a priority at SSP. We are an equal opportunities employer committed to engaging all of our people, so they feel valued and motivated; we champion diversity, promote inclusion, and ensure equality. We respect and protect human rights and prevent discrimination; and we positively impact our communities. We encourage and welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates regardless of background, gender, race, religious beliefs, disability, sexual identity and orientation or age.