Marketing Director

About Beggars Pizza

For over fifty years, Beggars Pizza has proudly served the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana suburbs with thick-crust pizzas rooted deeply in the community. As our franchise system expands and our brand loyalty strengthens, we are seeking a seasoned marketing leader to shape the next phase of our growth.

Role Overview

The Marketing Director will serve as Beggars Pizza's senior marketing executive, accountable for guiding brand strategy, devising annual marketing plans, managing the marketing budget, overseeing franchise marketing efforts, analyzing competitors, managing agencies and vendors, and delivering regular reports to leadership. This role includes leading the Marketing Manager, maintaining key external partnerships for social media and SEO, and serving as the main marketing liaison to franchisees and company executives.

Responsibilities

• Formulate the yearly marketing calendar aligned with business objectives, seasonality, and brand initiatives, securing leadership approval.
• Produce a detailed annual marketing timeline including monthly deliverables and customer-focused and manager-facing calendars.
• Develop, obtain approval for, and monitor the annual marketing budget, tracking monthly expenditures against the plan.
• Perform bi-annual reviews of advertising placements, evaluate return on investment, and negotiate contract terms.
• Oversee the creation of on-hold phone message recordings for the call center annually before the start of the new year.
• Manage relationships with social media agencies, ensuring accountability, contract adherence, brand consistency, and addressing escalations.
• Direct SEO agency partnerships, monitoring monthly reports and enforcing performance standards.
• Coordinate deliverables from vendors and agencies, guiding vendors on necessary advertising alterations.
• Authorize vendor selections for photography and videography and steer creative direction.
• Act as primary marketing contact for franchisee communications and field support.
• Review and approve franchisee advertisement materials.
• Monitor franchise locations for compliance with marketing minimums and maintain oversight by location.
• Develop and maintain franchise marketing tools such as playbooks, local store marketing (LSM) programs, and co-op resources.
• Lead loyalty program strategy including sign-up incentives, program terms, and platform management, specifically with Punchh.
• Analyze monthly loyalty program data from the Marketing Manager, dictating action plans and campaign adjustments.
• Coordinate quarterly evaluations of offer performance and strategies to re-engage inactive members.
• Establish and drive business-to-business (B2B) growth strategies, developing partnerships with businesses, event planners, and institutional clients.
• Plan seasonal catering campaigns.
• Guide, develop, and prioritize tasks for the Marketing Manager.
• Present monthly marketing results, insights, and strategic recommendations to executive leadership.
• Lead marketing initiatives surrounding new store openings, including media relations and community engagement.
• Approve signage requests, menu pricing and layout decisions, and expenditures on promotional items.

Qualifications

• Preferably 7 to 10 years of advancing marketing experience, including at least 3 years in a leadership capacity.
• Experience with multi-unit restaurant, retail, or franchise brand marketing strongly desired.
• Demonstrated ability managing agencies and external partners with measurable results.
• Proven expertise in managing budgets and negotiating with vendors.
• Skillful at making data-driven decisions, translating reports into actionable strategies.
• Strong interpersonal skills to effectively engage with franchisees, leadership, vendors, and community stakeholders.
• Familiarity with loyalty platforms such as Punchh and restaurant technology is advantageous.

Work Schedule and Location

This position is hybrid, requiring regular in-person attendance at commissary and store locations in the southern suburbs.

Compensation and Benefits

• Compensation is commensurate with experience and includes a performance-based incentive.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance through UnitedHealthcare with four medical plan choices.
• Company-paid $25,000 life and AD&D insurance via Blue Cross Blue Shield, with optional voluntary life coverage.
• 401(k) plan featuring a 100% company match on contributions up to 3% of gross salary.
• Voluntary benefits including accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and short-term disability insurance offered through Colonial Life.
• Paid time off available.
• Discounts on pizza and food products.