Growth Director: Rest of Sub Saharan Africa

The Growth Director is accountable for enabling the RoSSA business model and driving sustainable growth across Rest of Sub Saharan Africa through disciplined financial leadership, business planning, unit expansion, capital governance and franchisee business model enablement. The role partners with the General Manager and Africa Finance and Development teams to translate strategy into executable plans that improve operating profit, accelerate net new unit growth and strengthen franchisee and equity restaurant economics. Responsibilities: Develop and build capability •Enable and embed the RoSSA business model by aligning financial planning, development priorities, franchisee support, governance routines and execution disciplines across priority markets. •Lead business planning, forecasting, performance reporting and financial analysis to support achievement of revenue, operating profit, capital efficiency and net new unit growth targets. •Develop and maintain franchisee and equity business model economics, including margin improvement, restaurant-level profitability, capital requirements, returns and risk assumptions. •Provide robust governance of financial, accounting, capital and strategic project planning activities, ensuring decisions are supported by timely and accurate data. Develop an accelerated unit expansion strategy •Develop and execute an accelerated unit expansion strategy for Rest of Sub Saharan Africa, including market prioritisation, pipeline planning, site feasibility and launch readiness. •Form part of the Investment Committee and evaluate new store, remodel, acquisition and consolidation proposals to validate ROI, capital allocation, risk and strategic fit. •Develop and implement asset growth, optimisation and refresh strategies that improve restaurant performance, brand standards, franchisee confidence and long-term market sustainability. •Direct and co-ordinate development activities, including recommendations on new restaurants, site opportunities, restaurant concepts, capital expenditure and restaurant enhancements. Build investor, franchisee and ecosystem capability to enable the RoSSA business model •Build a compelling investor and franchise partner proposition that clearly articulates market potential, growth runway, returns, risks and partnership expectations. •Develop relationships with high-quality franchisees, investors, funders, developers, logistics partners, digital platforms and government stakeholders who can unlock market access and scale. •Lead commercial modelling, capital allocation recommendations, pricing assumptions, development pipeline planning and investment optimisation for priority markets. •Identify M&A, acquisition, conversion or strategic alliance opportunities that accelerate footprint growth, local capability or speed to profitability. Co-create, together with LT, KFC’s Annual Operating Plan (AOP) •Create a disciplined growth operating rhythm using financial reporting, market scorecards, pipeline tracking, business reviews and performance routines. •Ensure colleagues receive timely, accurate and relevant financial, franchisee, development and market performance data to support business decisions. •Partner with Finance, Development, Operations, Marketing, Supply Chain and Legal to embed practical tools, reporting and governance into expansion decisions. •Track leading indicators including pipeline conversion, market readiness, restaurant unit economics, partner performance, speed to open, cash flow, return on investment and capital efficiency. Lead cross-functional execution and governance against the AOP and expansion agenda •Lead agile, cross-functional squads to move priority markets from insight to investment decision, partner commitment, launch and scale. •Establish governance, decision rights, milestones and escalation processes that remove barriers and accelerate execution across rest-of-Africa expansion. •Provide regular reporting to the General Manager and Africa Leadership Team on growth bets, market readiness, partner progress, risk, capital deployment and strategic choices. •Deliver ROSSA NNU growth targets while building the longer-term capability, partnerships and market pipeline required for sustained accelerated growth. Key Business Challenges Addressed: •Turning fragmented, uncertain and high-potential African markets into a prioritised, investable and executable growth pipeline. •Balancing speed, scale, brand standards, local relevance, partner capability, risk and return in complex emerging-market environments. •Creating the investor confidence, cross-functional alignment, finance discipline and development execution required to enable the RoSSA business model and unlock growth across Rest of Sub Saharan Africa Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Strategy, Finance, Economics, Data Analytics, Marketing, Innovation, Engineering or a related field. MBA, executive education in growth strategy, digital transformation, emerging markets, venture building or equivalent post-graduate qualification preferred. Experience and Finance, Development Expansion Skill Set: •Minimum 10 years’ relevant senior experience in finance, business planning, franchise development, market expansion, investment governance, corporate development or a related field, preferably in restaurant, hospitality, retail or consumer products. •Proven ability to unlock accelerated growth by identifying white-space opportunities, building scalable commercial models and converting strategy into measurable execution. •Strong financial and commercial fluency, including business planning, forecasting, scenario modelling, unit economics, ROI analysis, capital allocation, margin improvement and performance tracking. •Working knowledge of franchise operating models, development pipelines, restaurant economics, market-entry requirements and multi-country business model enablement. •Experience creating investor-ready business cases, ROI models, partner value propositions, capital allocation recommendations and board-level decision narratives. •Demonstrated capability in ecosystem building, including franchise partner attraction, investor engagement, funder relationships, government navigation and strategic alliances. •High learning agility and comfort with ambiguity, able to operate across markets with varied infrastructure, regulation, consumer behaviour and partner maturity. •Strong experimentation mindset, with experience using pilots, rapid testing, stage-gate decisions and evidence-based scale-up plans. •Excellent enterprise leadership, influence, negotiation, storytelling and executive communication skills across senior internal and external stakeholders. •Proficiency in relevant tools, including financial modelling, ERP, CRM, market analytics, BI dashboards, project tracking and collaboration platforms