Undercover Boss is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working undercover in their own companies to investigate how their firms really work and to identify how they can be improved, as well as to reward hard-working employees.

Each episode features a high-ranking executive or the owner of a corporation going undercover as an entry-level employee in his or her own company. The executives alter their appearance and assume an alias and fictional back-story. The fictitious explanation given for the accompanying camera crew is that the executives are being filmed as part of a documentary about entry-level workers in a particular industry, or a competition with another individual with the winner getting a job with the company. They spend approximately one to two weeks undercover (one week being the norm in some editions, such as the US version, and two weeks in some other versions, such as the Australian edition), working in various areas of their company's operations, with different parts and in most cases a different location each day. They are exposed to a series of predicaments with amusing results, and invariably spend time getting to know the people who work in the company, learning about their professional and personal challenges.

At the end of their time undercover, the executives return to their true identity and request the employees they worked with individually to travel to a central location—often corporate headquarters. The bosses reveal their identity, and reward hard-working employees through promotion, or financial rewards, while other employees are given training, better working conditions, or, in extreme cases, termination.

The Australian version of the franchise premiered on Network Ten on 18 October 2010 The show ran for 2 seasons.

The Austrian version of Undercover Boss premiered on ORF eins on 16 January 2013 with the CEO of ASFiNAG, Klaus Schierhackl.

The Bulgarian version of Undercover Boss is named Шеф под прикритие (Shef pod prikritie). Premier of the show is on 9 February 2016 on Nova TV. The first show is for Domino's Pizza Bulgaria.

The Brazilian version of Undercover Boss is named Chefe Secreto. Premier of the show was on 27 September 2015 as an part of Fantástico newsmagazine on Rede Globo. The first show is for Adezan, a company which produces industrial packings, with his managing manager Pedro Stivalli

The Canadian version of Undercover Boss premiered on W Network on 2 February 2012 with the CEO of Toronto Zoo, John Tracogna.