10 years between Burger King and QSRP and Silvia’s journey has just begun

Hello Silvia, can you tell us about how you joined Burger King Italy and what you do today?

Hello, sure! I’ll try to be concise since I’ve been working here for a while. I joined Burger King 10 years ago thanks to one of the first employees who reached out to me about an opportunity in the newly growing company. I thought, why not? So, I arrived just two days before we opened our first corporate-owned restaurant.

I started in the training department within Operations, supporting the training for crew members and restaurant managers of our first Burger King locations. I also underwent two months of in-store training which was essential to properly launch the Burger King Academy for future Assistant Managers and conduct the training classes. As the company grew, I started handling training also for the corporate office.

In 2019, I took responsibility for crew recruitment and hiring for all new store openings. In parallel, I also handled interview for internal promotions, identifying crew members to be enrolled in training programs for shift manager roles.

In 2020, as the company grew significantly, the HR department was restructured and split into a restaurant pillar and office pillar and I moved to managing mandatory training for store employee, training processes and recruitment only for the staff employees.  

Since 2022, my collaboration with QSRP on talent acquisition and employer branding projects has significantly increased. In June 2024, I officially joined QSRP as Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding Lead.  

Over time, international talent recruitment and managing the International Talent Program, supported by the internal HR community, became key focus areas for me. We formed partnerships with universities and engaged with business schools to attract new talent, guiding them on a cross-functional, cross-brand, and cross-country journey to enhance their business understanding and leadership skills.

How is your experience being part of QSRP?

The transition from Burger King to QSRP wasn’t a sudden shift. It’s been an ongoing journey of discovery. Sometimes I realize how much my work dynamics have changed, even in my interactions with former Burger King colleagues. I don’t feel like I’ve left a team behind, rather, I now have many teams to collaborate with.

I see my role as someone who carefully steps in, understands how others work, identifies the challenges faced by different markets and brands, and helps foster a Group-oriented approach while respecting each brand’s unique needs. We implement processes through dialogue, ensuring people are on board.

The habits and connections I developed at Burger King have helped me a lot at my current QSRP role. That’s what makes this experience so interesting: listening, understanding, proposing, and discussing ideas together with many colleagues.

What is the most exciting project of the year for you?

The employer branding project. We are now becoming more recognized in recruitment events, also thanks to the strength of our brands. This proves that three years of attending career fairs are paying off. But with this project we will work on enhancing QSRP’s visibility as an employer. We will more clearly define our values and working culture, to present ourselves transparently to current and potential employees. Our goal is to attract talents who share our values and resonate with our company culture.

A key part of this project is fostering even stronger cohesion within the Group. QSRP is increasingly becoming a unified entity. We already see employees seizing career opportunities between brands and in the Group. Our goal is to ensure that the values found in one brand are the same across the Group, making colleagues feel at home and aligned with every brand.

What do you like about your job?

I love it that in QSRP, if you are curious, you can interact with all departments and learn more about what different departments and brands do. From my side, whether it's searching for a new role or understanding a team’s needs, I can explore different functions and brands, understand how they work, and connect with colleagues.

I frequently meet new colleagues from different locations and learn about their ways of working. This gives me a deeper understanding of the company. I also enjoy exchanging insights with HR colleagues across the Group about challenges and opportunities across countries.

My role also allows me to anticipate upcoming changes in the company. Sometimes I recruit for new roles that don’t yet exist and get a preview of upcoming projects and challenges.

I love working in an environment like ours, where there are no rigid boundaries. We are open to knowledge-sharing, and if you are curious, this environment offers a lot. I like to think that, beyond receiving input from my colleagues, I can also bring new ideas from the outside. The exchange of ideas with managers is something I truly appreciate.

10 years have passed, what do you see looking back, and what do you expect from the future?

Ten years have literally flown by. These years have been filled with new projects built from scratch. Sometimes I think, "Did I really do all these things?" And yes, I did—though it’s easy to lose track. These have been challenging years but it’s the beauty of working for fast-growing companies.

The coming years will bring projects that will improve how we operate as a Group. With time, I see my role expanding more and more beyond Italy. After spending years immersed in the Italian market, I’m now discovering international perspectives. I thought I knew how to do certain things, but now I realize there’s so much more to learn. I think my journey into internationalization has just begun.