About Ugly Bagel

Ugly Bagel is an emerging fast-casual restaurant brand headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. We've built a distinctive, playful brand around hand-rolled bagels, innovative menu offerings, and a simple philosophy: embrace imperfection, spread joy, and have fun along the way.

With three locations established in Middle Tennessee and an ambitious national franchise expansion strategy underway, we're entering a transformational stage of growth.

We're building the corporate leadership team that will help take Ugly Bagel from a regional restaurant concept to a nationally recognized franchise brand.

We're seeking an entrepreneurial, results-driven Fractional Head of Marketing who wants to play an important role in that journey—and potentially grow with us into a full-time executive leadership position.

The Opportunity

This is more than a traditional fractional marketing engagement.

We're looking for someone who can develop strategy, execute campaigns, manage budgets, and take ownership of measurable business results.

The Fractional Head of Marketing will lead two critical areas of our growth strategy:

Franchise Development Marketing: Build a predictable pipeline of qualified franchise prospects through digital advertising, targeted lead generation, marketing automation, and coordinated sales initiatives.

Consumer & Restaurant Marketing: Drive restaurant transactions, catering sales, customer loyalty, local-market awareness, and brand engagement across existing and future Ugly Bagel locations.

You'll work directly with the CEO and collaborate closely with franchise development, operations, and an in-house social media/content professional.

While the role will initially be structured as a fractional engagement, our intention is to find a long-term marketing partner who can help build the department and potentially transition into a full-time senior leadership role as the organization grows.

We recognize that not every fractional marketing professional is looking to return to a full-time position. We're particularly interested in meeting individuals who are open to that possibility and excited by the opportunity to help shape an emerging national brand.

Key Responsibilities

Franchise Development & Lead Generation

Develop and execute a measurable franchise marketing strategy focused on attracting financially qualified single-unit and multiunit franchise partners.
Own digital franchise lead-generation strategy and campaigns across Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and other relevant channels.
Work closely with franchise sales leadership to improve lead quality, nurturing, qualification, and conversion.
Optimize franchise landing pages, advertising creative, lead capture, and conversion tracking.
Leverage CRM platforms, marketing automation, targeted prospecting, and intent-based audience strategies.
Manage email nurture campaigns, retargeting, and franchise recruitment marketing initiatives.
Establish reporting around cost per qualified lead, candidate acquisition, conversion rates, and marketing effectiveness.
Evaluate advertising performance and recommend investments based on measurable returns.

Consumer & Local Restaurant Marketing

Develop strategies that increase restaurant transactions, average ticket, catering revenue, and customer frequency.
Oversee local digital advertising and market-specific promotional campaigns.
Build scalable local-store marketing programs for company-owned and franchised restaurants.
Develop strategies supporting grand openings, community partnerships, local events, and neighborhood-level awareness.
Lead loyalty, email, SMS, and customer engagement strategies.
Collaborate with restaurant operations to identify sales opportunities and execute targeted marketing initiatives.
Develop repeatable local marketing playbooks for future franchise partners.

Brand & Digital Marketing

Maintain and strengthen Ugly Bagel's distinctive brand identity, voice, and positioning.
Develop integrated marketing calendars supporting seasonal promotions, product launches, community initiatives, and franchise expansion.
Provide strategic direction and leadership to an in-house social media and content professional.
Oversee content strategy, digital engagement, influencer partnerships, and creative priorities.
Direct digital advertising budgets, campaign optimization, and external marketing resources when appropriate.
Ensure brand consistency across consumer and franchise marketing channels.

Marketing Leadership & Infrastructure

Serve as Ugly Bagel's senior marketing leader and strategic partner to the CEO.
Establish measurable marketing objectives, budgets, performance dashboards, and reporting systems.
Prioritize investments based on business growth opportunities and marketing ROI.
Build scalable processes, systems, and marketing programs to support national franchise expansion.
Collaborate with franchise development, operations, and corporate leadership.
Mentor and develop internal marketing talent.
Help establish the long-term structure and capabilities of the company's marketing department.

Required Qualifications

7+ years of progressive marketing experience, including leadership responsibility.
Demonstrated success developing and managing digital acquisition campaigns.
Strong knowledge of Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, digital analytics, and conversion tracking.
Experience managing marketing budgets and demonstrating measurable returns.
Ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on campaign execution.
Experience developing marketing systems and processes in entrepreneurial or growth-oriented businesses.
Strong communication, organizational, analytical, and leadership skills.
Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with company leadership.
Availability for periodic travel to Nashville and other business locations as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in franchise marketing, particularly within emerging franchise systems.
Background in quick-service restaurants, fast casual, food and beverage, or multiunit consumer brands.
Demonstrated success generating qualified franchise leads.
Experience with local-store marketing, customer loyalty, and multi-location advertising.
Familiarity with CRM systems, marketing automation, email nurturing, and targeted prospecting platforms such as Clay.
Experience building or scaling marketing departments within emerging brands.
Interest in potentially transitioning into a full-time executive marketing role as the company expands.

What Success Looks Like

First 30 Days

Evaluate current franchise and consumer marketing initiatives.
Audit digital advertising, lead-generation performance, marketing budgets, and customer acquisition strategies.
Establish performance benchmarks and identify immediate opportunities.
Present a prioritized 90-day marketing plan.

First 60–90 Days

Optimize franchise advertising campaigns and lead-generation systems.
Launch measurable local-store marketing initiatives.
Implement consistent reporting and performance dashboards.
Establish an integrated marketing calendar and content strategy.
Develop repeatable processes that improve marketing effectiveness.

First 12 Months

Build a consistent pipeline of qualified franchise candidates supporting our goal of 10–12 signed franchise units in 2027.
Improve advertising efficiency, conversion rates, and marketing ROI.
Establish scalable local-store marketing programs.
Support restaurant revenue growth through customer acquisition, loyalty, catering, and community engagement.
Build the marketing infrastructure necessary to support franchise expansion.

Compensation & Career Growth

Ugly Bagel offers a fractional leadership opportunity with meaningful long-term growth potential.

Compensation: $6,000–$8,000 per month, based on experience, availability, and agreed responsibilities.
Initial Engagement: 90-day engagement with established objectives, deliverables, and performance review.
Work Arrangement: Remote / hybrid flexibility with periodic travel to Nashville.
Leadership: Direct collaboration with the CEO and founding team.
Growth Opportunity: Potential transition to a full-time senior marketing leadership position as the company expands.
Long-Term Development: Opportunity to help build and eventually lead a larger marketing organization supporting a national franchise system.

Any future full-time position, title, compensation, or executive responsibilities would be evaluated based on individual performance, business growth, and organizational needs.

Why Ugly Bagel?

Ugly Bagel is at an exciting stage in its development.

We've created a distinctive restaurant brand, established our initial locations, and built the foundation for national franchise expansion.

Now we're assembling the team that will help turn that opportunity into reality.

This position offers the chance to help build a marketing organization from the ground up, work directly with an entrepreneurial founding team, and contribute meaningfully to the next chapter of the brand.

We're not looking for someone who simply wants to advise an emerging business.

We're looking for someone who wants to help build one.

If you're an experienced marketing leader who thrives on growth, creativity, accountability, and measurable results—and you're excited by the possibility of growing alongside an emerging national brand—we'd love to hear from you.

Help us build something beautifully ugly.

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