Franchise Development - Senior Manager - Pan India

Senior Manager – Franchise Development · Pan-India · Reports to Head of Franchise & Retail

The mandate

Our client, a large, listed Indian building materials company with a multi-decade brand, national retail footprint and manufacturing in Gujarat and Maharashtra, is scaling a franchise-led retail format. The pilot cluster in Gujarat has proven the model; the next phase is disciplined, fast expansion built on a strong, converting pipeline of franchise partners. This role exists to own that pipeline end to end — from first conversation to signed agreement — and to do it personally, not through a team. The person who takes this on will be the company's face to every prospective franchisee: pitching the opportunity, handling objections on economics and territory, and closing.

What you will own

• Build and manage a live pipeline of prospective franchisees across target Gujarat & Maharashtra markets, sourced through referrals, market visits, dealer networks and inbound leads.
• Personally pitch the franchise opportunity to prospects — store economics, territory rights, brand support, ROI — and adapt the pitch to first-generation entrepreneurs, existing multi-brand retailers and family businesses alike.
• Run commercial negotiations on franchise terms within approved templates and escalate only genuine exceptions.
• Conduct site and market due diligence with prospects (catchment, footfall, competing formats) to qualify locations before commercial terms are discussed.
• Coordinate handoff to legal and operations post-signing so onboarding starts without delay.
• Represent the brand at trade fairs, dealer meets and regional business forums to generate inbound franchisee interest.
• Report pipeline health, conversion ratios and lost-deal reasons to the Head of Franchise & Retail on a fixed cadence.

What you bring

Must have

• 6–10 years in franchise sales, channel sales or B2B business development with a demonstrable personal track record of closing franchise, dealership or distributorship agreements (not managing a team that closes them).
• Fluent, persuasive spoken and written communication in English, Hindi and Gujarati.
• Direct experience presenting commercial/ROI-based pitches to individual entrepreneurs or small business owners, not only to corporate procurement teams.
• Comfortable with heavy field travel across Gujarat and periodic pan-India travel.

Strongly preferred

• Background in building materials, tiles, sanitaryware, furniture, or another considered-purchase retail category with a franchise or dealer format.

What we look for beyond the CV

• Someone who wants to carry a number personally and close deals themselves, not delegate pitching to a junior while managing from a distance.
• Comfort reporting into a lean structure and working directly with a founder-style principal on deal terms — this is not a role with layers of internal sign-off.
• Ground-level instinct for reading a prospective franchisee's real financial appetite and risk tolerance within one or two meetings.
• Resilience through a long, relationship-driven sales cycle rather than a transactional, single-call close.

Reporting and structure

Reports to the Head of Franchise & Retail. No direct reports at this stage — this is an individual-contributor, quota-carrying role. Key interfaces: legal (agreement execution), operations (store onboarding), and regional retail leadership.

Compensation

• Commensurate with experience.