JOB DETAILS
Job reference
REQ01285
Date posted
19/02/2026
Application closing date
05/03/2026
Location
Woking
Salary
£35,000-£40,000 p/a
Package
Contractual hours
37.5
Basis
Full time
Job category/type
Education
Job description
ABOUT TRAFALGAR ENTERTAINMENT (TE)
Co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire in 2017, Trafalgar Entertainment is a premium international live entertainment business focussed on new productions, venue ownership, Performing Arts education, theatre ticketing, the distribution of live-streaming innovative content and the provision of great theatres where people can come together to share in the experience of live entertainment. TE is home to Trafalgar Theatres, The Chiswick Cinema, Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Trafalgar Releasing, Trafalgar Tickets, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Drama Kids/Helen O'Grady Drama Academy, ticketing company London Theatre Direct, Stagedoor, Jonathan Church Theatre Productions, and Imagine Theatre.
Job Purpose Summary
The Franchise Recruitment Manager is responsible for guiding prospective franchise partners through a structured, educational recruitment journey across the Trafalgar Education brands, supporting sustainable network growth aligned to brand values, quality standards, and long term franchisee success. The role supports recruitment activity in both domestic and international markets, including established and emerging territories such as Australia, working closely with internal stakeholders and local compliance requirements.
This is not a sales role. Franchise recruitment within Trafalgar Education exists to educate, assess, and steward potential franchisees through a considered decision making process. The objective is to enable candidates to make informed, well judged commitments to the franchise model, rather than driving transactional outcomes or volume based targets. The role owns the integrity, consistency, and effectiveness of the recruitment process.
The Franchise Recruitment Manager is accountable for managing the end to end franchise recruitment lifecycle. This includes lead qualification, structured information sharing, supported discovery conversations, assessment and interviews, coordination of due diligence, and a disciplined handover into compliance and operations. This responsibility applies across UK and international recruitment activity, ensuring that local regulatory requirements, cultural context, and market realities are understood and respected.
Throughout the recruitment journey, the role ensures that candidates fully understand the franchise model, expectations, responsibilities, and risks. Only candidates who demonstrate the required capability, values alignment, financial resilience, and operational readiness are progressed. The emphasis remains firmly on long term franchisee success rather than speed of recruitment.
Acting as a critical quality gate within the franchise system, the role balances growth ambitions with sound judgement, protecting the long term health of the franchise network and the reputation of the brands. The focus is consistently on right fit recruitment, not volume.
Working closely with the Head of Franchising and the Franchise Business Consultant team, the Franchise Recruitment Manager ensures recruitment activity is aligned with strategic priorities across both UK and international markets. The role also plays an active part in identifying opportunities to improve recruitment processes, candidate experience, and decision quality across the recruitment funnel.
In addition, the role provides clear reporting and insight on recruitment activity, pipeline health, and emerging risks, supporting informed decision making at Senior Leadership level.
Leading the Franchise Recruitment function, the role delivers a professional, transparent, and values led experience for prospective franchisees, while acting as a trusted internal partner to ensure recruitment decisions strengthen the long term sustainability and performance of the franchise network.
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
Franchise Recruitment and Candidate Experience
* Own and manage the end to end franchise recruitment journey across both UK and international markets, delivering a structured, informative, and transparent experience for prospective franchisees.
* Act as the primary point of contact for franchise enquiries, guiding candidates through each stage of the process with clarity, consistency, and professional judgement, adapting approach where required for international market context.
* Educate prospective franchisees on the franchise model, expectations, risks, responsibilities, and long term commitment required, ensuring informed decision making on both sides across different regulatory and cultural environments.
* Qualify and assess prospective franchisees against agreed capability, values, financial, and suitability criteria, progressing only right fit candidates, regardless of market pressure or growth targets.
* Lead discovery conversations, interviews, assessment stages, and structured follow up, ensuring the recruitment process remains robust, fair, values led, and evidence based.
* Coordinate due diligence activity, including financial, background, and compliance checks, working closely with Finance, Legal, Operations, and international stakeholders where applicable.
* Ensure timely, accurate, and well managed progression of candidates through to offer, agreement, and structured handover to Operations and Franchise Business Consultants, including international onboarding pathways where relevant.
Recruitment Process Ownership and Quality Control
* Act as a critical quality gate for network growth across domestic and international territories, balancing recruitment ambition with long term brand health and franchisee sustainability.
* Maintain and continuously improve franchise recruitment systems, documentation, and workflows to support multi market recruitment, ensuring confidentiality, data integrity, and regulatory compliance.
* Proactively identify opportunities to improve the recruitment journey, candidate experience, and decision quality across the recruitment funnel, informed by both UK and international learnings.
* Ensure recruitment activity aligns with territory planning, capacity modelling, and strategic growth priorities in each market.
* Maintain clear recruitment records and audit trails to support governance, compliance, and reporting requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
Stakeholder Collaboration and Internal Alignment
* Work closely with Marketing to ensure franchise enquiries are handled appropriately across markets and that messaging reflects the educational, values led nature of the recruitment process.
* Collaborate with Operations, Franchise Business Consultants, Finance, Legal, and international partners to ensure smooth transitions from recruitment into onboarding and ongoing support.
* Provide clear, timely reporting on recruitment activity, pipeline health, candidate quality, and emerging risks to Senior Leadership, with visibility across both domestic and international markets.
* Support internal stakeholders by sharing insight into candidate feedback, common questions, objections, and barriers to commitment, highlighting where market specific trends are emerging.
Training, Handover, and Network Integration
* Support and contribute to new franchisee onboarding and induction activity, ensuring consistent and well prepared handover into the operational phase of the franchise lifecycle across markets.
* Where required, participate in or support new franchisee training to reinforce understanding of the franchise model, systems, and expectations, including international cohorts.
* Act as a positive brand ambassador for Trafalgar Education, representing the organisation with credibility, integrity, and cultural awareness in all markets.
Continuous Improvement, Market Awareness, and Governance
* Stay informed on international franchising trends, recruitment best practice, regulatory developments, and market dynamics that may impact franchise recruitment or network performance.
* Identify patterns, risks, and opportunities within recruitment activity that could affect long term franchise success or brand reputation, particularly as the network expands internationally.
* Contribute to the ongoing development of recruitment frameworks, assessment tools, and decision criteria to support scalable, high quality recruitment across markets.
* Ensure recruitment activity remains compliant with internal policies, legal requirements, and recognised best practice franchising standards in each operating territory.
Knowledge & Skills Required
Strong understanding of consultative, relationship-led recruitment or selection processes, where education, assessment, and long-term fit are prioritised over transactional selling.
Ability to guide individuals through complex, high-commitment decisions with clarity, empathy, and sound judgement.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex business models, expectations, and risks in a clear and accessible way.
Strong assessment and decision-making capability, including the confidence to challenge assumptions, probe suitability, and say no when a candidate is not the right fit.
High level of organisational and process management skills, with the ability to manage multiple candidates and stages simultaneously without losing quality or control.
Strong attention to detail and respect for confidentiality, particularly when handling sensitive personal, financial, and commercial information.
Ability to work collaboratively across functions, including Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Legal, ensuring alignment and smooth handovers.
Sound commercial awareness, with an understanding of the long-term implications of recruitment decisions on network health, brand reputation, and franchisee success.
Comfortable working with data, reports, and pipelines to track progress, identify risks, and inform decision making.
Desirable Knowledge and Skills
* Experience within franchising, multi-site businesses, or membership-based models, particularly where partner selection and long-term relationships are critical.
* Familiarity with CRM systems and structured recruitment pipelines, with HubSpot experience desirable but not essential, as training will be provided for the right candidate.
* Experience managing end to end recruitment or onboarding journeys for business owners or partners.
* Understanding of regulated, values-led, or safeguarding-focused environments.
* Experience supporting fixed-term or transition roles, with the ability to maintain momentum, continuity, and consistency during periods of cover or change.
Qualifications
* Educated to A-level standard or equivalent, including strong written and verbal communication skills.
* Evidence of ongoing professional development relevant to recruitment, assessment, customer experience, or relationship management.
* Exposure to franchising, business ownership, or partner selection models through formal training or structured programmes.