About the Role
The Franchise & Retail Expansion Associate is a high-energy, execution-focused role at the heart of the company's physical retail growth strategy. The core mandate is straightforward but demanding: find the right locations, open the right stores and kiosks, and ensure every outlet performs.
This role exists because the company is in active growth mode — expanding its network of franchise stores, kiosks, and retail outlets across key locations. You will be the person on the ground making that expansion happen — from scouting locations and signing leases to onboarding franchisees, overseeing store setup, and tracking outlet performance post-launch.
This is not a desk job. It is a field-forward, commercially driven, and operationally intensive role that requires someone who has been inside the world of franchise or kiosk retail — someone who understands the difference between a good location and a great one, who knows what makes a franchise partner succeed or fail, and who can manage the dozens of moving parts required to get a store open and profitable.
Key Responsibilities
1. Retail Network Expansion Planning
- Support the development and execution of the company's store and kiosk expansion roadmap — including target number of outlets, priority locations, formats (full store vs. kiosk vs. shop-in-shop), and rollout timelines
- Research and map high-potential expansion areas — analyzing foot traffic patterns, consumer demographics, competitor presence, proximity to wet markets, transport hubs, malls, residential areas, and commercial zones
- Build and maintain a site pipeline tracker — a live database of prospective locations at various stages of evaluation, negotiation, and development
- Assist in developing store format guidelines — defining the standard layout, fixture requirements, product assortment, and visual merchandising standards for each outlet type
- Contribute to the annual expansion budget and forecast — estimating capital requirements, setup costs, and expected revenue contribution per new outlet
2. Site Scouting & Location Evaluation
- Conduct on-ground site visits to evaluate prospective store and kiosk locations against defined criteria — foot traffic, visibility, accessibility, lease terms, competition density, and consumer profile
- Prepare site evaluation reports with structured recommendations — including traffic counts, photo documentation, competitive landscape assessment, and financial feasibility summary
- Coordinate with landlords, mall management teams, market administrators, and property developers to negotiate lease terms, rental rates, and space requirements
- Present location recommendations to the CEO/Founder with a clear business case — including projected GMV, payback period, and strategic fit rationale
3. Franchisee & Partner Recruitment
- Identify, qualify, and recruit franchise partners and area operators — including individuals, families, cooperatives, or small business owners interested in operating a store or kiosk under the company's model
- Develop and manage the franchisee application and evaluation process — screening candidates based on financial capacity, operational commitment, location access, and alignment with brand standards
- Conduct franchisee orientation and onboarding — ensuring new partners fully understand the business model, operational standards, product assortment, pricing policy, and brand guidelines before opening
- Build and maintain a franchise prospect database — tracking leads from referrals, trade events, social media inquiries, and direct outreach
4. Store Setup & Pre-Opening Execution
- Project-manage the end-to-end store opening process — from signed lease or franchise agreement to Day 1 of operations — ensuring all milestones are hit on time and within budget
- Coordinate with suppliers, contractors, and internal teams to execute store fit-out, fixture installation, signage, equipment setup, and IT/POS system deployment
- Ensure all pre-opening requirements are completed — including business permits, health and safety clearances, barangay/municipal permits, food handling certifications (where applicable), and any franchisor-required approvals
- Develop and maintain a store opening checklist — a comprehensive pre-launch verification tool covering operations, product assortment, staffing, visual merchandising, and systems readiness
- Coordinate initial stock ordering and planogram setup — ensuring new outlets open with the right product mix, correct shelf placement, and full availability of priority SKUs
- Organize and execute store opening events or soft launch activations to drive initial trial, awareness, and foot traffic in the outlet's catchment area
- Ensure new outlet staff are trained on product knowledge, POS operations, customer service standards, and inventory management prior to opening
5. Outlet Performance Management & Sales Growth
- Monitor the sales performance of all active outlets post-launch — tracking weekly and monthly GMV, transaction count, basket size, and sell-through rates against targets
- Conduct regular store visits and outlet audits — assessing compliance with brand standards, planogram adherence, product availability, cleanliness, and customer experience quality
- Identify underperforming outlets early — diagnosing root causes (location issues, franchisee capability gaps, assortment problems, pricing misalignment) and implementing corrective action plans
- Work closely with franchisees and store operators to develop and execute local store marketing (LSM) activities — sampling, community events, loyalty mechanics, and social media promotions to drive footfall and repeat purchases
- Track and report on outlet-level KPIs — including revenue per square meter, stock turn, shrinkage rate, and compliance scores — and present findings in regular performance reviews
- Escalate persistent performance issues to senior leadership with structured recommendations for resolution — including franchisee retraining, location adjustment, or contract review
6. Franchisee Relations & Ongoing Support
- Serve as the primary relationship manager for assigned franchise partners and store operators — being their first point of contact for operational issues, supply concerns, and business support needs
- Conduct regular franchisee business reviews — reviewing sales data, identifying growth opportunities, and agreeing on action plans to improve outlet performance
- Facilitate franchisee communication and community-building — including operator meetings, group training sessions, product briefings, and a regular newsletter or update cadence
- Mediate and resolve operational conflicts, supply disputes, or compliance issues between franchisees and the company in a fair, constructive, and brand-protective manner
- Gather and consolidate franchisee feedback on products, pricing, supply chain, and operational support — surfacing actionable insights for the leadership and operations teams
- Support franchisee retention by ensuring partners feel commercially supported, operationally equipped, and financially rewarded for their investment in the brand
7. Operations & Supply Chain Coordination
- Coordinate with the Supply Chain and Logistics team to ensure reliable, timely product replenishment across all active outlets — minimizing stockouts and overstock situations
- Work with the Operations team to develop and continuously improve standard operating procedures (SOPs) for store and kiosk management — covering inventory, cash handling, hygiene, visual merchandising, and customer service
- Identify and escalate recurring supply or operational issues affecting outlet performance and work cross-functionally to resolve them
- Support the evaluation and onboarding of new product lines, promotional packs, or seasonal SKUs into the outlet network — coordinating product briefings, shelf space allocation, and sell-in execution
- Monitor competitor outlet operations — visiting competitor stores regularly to benchmark assortment, pricing, promotions, store experience, and operational practices
8. Reporting, Data & Expansion Intelligence
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all active outlets, pipeline sites, and franchisee profiles in the company's expansion tracking system
- Prepare weekly and monthly expansion reports — covering new openings, pipeline status, outlet performance highlights, and key issues requiring leadership attention
- Build a location intelligence database — mapping existing and prospective outlets against consumer density, competitor presence, and channel performance data
- Contribute to the development of expansion playbooks — documenting best practices, lessons learned, and repeatable processes for opening new outlets efficiently
- Track industry expansion trends — monitoring how Dali, Osave, 7-Eleven, and similar operators are growing their networks and identifying implications for the company's own strategy
