The Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence exists to empower communities to build and sustain generational wealth through franchising.
We do this by offering franchise education at three levels: undergraduate, graduate, and executive ed.
(non-credit).
All formats provide the same rich content that prepares someone to work in franchising in any capacity.
*All three versions provide CFE credit for those earning this IFA credential.

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

Browse and apply for open jobs at Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence.

program-manager

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence is part of Yum! Brands, Inc., which operates a global network of over 60,000 restaurants under well-known brands such as KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. Focused on building and partnering with franchise operators, the center aims to foster growth and excellence in franchising, while emphasizing sustainability and corporate responsibility across its operations in more than 155 countries.

The Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence exists to empower communities to build and sustain generational wealth through franchising. 

We do this by offering franchise education at three levels: undergraduate, graduate, and executive ed. (non-credit).  All formats provide the same rich content that prepares someone to work in franchising in any capacity.

*All three versions provide CFE credit for those earning this IFA credential.

• Lead and orchestrate the strategic and operational rhythm of KFC’s global food innovation and brand governance functions
• Ensure excellence in brand alignment, strategic initiative execution, and supplier engagement across the global system
• Design, manage, and continuously evolve the global innovation process, including stage gate governance and tools
• Drive the execution of global innovation and transformation initiatives
• Develop detailed program plans, milestones, stakeholder maps, and reporting structures
• Track progress and remove barriers to ensure high-impact project delivery across diverse global teams
• Serve as the primary connector of the global FIT community, driving collaboration and best-practice sharing
• Organize global summits, working groups, and community sessions to strengthen alignment
• Create tools, newsletters, and dashboards to enable visibility, recognition, and transparency
• Lead strategic supplier engagement for global innovation partnerships
• Maintain key business relationships and supplier accountability for timelines, innovation inputs, and escalations
• Partner with Procurement and cross-functional teams to align innovation pipeline with supplier capabilities
• Lead the operations, planning, and execution of the Global Brand Standards Council
• Ensure timely review and alignment on brand direction, product strategy, and system standards
• Build meeting agendas, synthesize outcomes, and ensure follow-up actions are completed across markets
• Travel is required globally to support strategic planning, summits, supplier visits, and program reviews.

Senior Program Manager – Food Innovation

Senior Program Manager at KFC leading global food innovation and governance functions. Ensuring brand alignment and managing high-complexity initiatives with global stakeholders.

manager

• New product development consultant for Marketing and Food Innovation teams: Drive ongoing innovation process for the KFC brand by developing and independently managing custom quantitative and/or qualitative research to identify new product innovation opportunities and set conceptual priorities for food development team.
• Partner with food innovation team providing consumer guidance for quarterly creative kitchens with food vendors and KFC leadership team.
• Be the subject matter expert on sensory testing: Design new product & core product improvement learning plans comprehensive of consumer preference and difference testing. Partnering with food innovation and calendar teams to ensure testing is executed.
• Execute the consumer research agenda to validate KFC's promotional calendar initiatives with minimal supervision.
• Provide consumer insights leadership in cross functional teams through development and execution of consumer learning plans for calendar initiatives to amplify top-line growth based on in-market risk.
• Independently manage external partners in execution of quantitative research to support the national calendar and promotional testing (Ex: product naming, pricing, positioning, product development, advertising, and in-store testing).
• Deliver databased assessments for promotions which reconcile business results vs. assumptions and provide recommendations to improve the execution of future windows.
• Influence and inform consumer insights for promotion briefs.
• Lead all research for advertising to inform creative and strengthen advertising responsiveness.
• Deliver learnings on the drivers of advertising effectiveness to enable stronger creative, creative briefs, and media planning.
• Collaborate with Marketing cross-functional team to establish clear objectives, goals, and strategies for measuring marketing effectiveness.
• Develop a comprehensive marketing measurement framework that aligns with business objectives and provides a clear understanding of marketing impact across different channels and campaigns.
• Generate regular reports and present findings to marketing teams, marketing leadership & IAT – with ownership of IAT Measurement Meetings.
• Communicate insights, findings, and recommendations in a clear and concise manner to drive data-driven decision-making and marketing optimization.
• Monitor marketing spend and ROI across different channels and campaigns, making data-driven recommendations for resource optimization.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including marketing, analytics, finance, and operations, to ensure alignment and integration of marketing effectiveness initiatives with overall business goals.
• Responsibilities will include additional research as required including but not limited to Multicultural Research, foundational consumer deep dives or ideation sessions 1-2/yr.

Manager, Consumer Insights – Sensory

Insights & Sensory Manager at KFC managing research design and execution for brand strategy and product innovation. Collaborating with marketing and cross-functional teams to optimize customer experience.

backend-engineer

• Work on assignments of moderate scope and complexity.
• Analyze and expand on situations with multiple factors, breaking issues into logical steps and solving problems primarily using existing processes.
• Design, develop, and test robust, scalable web applications using Java.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to refine requirements and offer technical recommendations.
• Leverage native APIs and frameworks for integrations.
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and bugs.
• Maintain code integrity through testing and documentation.
• Build strong internal working relationships.
• Interact primarily with supervisor, project lead, or other professionals in the same or related disciplines.
• Clearly and effectively communicate and explain facts, policies, and practices.
• Begin to act as a resource for more junior team members. 
• May help create or improve processes or tools.


Java Software Engineer II

Software Engineer (Java) working on robust web applications and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Delivering high-quality solutions that meet client expectations.

operations

• Provide strategic leadership for each Market Leader to ensure exceptional customer experience across a diverse group of restaurants in multiple markets.
• Leads the way by working with each Market Leader to deliver profit goals and meet targeted flow-thru objectives; utilizes available reports to identify opportunities; encourages a top-line orientation through operational focus; ensures that correct operational procedures are always followed to drive bottom line results.
• Coach and train multi-unit leaders and restaurant managers for operational excellence; support national training initiatives; participate in onboarding processes and monitor training quality for all levels.
• Develop and maintain strong management staffing levels across all locations; commits to selection processes and monitors staffing levels to anticipate sales seasonality.
• Ensure uncompromising compliance with OSHA standards, local health and safety regulations, and all company safety and security policies to maintain a safe environment for employees and customers.
• Lead regional recognition and motivation programs throughout the Region to encourage high performance and build strong team culture.
• Resolution oriented in all Employee Relations (ER) activities; provides needed ER assistance to managers; is proactive in addressing ER needs in the Region.
• Partner with Management to identify, troubleshoot and resolve chronic Repair & Maintenance issues; gather data, identify trends, determine causes, and collaborate with R&M Business Partners for solutions. Serves as escalation channel for Facilities team.
• Communicate strategic vision clearly, set bold performance goals, and drive decisive action that challenges the status quo while upholding the highest brand standards.

Director, Equity Operations

Director of Equity Operations at KFC overseeing 100+ restaurants with $180M in sales. Driving operational excellence, talent development, and strategic leadership across multiple markets.

compliance

• Analyze receivables and financial performance to flag risk indicators, compliance gaps, and emerging trends across key obligations (royalty, NCAC, rent, etc.).
• Drive adoption and compliance for franchisee financial reporting tools (e.g., iLumen).
• Maintain and enhance dashboards, covenant logs, and balance summaries to monitor financial health and inform leadership decisions.
• Identify “At Risk” franchisees through liquidity, leverage, and profitability analysis; support action or restructuring plans.
• Partner with internal teams (Control, A/R, Legal, NCAC) and external agencies to manage collections, resolve disputes, and address aging issues.
• Conduct financial due diligence, scenario analysis, and capital investment reviews for ownership transfers.
• Provide ratio analysis, risk summaries, and investment outlooks for Deal Approval Memos.
• Lead the Franchise 360 Growth process end-to-end, ensuring cross-functional data alignment and senior leadership agreement on growth-readiness criteria.
• Coordinate transaction milestones, maintain ownership change pipeline reports, and track cross-functional workflows.
• Oversee financial qualification and onboarding for new franchisees.
• Prepare materials for senior leadership, including annual Strategic Business Reviews for large franchisees (25+ units).
• Develop insights and reporting for initiatives such as the “Path to Profitability” to enable data-driven decision-making.
• Support strategic projects including M&A, refranchising, and external stakeholder engagement (e.g., lenders).

Senior Analyst, Franchise Health – Compliance

Senior Analyst driving financial strength and operational readiness for KFC US franchise system. Blending analysis, strategic planning, and collaboration for franchisee support.

The Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence exists to empower communities to build and sustain generational wealth through franchising. We do this by offering franchise education at three levels: undergraduate, graduate, and executive ed. (non-credit). All formats provide the same rich content that prepares someone to work in franchising in any capacity. *All three versions provide CFE credit for those earning this IFA credential.

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

About the company

Open jobs

29 jobs found

Senior Program Manager – Food Innovation

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

Manager, Consumer Insights – Sensory

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

Java Software Engineer II

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

Director, Equity Operations

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

Senior Analyst, Franchise Health – Compliance

Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence