Călin Ionescu is the Chief Executive Officer of Sphera Franchise Group, starting with October 2020. He studied Marketing and Management at the Romanian-American University in Bucharest and has almost 30 years of experience in Horeca, having started in 1994, with the opening of the first Pizza Hut restaurant in Romania. He held various positions in the operations area, from Restaurant Manager to General Manager, and in 2012 he was promoted to Director of Operations. Throughout this period, he actively participated in the expansion process of KFC and Pizza Hut in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and in 2016, he laid the foundations for the development of KFC in the north-east and north-west of Italy.
Valentin Budeș is the Chief Financial Officer of Sphera Franchise Group, since May 2019. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Economic Studies in Foreign Languages, French section, at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and holds a master’s degree in International Accounting from the same university. He is a senior member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and holds a certification in risk management issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors (USA). He is also an expert accountant member of CECCAR and an insolvency practitioner, being a member of UNPIR. Before entering the restaurant industry, Valentin worked in financial consulting, at KPMG Romania, as well as within the financial division of the telecommunications companies of the Telekom Romania group (Cosmote, Telemobil, Germanos and Nextgen). He was also responsible for the financial activities of the Medicover Romania Group for approximately 3 years.
Monica Eftimie is the Chief Marketing Officer of Sphera Franchise Group, since August 2017. She graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University (USA) and holds an MBA from Georgetown University (USA). Monica has been working within the companies of the Group for over 10 years. She was Marketing Director of Pizza Hut and KFC, from which position she developed and coordinated the implementation of local marketing campaigns for these brands, and she coordinated the successful launch in Romania of Taco Bell, the famous Californian brand with Mexican-inspired food. She was also Marketing Director for Paul bakeries in Romania. With over 14 years of experience in the Quick Service Restaurant industry, Monica began her marketing career with internships at Accor Group (France) and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising and developed complex marketing campaigns for some of the most well-known industry names such as McDonald’s.
Cristian Osiac is the Chief Development Director of Sphera Franchise Group since June 2017. He attended the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications at the Bucharest Polytechnic University and has been working within the companies of the Group for almost 30 years. He was responsible for opening the first Pizza Hut unit in Romania, having joined the company in 1994 as Technical Director. In 1997, as Development Director, he handled the opening of the first KFC restaurant in Romania. Since then, he coordinates the main development activities for all the Group’s brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, in all three markets – Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Italy. Cristian also held executive positions in other Horeca companies, such as Paul bakeries and Cinnabon patisseries, being responsible for development activities, and has actively participated in the opening of Hard Rock Café in Bucharest. In 2008, he was appointed President of the Boards of Directors of ARS and USFN Romania, holding this position until Sphera was set up, in 2017, and between 2017 and 2018 he was President of the Board of Directors of Sphera.
Has been a Legal Director at Sphera Franchise Group and its Italian and Moldovan branches since May 2017. Marina Topșa graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Bucharest in 2003 and has been a lawyer in the Bucharest Bar since February 2005. After graduation, Ms. Topșa worked for 10 years as a senior lawyer, respectively Partner within a national law firm and opened her own office in February 2015. Before taking over the position of Legal Director of the Sphera Group, Marina Topșa was for one year Head of Legal, Compliance & Corporate Affairs – Legal Director, First Vice President at UniCredit Bank SA.
