When our square shaped burgers made their first sizzle on the scene more than 50 years ago, people knew our approach wasn’t like any other. Same goes for the way we support our employees. Our culture of openness, flexibility, and inclusiveness allows everybody to flourish in their own way. If you’re looking for a career where you can be part of the action as we continue to grow our iconic brand – We got you! 

The development team is responsible for accelerating International new unit growth executing our real estate strategy to provide more access to Wendy’s through development, incentive programs, and innovation. This role acts as a critical business partner to the International Development functions to lead and support key strategic initiatives aimed at driving sustainable growth including, but not limited to Real Estate Market Analysis and Development Strategy to identify market gaps and competitive positioning in existing markets, and develop strategies to optimize asset plans based on local market insights and to partner with finance to review new restaurant opening sales performance, cannibalization and sales by channels and recommend pivots or innovation based on learnings. As a strategic partner to Development Leadership Team, this role will provide data-driven insights, craft actionable development strategies and programs for development and oversee the execution of high-impact development projects. This role works directly with the International Chief Development Officer to ensure that the development of strategic initiatives align with the AOP and LRP growth objectives and includes projects with acceptable financial returns. This includes validating key assumptions for finance to evaluate return on investment to recommend projects for approval. This role partners with the Directors or Development and Finance team to validate assumptions on the restaurant economic model, and with the Design & Construction team on project capital budgets and asset strategy.

Responsibilities

Market Planning & Location Intelligence  

Drive successful, scalable growth and re-investment through strong analytics, strategic frameworks, and optimized market planning. Lead analysis and creation of development strategies, processes and policy in partnership with cross-functional teams. Evolve and enhance International Market Planning Capabilities to support key initiatives:  

• Accelerate new unit development through data-based, insight-driven analytics 
• Provide insight for systems optimization, closure assessments, and network consolidation
• Develop and monitor KPI and ROI metrics with finance team to refine insights and future strategies 

Data, Systems & Reporting

Develop and manage reporting strategy to track leading indicators and key results, sharing updates and recommendations to ILT on a regular basis. Identify opportunities to improve usability of development systems (including in-house project management tool Microsoft Dynamics 365, ESRI GIS and other third-party GIS platforms) and drive creation of data roadmap to inform strategic initiatives. Works closely with  consumer insights, finance and IT to derive holistic view of development initiatives.

Strategic Initiatives 

Lead the ideation, strategic alignment and execution of projects for the Development Team (Small Town, Urban, Fuel, etc.). Responsible for validating key assumptions for opportunities and making recommendations on which projects to approve, and further to monitor the success of implementation (on time, and on budget). Conduct industry and competitor analysis to identify development trends, risks, benchmarking, and new opportunities.  Oversees Encroachment / Impact analytics and uses results to define overall Development Strategy as part of the Global New Restaurant Development Policy.

Strategic Materials & Presentations 

Prepare and present strategic recommendations to International Development Team, Senior Leadership and Franchisees ensuring alignment of business goals and project outcomes. Provide support on strategic development updates and presentations.  Key partner to ILT for planning, business reviews, and ad hoc projects.

Strategic Planning & Execution  

Develops and informs AOP planning and forecast, and International Development long-range plan, annual budget and forecast process for T&E (strategic regional team deployment), projects and capital investments.

Ad Hoc Analysis  

Leads analysis pertaining to new builds, closures, net new units, incentives, key development programs, trade areas, and transactions and capital adequacy. Prepares and provides reports for review by SLT, ILT, Development Leadership Team, business units, and external partners to drive key initiatives, ensuring alignment and clear communication on objectives, progress, and outcomes.

Education: Bachelor's Degree

Travel: 15%

Pay Range: CAD 154,000.00 - CAD 277,000.00 Annually

• Bachelor’s degree in Business (Finance or Economics) with high academic achievement is required; MBA preferred.
• 3 to 5 years of experience of business strategy, development planning, and management consulting experience, ideally with a top-tier management consulting firm (McKinsey, BCG, Bain or similar); with a strong understanding of real estate development, investment strategies, and the financial drivers behind the industry. Real estate experience and corporate development are preferred.
• Excellent finance and analytical skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage complex projects while collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication and PowerPoint mastery skills necessary to effectively interpret results and communicate them to senior leadership.
• High proficiency in Excel, including demonstrated ability to build financial models using advanced formulas and work with large data sets.

Expected Work Location (In Office): It is expected that you will primarily perform work at the Wendy's Canadian Restaurant Support Center 5515 North Service Rd STE 201 Burlington ON L7L 6G4 Canada or at other location(s) as designated by the Company. You are required to work in the office at least 3 days a week. Changes to work location arrangements are subject to managerial approval and business needs. #LI-Onsite

Wendy’s was built on the premise, "Quality is our Recipe®," which remains the guidepost of the Wendy's system. Today, Wendy's and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide with a vision of becoming the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand. 

  

The base pay range for this position is listed below. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and budget for the open position and also may vary depending on the candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other relevant factors. This range does not include an estimated value for any benefits, bonus, or other incentives that may be applicable based on position. The target annual bonus for this role is 25% of annualized base salary, based on actual company and personal performance.