Operations-Senior Associate

Roark Capital Group•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with over $41 billion in assets under management. Roark focuses on investments in consumer and business service companies, with a specialization in franchise and franchise-like business models. Roark prides itself on being a trusted partner for management and business owners. We believe that successful partnerships begin with providing a compelling value proposition to all business constituencies. A win‐win‐win approach leads to a positive business environment where all stakeholders – customers, employees, franchisees, strategic partners, service providers, management and shareholders – share in the growth and success of our businesses. We want to partner with entrepreneurs and executives who share this vision. Roark brands generate approximately $97 billion in annual system revenues from 112,000+ locations located in 50 states and 121 countries. Our portfolio companies span multiple industries including food, restaurants, consumer and business services, health, wellness and fitness, and education and youth activities. We are best known for our portfolio companies such as, Dunkin', Jimmy John’s, Jamba, Orangetheory, Mathnasium, Drybar just to name a few. The Opportunity: Roark is seeking a growth-oriented individual with a comprehensive understanding of the full development life cycle to join our Operations Team. The Senior Associate will focus on initiatives that enable Roark’s portfolio companies to accelerate new unit development by providing best-in-class resources and support. Functional areas of engagement will include operational topics, with a focus on new unit development. A qualified candidate will have experience in multiple of the following areas: franchise development, consulting, business strategy, or commercial real estate. Experience managing vendor relationships a plus.

Requirements

7+ years of experience as an analyst, consultant, or similar role, preferably working on development and/or growth-oriented strategies and topics
Strong business judgment on supporting growth-related initiatives
Strong analytical, problem solving, critical thinking and decision-making skills, with a sense of urgency to deliver under tight deadlines
Excellent communication, writing, editing, and presentation skills
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
Strong presentation and PowerPoint building skills
Experience with Microsoft Suite Products, Tableau, Alteryx
Experience with Franchise Management Software (e.g., FranConnect, FRM, Tango, etc.)
Restaurant, and/or multi-site, development experience
Bachelor's Degree in a related field
Ability to offer highly collaborative business partnership support and client services, with exceptional capabilities to lead through influence and take a low ego approach
Ability to structure the opportunity/initiative, prioritize what matters, deploy solutions and track results
An operator’s mind-set and approach with a track record of creating practical, meaningful and scalable solutions for top-line growth
High energy and a passion for development topics, networking with industry growth leaders and finding news way to improve company performance and EBITDA
Strong analytical, problem solving, critical thinking and decision-making skills
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and a diversity of backgrounds
Thought partner to deal teams on the best ways to think through development (opportunities, tools, resources)
Builds and maintains strong relationships with leaders in the portfolio to understand their needs and how best Roark team can support.
Thrives in a fast-paced, high-demand environment; self-starter / self-directed with a sense of urgency to deliver under tight deadlines
A simplifier - Able to de-complicate & translate development concepts
Fly at altitudes - Able to engage with CDO’s as well as managers and directors

Nice To Haves

Collaborating with franchise owners, is a plus

Responsibilities

Drive growth acceleration outcomes in the portfolio by collaborating with deal teams, management teams, and 3rd parties
Build and maintain strong relationships with deal team members and leaders in the portfolio to understand their needs and how best Roark can support
Aligning with deal teams and management teams on the best ways to deploy tools and resources
Staying current on the latest development trends and gathering and synthesizing industry and market data for deal teams and portfolio management teams
Creating new capabilities and tools for deal team and company usage and making judgement of when to build internally versus buy externally, both in value creation and diligence
Bringing new ideas, practices, technology and innovations related to operations to the team; Increase understanding of key development concepts across Roark
Compile top resources currently used by portfolio companies (site selection tools, general contractors, value engineering firms, etc.)
Research new / innovative resources related to development
Maintain info-sheets on existing development resources
Build relationships with third parties and develop recurring touch points with key resources
Oversee vendor selection, bid processes, contract execution, change order controls, and schedule management to drive consistency, uptime, and cost efficiency
Track new unit development metrics for portfolio companies to drive quarterly reporting / scorecards
Run analysis to identify trends and generate insights that aid our investment teams
Provides executive-level visibility into project status, risks, and financial exposure
Conduct analysis to facilitate deal team recommendations, examples include pipeline analysis, ULE benchmarking, and build cost / development timeline opportunities
Create and maintain tools related to new unit development diligence
Assist with planning / hosting forums focused on new unit development
Share information and collaborate with portfolio development leaders on various topics
Match company opportunities to best practices, vendors, and tools to enable them to accelerate new openings