Head of Operations, QSR Division
Reporting to the MD of QSR
up to £75k + Bonus + Share Options
HYBRID - London Based (Victoria Station) & Remote 1 or 2 days per week
WHO ARE WE?
#14 - Fastest Growing UK Tech Company (Sunday Times)
#65 - Fastest Growing UK&I Company (Sifted)
#77 - Fastest Growing Europe Company (Sifted)
Sessions is building the operating model for the future of restaurants, giving consumers instant access to the brands they love, wherever they live.
The Sessions distribution engine runs through 430+ delivery kitchens and 20 high street restaurants across the UK.
Founded in 2020 and led by ex-Deliveroo MD Dan Warne, Sessions has grown 7x in three years. Our platform has processed over 5 million orders and reaches 60% of the UK population. Our team brings experience from Deliveroo, Amazon, BrewDog, and Gousto.
We scale brands at a pace that redefines what's possible in food. Examples include Miko's Gyros, which went from launch to 100+ live sites in under two months and SoBe Burger, which is live in over 200 delivery locations and has opened 15 physical high street stores.
️ We are Agile - Thrive in fast-pace. We sprint, adapt, and learn.
We are Ambitious - Contribute to something big. Watch your career grow bigger.
We are Fun - High performance, high fives. Join a team you'll love.
We are Data-Driven - Turn insights into action. We lead with evidence.
We have Initiative - Anticipate problems. Drive the solution.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
As the Head of Operations for our fast-growing Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) division, you will be the chief architect of our operational excellence. You will be directly responsible for driving profitability, efficiency, and brand standards across our current portfolio of 20 franchise sites - with ambitious growth plans to triple this estate within the year. Managing multiple brands, including SoBe Burger, Ivan Ramen, Mikos and future star concepts, you will ensure seamless execution and maximum guest satisfaction across all locations.
This is a high-impact leadership role requiring a blend of strategic foresight, sharp financial acumen, and exceptional people management. Leading a lean corporate team (initially managing 1 Operations Manager), you will build and individually execute a scalable system that drives peak performance (revenue, operations, CX) across a rapidly expanding footprint. Your success will rely on your ability to ensure operational simplicity even as we add complexity (new brands, more locations).
Success will be defined by your ability to develop and execute a comprehensive operational strategy across multiple headline brands. You will be judged on your ability to hit financial targets, maintain audit-ready brand compliance, and establish a culture of continuous improvement, ultimately establishing Sessions QSR brands as the best-performing, most reputable concepts in the UK and beyond.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Pioneering Partner Operations Strategy: Create, develop, own, and execute the comprehensive operational support and compliance strategy for the 20-site QSR partner network. This includes leveraging multi-site performance metrics, mystery shopper data, and brand audits to identify and prioritise efficiency gains, cost-saving opportunities, and operational consistency across all multi-brand franchise partners.
Performance & Partner P&L Accountability: Establish, monitor, and enforce ambitious, data-driven targets across the franchise network (including labour cost benchmarks, food waste/yield, speed of service, and guest satisfaction scores). Consult with partners to maximise their site EBITDA, thereby securing corporate royalty streams and brand health. A key part of the role is ensuring all additions to the estate are set up really strongly and continually revising the system based on learnings from the existing estate and issues that arise as we grow
Cross-Functional Leader & Compliance Excellence: Act as the Executive Sponsor and primary liaison with the Brand, Culinary, Sales and Supply Chain teams to ensure seamless menu rollouts and supply chain compliance across the franchise network - hold other departments within the business to account for activities that are required for operational success. Proactively resolve systemic operational bottlenecks to guarantee a "right first time" execution of new brand compliance standards by partners.
Partner Value Maximisation & Retention: Direct and empower Franchise Business Partners (FBPs) to holistically monitor, coach, and improve partner operational compliance. Maximise partner lifetime value and overall system profitability, and own the proactive intervention strategy to support underperforming franchisees and prevent critical partner churn.
Team Leadership & Capability Building: Mentor, and performance manage the QSR team’s Franchise Business Partners and the Operations Manager & QSR Training Manager. Build a robust team capable of influencing without direct authority, fostering a culture of mutual respect, high performance, and operational accountability among franchisees. Don’t be afraid to have the hard conversations when required.
Strategic Margin & Supply Chain Intervention: Collaborate closely with Buying & Supply Chain, and Finance functions to protect franchise margins. Ensure franchise compliance with nominated suppliers, optimise central procurement power to combat food inflation for partners, and roll out optimised labour scheduling matrices to help franchisees control costs.
International Market Expansion & Localisation: Act as the operational architect when expanding into new global markets and countries. Partner with international master franchisees to adapt operating manuals, secure localised supply chains, ensure regulatory compliance, and establish robust training frameworks that safeguard core brand standards while respecting local market nuances.
Executive Reporting & Partner Forecasting: Deliver high-stakes monthly and quarterly network performance reviews and brand compliance audit results to the Managing Director and the wider Executive Team (including the COO/CEO), clearly articulating franchise health, strategic operational risks, and necessary course corrections.
REQUIREMENTS:
Leadership: Extensive experience operating at a senior leadership level within hospitality, or as a senior customer experience/operations leader within a marketplace or scale-up ecosystem. You have a proven track record of driving operational excellence through the lens of world-class customer delivery.
International Expansion & Localisation: Experience launching into new countries or global territories.
P&L & Financial Management: Commercial accountability for large-scale multi-unit networks, with a history of helping partners maximise EBITDA.
Operational Blueprinting: Ability to design, document, and scale standard operating procedures (SOPs), workflows, and training programs across vastly different brand profiles
Data-Driven Performance Management: Proficient in leveraging tech-stack analytics to diagnose performance gaps across the network.
Supply Chain & Procurement Savvy: Ideally have a strong understanding of central supply chain logistics and procurement strategies to maintain product consistency and combat ingredient inflation for partners.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Skilled at acting as the bridge crucial departments
Strategic Relationship Builder: Possesses high emotional intelligence (EQ) with the ability to build trust, navigate complex partner dynamics, and align independent business owners with corporate brand goals.
Franchise Model Expertise: A background in a franchisor environment - with an understanding of franchise agreements and royalty structures - is a plus, but not essential. More importantly, you possess the rare ability to manage "influence without authority," allowing you to align independent partners, cross-functional teams, and external stakeholders around shared operational goals.
Assertive yet Diplomatic: Capable of firmly enforcing brand standards and auditing compliance while maintaining a collaborative, supportive relationship with franchisees.
Agile & Adaptable: Thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, with the mental flexibility to jump between different brand identities and diverse international regulatory landscapes.
Solutions-Oriented Leader: A proactive problem-solver who anticipates systemic operational bottlenecks and implements scalable fixes before they impact the network.
Right to Work: must hold Right to Work in the UK
English Language: Fluent in written and spoken English
BENEFITS & PERKS
Financial
Share Options - Receive an amount of share options for Sessions Market Ltd.
Pay day on demand - Access to pay whenever needed
Expense card - Company Card
Finance Platform - Access to 'Mintago', Financial Wellbeing Platform
Social, Mental & Physical Wellbeing:
Hybrid Working - up to 2 days working remotely per week
Holidays - 25 days + bank holidays + Birthday Off
Healthcare - Vitality PMI + Healthcare Cash Plan scheme
Employee Assistance Programme - Support for mental health and legal services
Socials - Monthly socials
Dog Friendly - We love our fluffy pals, they're welcome in the office!
Wear what you like - No suits and ties please, that's so 18th century....
Technology Perks:
Laptop - Apple Mac
Phone - Apple iPhone and company sim provided
Progression & Development:
High Growth Start Up- This is a great chance to be part of a growing company with plenty of progression opportunities, responsibility from day 1
Be Inspired - Learn from a team that's scaled some of the UK's biggest consumer companies
Membership & Qualifications - Sessions have helped support a number of our employees by providing funds for work-based qualifications and memberships
Sessions are a living wage and equal opportunity employer.
all applicants are reviewed 'anonymously' where only work experience and education will be available for the hiring manager to view - all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, family or parental status, national origin, veteran, neurodiversity status or disability status.
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