Senior Director - Head of Partnerships

As the business owner for strategic partnerships within Digital, the Head of Partnerships is responsible for identifying, building, and scaling partnerships that accelerate profitable growth, improve guest experience, and expand digital capabilities across the portfolio.

This position oversees the strategy and execution for advertising, loyalty, payment, and fulfillment partnerships defining the roadmap, establishing governance, and aligning cross-functional teams to deliver high-impact outcomes. This position must operate at the intersection of strategy, commercial development, and operational excellence, ensuring partnerships are structured for long-term value.

The role’s impact extends beyond the four walls of Inspire Brands into our franchisee community and external partners, ensuring partnerships are implemented effectively and generate lasting value.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Partnership Development

• Proactively identify and engage strategic partners that align with each brand’s digital growth priorities
• Establish and manage a partnership intake and prioritization process that evaluates opportunities against clear criteria and produces comprehensive business cases grounded in strategic fit, financial value, guest impact, operational feasibility, and risk
• Establish clear partnership structures and value exchanges, outlining scope, data‑sharing frameworks, and success metrics
• Oversee daily operations to monitor sales metrics and business KPIs across all brands, ensuring accountability from the team and partners to meet financial and strategic goals
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment and drive decision-making through clear narratives and recommendations
• Collaborate with finance partners to set and manage capital and G&A budgets

Partnership Management

• Lead implementation plans for both multi-function and single function partnerships, while introducing best practices, standardized processes, and new capabilities to ensure smooth rollout and improved business outcomes
• Influence the technology roadmap led by Product Management to enhance guest experiences in line with digital partnerships. Oversee the roll-out and operationalization of new technologies to ensure high returns on capital investment
• Guide the analytics roadmap led by Data & Analytics and Business Intelligence teams to build out critical reporting and insights for managing and growing the business
• Manage partnership change management and governance by aligning stakeholders, ensuring transparent communication, and implanting scalable operating processes and standards across brands and franchisees
• Build effective teams by attracting high-performing talent, developing team members, and organizing roles and responsibilities
   

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS

• 4-year Degree required in business administration, marketing, economics, or related field
• MBA or similar graduate degree preferred  
• 10 years of Partnerships and Business Development with a proven track-record of developing revenue driving partnerships programs at leading consumer brands
• Experienced in people management with proven record of building a high-performing team; Managing a team of 2-3 direct reports and overall organization of 6-7 individuals 
• Experience with loyalty points programs is a plus

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, or ABILITIES

• Understanding of B2C business; restaurant, hospitality, travel, and retail industry experience preferred
• Passion for the restaurant industry and a strong desire to help shape the future at Inspire Brands with entrepreneurial spirit 
• Have a strategic mindset, a strong decision quality, and an ability to lead data-driven discussions to drive alignment around prioritization and impact across matrix organization 
• Possesses abilities to plan and align across complex matrix organization, a drive towards results by ensuring accountabilities, keen eyes for process optimization 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills – capable of communicating in a way that conveys a clear understanding of the unique needs of widely varying internal and external audiences 
• Self-starter personality who can operate with minimal supervision while navigating ambiguities and complexities 

This position sits in our Atlanta Support Center, with the expectation to be onsite 80% of the time.

 

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.

We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.