Franchise Development Manager

Youth Enrichment Brands is the nation’s leading youth activities platform, providing camps, leagues, classes, and other programs that reach nearly 1 million kids worldwide each year. Our mission is to help kids discover and develop their passions by connecting and supporting a network of best‑in‑class youth enrichment brands. We are guided by a commitment to building communities where kids develop confidence, resilience, and joy through safe, inclusive, and engaging experiences. Backed by Roark Capital, our portfolio includes School of Rock, i9 Sports, SafeSplash Swimming, US Sports Camps, and other premier youth activity brands.

Position Summary

The Franchise Development Manager supports the growth of Youth Enrichment Brands (YEB) and its portfolio of schools through a combination of real estate project management and team operations. This role is ideal for a professional who is meticulous, organized, and tenacious — someone who takes pride in building and following processes so that nothing falls through the cracks. The Franchise Development Manager is a YEB employee and reports directly to the Vice President of Franchise Development and Growth at SafeSplash.

This position suits a candidate who is energized by structure, detail, and follow-through. Someone who thrives on focused, process-driven work will do well here.

Responsibilities:

Real Estate

• Maintain and continuously improve the team's mapping software, ensuring data accuracy across all markets and brands.
• Analyze potential new real estate sites using demographic, trade area, and competitive data to determine fit for YEB brands.
• Prepare and present site packages to the real estate committee for approval.
• Review franchisee lease documents to confirm that all required riders and provisions are properly included.
• Lead bi-weekly calls with franchisees to track real estate site selection progress, surface blockers, and drive timely execution.
• Facilitate weekly calls with Real Estate partners to overview pipeline and status
• Keep site selection projects moving and execute lease agreements within standard historical timelines.

Team Operations & Administration

• Plan, schedule, and prepare agendas and materials for recurring team meetings.
• Build and document repeatable processes so that pipeline items, approvals, and franchisee commitments do not fall through the cracks.
• Track action items, deadlines, and deliverables across the development team thorough Monday.com software

Special Projects

• Support the rebranding of legacy-branded schools to SafeSplash, coordinating with internal stakeholders and franchisees.
• Run Project Management on refranchising efforts. Coordinate critical objectives across departments.
• Additional cross-functional projects as assigned
• Assist SafeSplash franchisees with finding opportunities for Hosted schools through maintaining a pipeline via email outreach and cold calling.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree with 2–5 years of professional experience in real estate or related fields (franchise development, operations, or project management).
• Exceptionally organized and detail-oriented.
• Tenacious follow-through; comfortable owning long lists of open items and pushing them to closure.
• Strong written and verbal communication; able to run structured calls with franchisees and present clearly to committees.
• Proficient with spreadsheets, mapping/GIS tools, and standard business software; able to learn new systems quickly.
• Comfortable working independently in a remote environment within a distributed team.
• Willing and able to travel to industry conferences and team events as needed.

What Success Looks Like

• Franchisees are able to successfully navigate the site selection process with our national tenant rep broker and execute lease agreements.
• Mapping data, site pipelines, and lease checklists are accurate and always current.
• Franchisees have a clear, predictable cadence of support and accountability for site selection.

• Internal meetings run on-time with clear agendas, decisions, and documented follow-ups.
• Rebranding, refranchising, and special projects are delivered on schedule with minimal escalation.
• Able to multi-task and deliver objectives across various departments and priorities.

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