Franchise Sales Specialist in Remote, Illinois at Potbelly Corporate

• $85,000 - $90,000 base salary range + annual bonus potential!
• 100% remote in the United States, however, due to state-specific regulatory requirements, Potbelly does not currently support remote work from the following states: Alaska, California, and Hawaii. To be considered for this position, you must be able to perform the role from a state not listed above at the time of hire and for the duration of employment.

Job Title: Franchise Sales Specialist

Department: Franchising & Development

Reports To: VP of Franchising

Location: Remote (with travel)

About the Role

At Potbelly, we believe great neighborhoods deserve great sandwiches - and great partners to bring them to life. As Franchise Sales Specialist, you will help grow our franchise community by supporting the franchise recruitment and sales process from initial inquiry through candidate qualification, agreement execution, and transition to development.

This role is hands-on, highly organized, and metrics-driven. You will serve as an early point of contact for franchise candidates, help keep the sales funnel full of qualified prospects, maintain accurate CRM and documentation workflows, support candidate meetings and recruitment events, and provide the reporting discipline needed to measure progress. You will also support non-traditional shop development opportunities and partner closely with franchising, real estate, legal, finance, operations, training, and marketing to help convert the right candidates into new Potbelly franchise partners.

What You'll Do

• Serve as an initial point of contact for franchise inquiries, prescreen prospective candidates, begin building rapport, and route qualified candidates through the appropriate franchise sales process.
• Generate and support prospective franchisee leads outside Potbelly's marketing lead systems through outreach, direct mail, event follow-up, digital channels, broker and consultant coordination, and other targeted recruitment efforts.
• Support the full franchise sales process, including lead intake, candidate qualification, FDD disclosure coordination, deal progression, agreement execution, Initial Franchise Fee tracking, and transition to onboarding and development.
• Maintain candidate records in FranDash and other sales tools, set up qualified candidates, monitor pipeline stage movement, and ensure franchise candidate documentation is accurate, complete, and compliant.
• Facilitate sales process metrics by tracking lead flow, source performance, response time, candidate status, conversion rates, follow-up aging, deal status, agreement activity, Initial Franchise Fee activity, and other franchise recruitment and sales KPIs.
• Prepare weekly pipeline updates, dashboards, and reports for franchise leadership, including qualified candidate activity, Warm Welcome readiness, event follow-up, market progress, and sales funnel performance.
• Coordinate, prepare for Warm Welcomes, candidate meetings, webinars, franchise recruitment events, trade shows, broker conferences, industry conventions, and other franchise sales events.
• Support franchise recruitment and sales events by managing registration, agendas, materials, candidate communications, pre-event preparation, post-event follow-up, lead capture, and performance reporting.
• Support non-traditional shop development opportunities by helping organize prospect information, development materials, candidate communications, internal updates, and coordination with real estate, operations, legal, finance, and development partners.
• Support weekly update calls with the franchise sales team and provide additional administrative, project management, and coordination support to help the team meet franchise growth goals.
• Represent Potbelly professionally in the market and travel as needed to the Support Center, candidate meetings, franchisee meetings, trade shows, industry conventions, conferences, market visits, and team collaboration sessions.

What You Bring

• 2+ years of experience in franchise sales, franchise recruitment, franchise development, restaurant development, marketing sales, lead generation, or a related growth support role preferred.
• Understanding of the franchise development lifecycle, including lead generation, recruitment, qualification, FDD disclosure, franchise sales, agreement execution, onboarding, and development handoff.
• Experience in using franchise systems and sales tools; FranDash, SmartSheet, Microsoft Office, and reporting or dashboard tools are strongly preferred.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple candidates, projects, events, deadlines, follow-up needs, and internal stakeholders at the same time.
• Analytical ability to interpret sales funnel data, identify pipeline gaps, assess lead source performance, and help improve recruitment and sales process execution.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to build trust with candidates, franchisees, brokers, consultants, and cross-functional partners.
• Comfort operating across multiple sales environments, including phone, email, text, video conferencing, social media, webinars, trade shows, conferences, and in-person candidate meetings.
• Working knowledge of franchise documentation, candidate compliance requirements, and the importance of timely, accurate, and complete sales process records.
• Creative problem-solving skills, strong attention to detail, and a collaborative working style grounded in accountability, urgency, brand stewardship, and integrity.
• Ability to work well with franchisees, candidates, and partners from diverse backgrounds and broad geographic markets.
• Willingness to travel as needed for candidate meetings, franchisee meetings, trade shows, conferences, market visits, industry events, and team collaboration.

Nice to Have

• Experience in restaurant, retail, hospitality, or other consumer franchise systems.
• Familiarity with franchise consultants, multi-unit operators, restaurant investors, and franchise industry partners.
• Experience supporting non-traditional development opportunities, such as airports, universities, travel centers, military bases, entertainment venues, or other alternative growth channels.

Why Potbelly?

We're a neighborhood sandwich shop at heart, which means we care deeply about people - our customers, our teams, and our franchise partners. You'll join a collaborative, down-to-earth group that values curiosity, hustle, accountability, and having a little fun along the way.

We're growing thoughtfully and looking for a franchise sales support partner who can help strengthen our recruitment engine, improve sales process discipline, support development opportunities, and bring more Potbelly shops to more neighborhoods with the right partners.

Our Commitment

Potbelly is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, respected, and empowered to do their best work.

At Potbelly, we are committed to creating a welcoming and respectful environment where individuals are valued for their unique perspectives, backgrounds, and strengths. We believe that inclusion, collaboration, and mutual respect enhance the way we serve our customers and work together as a team. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business need.

We’re an equal opportunity employer. Each applicant will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Application Deadline: Applications must be submitted by [11/12/2026] to be considered for this position. The posting may close earlier if a suitable candidate is selected before the deadline.