Acquisition Manager

Who is Taco Bell? Taco Bell was born and raised in California and has been around since 1962. We went from selling everyone's favourite Crunchy Tacos on the West Coast to a global brand with 8,200+ restaurants, 350 franchise organizations, that serve 42+ million fans each week around the globe. We're not only the largest Mexican-inspired quick service brand (QSR) in the world, we're also part of the biggest restaurant group in the world: Yum! Brands. Much of our fan love and authentic connection with our communities are rooted in being rebels with a cause. From ensuring we use high quality, sustainable ingredients to elevating restaurant technology in ways that hasn't been done before… we will continue to be inclusive, bold, challenge the status quo and push industry boundaries. We're a company that celebrates and advocates for different, has bold self-expression, strives for a better future, and brings the fun while we're at it. We fuel our culture with real people who bring unique experiences. We inspire and enable our teams and the world to Live Más. At Taco Bell, we're Cultural Rebels. Want to join in on the passion-fuelled fun? Learn more about the career below. About the Job: As Acquisitions Manager, you'll play a key role in Taco Bell's ambitious UK&I growth plans, identifying, securing and progressing new restaurant locations across our equity and franchise estate. You'll own the acquisition journey from identifying opportunities and assessing locations through to commercial negotiation, investment approval and legal completion. Working closely with franchisees, agents, Finance, Operations, Legal, Brand and Global teams, you'll help us build a strong development pipeline and secure the right sites to support Taco Bell's growth. This is a highly autonomous role for someone who combines strong property expertise with commercial judgement, understands what makes a great restaurant location and can build relationships and influence decisions across a growing business. The Day-to-Day: Site Acquisition & Development

• Deliver against the UK&I development plan, identifying and progressing opportunities in line with agreed growth priorities.

• Source new site opportunities across target markets, using market knowledge, geomapping, demographics and regular site visits to identify the right locations.

• Evaluate potential sites against customer, operational and commercial criteria, including demographics, competition, accessibility, trading potential and development viability.

• Lead negotiations with landlords, agents, developers and other stakeholders to secure commercially attractive terms.

• Prepare robust investment cases for monthly Board approvals, including P&L, IRR, CAPEX and payback analysis.

• Coordinate opportunities from initial feasibility through to legal completion, ensuring risks, dependencies and timelines are clearly managed.

• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of current and future development opportunities across the UK&I. Franchise Partnering

• Act as a property and acquisition expert to Taco Bell's franchise partners, supporting them with site identification, evaluation and approval.

• Build strong relationships with franchisees and influence development decisions without direct authority.

• Work collaboratively with franchise partners to ensure new sites support Taco Bell's growth strategy and brand standards. Commercial & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with Finance, Operations, Legal, Brand, Global and other stakeholders to assess and progress new opportunities.

• Provide clear, data-driven recommendations to senior leaders and decision-making forums.

• Challenge assumptions and investment decisions where required, ensuring we focus resources on the highest-value opportunities.

• Continuously improve our acquisition processes, tools and ways of working to increase speed, consistency and quality of decision making. Is this you?

• 5+ years' experience in property acquisitions, development or a closely related discipline, ideally within multi-site retail, F&B, hospitality or another consumer-led environment.

• Proven track record of identifying, evaluating and securing new sites, ideally across in-line, drive-thru and roadside formats.

• Strong commercial and financial judgement, with experience building or challenging investment cases using P&L, IRR, payback and CAPEX analysis.

• Strong understanding of location strategy, market assessment, site feasibility and development pipelines.

• Proven experience negotiating property transactions and securing favourable commercial terms.

• Confident influencing senior stakeholders, franchise partners, landlords and agents without relying on formal authority.

• Strong relationship builder who can operate credibly with a broad range of stakeholders.

• Highly organised and able to manage multiple opportunities, priorities and timelines at pace.

• Comfortable working independently and making recommendations in an environment that is still evolving.

• Willingness to travel regularly across the UK&I. Nice to have

• Experience within a franchised restaurant or hospitality business.

• MRICS or another relevant property qualification.

• Experience of estates, lease management or portfolio optimisation.

• Exposure to facilities management or restaurant maintenance.

• Experience supporting international expansion or working across multiple markets. Work-Hard, Play-Hard:

• Hybrid work schedule

• Company and performance-related bonus

• Generous pension with up to 11% company contribution

• Private healthcare with the option to increase to include family cover

• Annual holiday allowance starts at 25 days with the option to buy or sell up to 5 extra days per year. After 5 years' service, annual holiday allowance increases to 30 days

• Competitive parental leave and flexible return to work options

• Wellbeing Reimbursement - A fund to claim back costs throughout the year that support your well-being such as vitamins subscriptions, language lessons, gym membership

• Flexible and Voluntary benefits including Dental Insurance, Health Screening and Gym Discounts

At Taco Bell, we Live Más and invite you to do the same. Take a seat at our table. Bring your voice. Bring you, just as you are, a Cultural Rebel. We want you to be your best self! Taco Bell is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities or special needs.