Director, Innovation

Wingstop

About The Position

As the Director, Innovation, you will be responsible for building and operating a high-velocity innovation engine that drives repeatable, profitable growth across Wingstop’s menu — including flavors, dips, sides, desserts, and new occasions. Sitting at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and commercial performance, this role owns the full lifecycle of innovation — from identifying opportunities to testing, scaling, and optimizing — with a clear focus on speed, business impact, and operational feasibility. This role is accountable for turning ideas into measurable outcomes, ensuring every initiative is grounded in a clear revenue hypothesis, executed with discipline, and evaluated with rigor.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Innovation, or a related field required
12+ years of experience in marketing, brand strategy, innovation, or related fields
Experience within QSR, restaurant, retail, or consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries strongly preferred
Demonstrated track record of leading end-to-end initiatives—from insight generation through execution and scaling
Strong experience with marketing analytics and insights platforms (e.g., Tableau, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics)
Experience with test-and-learn frameworks, A/B testing tools, and experimentation platforms
Familiarity with CRM and digital marketing ecosystems (e.g., Braze, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, paid media platforms)
Comfort working with consumer research tools and methodologies (qualitative and quantitative)
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and presentation tools (PowerPoint) to synthesize and communicate ideas clearly
Strong strategic thinking with the ability to connect consumer insights to business outcomes
Highly collaborative with proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority
Excellent storytelling and communication skills—able to sell ideas and bring stakeholders along the journey
Comfortable operating in ambiguity and leading through change in a fast-paced environment
High level of curiosity, creativity, and willingness to challenge the status quo
Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred, especially with a focus on strategy, innovation, or consumer insights
Preferred (not required): certifications in Design Thinking, Agile Marketing, or Innovation methodologies (e.g., IDEO, Scrum, Lean Startup) People skills

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end innovation pipeline — from ideation through test, scale, and post-analysis
Establish and operate a repeatable innovation cadence (monthly tests, quarterly launches)
Maintain a live pipeline of concepts across flavors, sides, dips, desserts, and occasions
Balance core, seasonal, and disruptive ideas to drive both short-term performance and long-term growth
Define a clear revenue hypothesis for every initiative, including expected incremental traffic, mix impact, and margin implications
Partner with Finance and Commercial to model scenarios and evaluate tradeoffs
Ensure all initiatives align with enterprise financial and strategic guardrails
Measure and report performance against defined business outcomes, not just activity
Own time from concept → test → scale, with clear expectations on speed and iteration
Lead a structured test-and-learn agenda tied to key business questions (pricing, bundling, occasions, product innovation)
Rapidly iterate based on performance data and real-time feedback
Ensure insights are translated into actionable decisions, not just observations
Define clear success metrics and kill criteria for every initiative
Assess incremental impact vs. cannibalization and adjust strategy accordingly
Make timely decisions to scale, iterate, or discontinue initiatives
Avoid accumulation of low-performing or overly complex offerings
Leverage Platforms, Algorithms, and Culture (PAC) signals to identify emerging trends and opportunities
Translate cultural insights into testable product and campaign ideas
Maintain a forward-looking pipeline informed by real-time consumer behavior and trends
Ensure Wingstop stays ahead of, not behind, cultural moments
Partner with Brand, Digital, Operations, Culinary, Supply Chain, and Analytics to bring innovations to life
Ensure all initiatives are operationally executable at scale across restaurants
Identify and mitigate execution risks early in the process
Align innovation with restaurant realities and franchisee economics
Develop and manage innovation scorecards tied to traffic, mix, margin, and adoption
Lead structured postmortems that drive clear decisions and future improvements
Apply learnings from past initiatives to improve future performance
Manage innovation as a portfolio, optimizing across multiple initiatives simultaneously

Benefits

Unlimited paid time off for exempt employees
One paid volunteer day of your choice
Competitive bonus structure for eligible roles
Team member stock purchase plan
Health savings or flexible spending account options
401k – (dollar for dollar on the first 3% and then 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2% for team member contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation)
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
Basic life and AD&D insurance provided
Pet insurance
Education Assistance
Wellness reimbursement program
Paid maternity and paternity leave
Lunch provided every Tuesday and Thursday in office
Discount on Wingstop gift cards
Onsite game room