Head of Network Expansion - Global Franchise Development

The Opportunity

Our client is a franchise-led outdoor entertainment platform, headquartered in the UAE, building large-format experience destinations across amusement, F&B, retail, and events. The model has been validated through a live regional deployment and is now moving into a structured global expansion phase, Middle East, Southeast Asia, ANZ, followed by India, China, and Europe.

This is a from-scratch leadership hire. There is no existing sales or network function today — the person in this seat builds it, reporting directly to the CEO.

What You'll Own

• Identify priority markets and build country-level and regional partner networks from the ground up
• Develop relationships with entrepreneurs, family offices, real estate developers, and government-backed channels who can operate multi-site clusters
• Build a repeatable franchise sales playbook — lead generation, qualification, deal structuring, and closure
• Drive cluster-based deal execution: this is a multi-site model, not single-unit franchising
• Represent the business in front of ultra-HNIs, family offices, and investment bankers as a credible peer
• Own pipeline forecasting and reporting discipline as the function scales

What Success Looks Like

• A defined, operational franchise sales playbook
• An active, qualified pipeline across multiple regions
• First cluster-level deals signed and progressing to execution
• A regional partner network in place, with a repeatable process behind it

What We're Looking For

• 15–20 years of experience building businesses via franchise or multi-location expansion models
• A proven track record of building markets from scratch — not managing an inherited pipeline
• Experience in one or more of: F&B/QSR, retail expansion, hospitality, or entertainment/real-estate-led formats
• High executive presence — comfortable and credible in front of CXOs, HNIs, and family offices
• Strong deal-making ability with complex, high-value, multi-stakeholder closures

Not the right fit if: your background is pure corporate sales, inbound-only lead conversion, or you haven't personally built a network or market from zero.

About HireVeda

HireVeda is an executive search and leadership hiring partner for founder-led and growth-stage companies. We work on a small number of high-impact mandates at a time — depth over volume — and step in when a role is business-critical and the market is too noisy for a generic search.

Interested or know someone who fits? Reach out to HireVeda in confidence to discuss this mandate.