Facilities & Equipment Manager

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.•Tampa, FL

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Facilities & Equipment Manager is responsible for overseeing the maintenance, reliability, safety, and lifecycle management of restaurant facilities and equipment. This role ensures restaurants are operationally ready, safe, and compliant through effective preventative maintenance programs, vendor management, and capital planning. The position partners closely with Operations, Risk Management & Loss Prevention, FSQA, and external service providers to support consistent restaurant operations and protect company assets. In addition to managing current-day performance, this role is expected to bring a forward-looking perspective to the business by helping define the facilities and equipment roadmap needed to support the company’s growth and evolving operating model over the next 3, 5, and 10 years. This includes anticipating future equipment, technology, maintenance, and capital needs; improving scalability and standardization; and helping ensure the restaurant environment is positioned to support long-term operational excellence, brand consistency, risk reduction, and innovation. This role is based in Tampa, FL and offers a hybrid work environment: In-Office at least 3 days/week, working out of our Restaurant Support Center (RSC).

Requirements

5–8 years of experience in facilities, equipment, or asset management, preferably in restaurant or retail environments.
Strong knowledge of restaurant equipment, building systems, and maintenance best practices.
Experience managing vendors, service contracts, and capital projects.
Experience managing or administering a CMMS or other facilities/asset management platform preferred; experience with preventive maintenance systems, work order workflows, reporting, and vendor coordination strongly valued.
Familiarity with safety, health, and regulatory compliance requirements.
Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Facilities Management, Engineering, Operations, or a related field preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and manage facilities and equipment standards to support operational efficiency, safety, and brand image.
Own preventative maintenance programs for restaurant equipment and building systems.
Establish equipment specifications, replacement standards, and lifecycle planning.
Oversee and maintain equipment specifications, replacement standards, and lifecycle planning.
Conduct annual reviews to ensure all specifications remain aligned with industry standards and evaluate potential equipment upgrades for operational improvement and cost savings.
Support capital planning related to equipment replacement and facility upgrades.
Build a forward-looking facilities and equipment strategy that defines what the restaurant environment should look like in 3, 5, and 10 years to support growth, changing operational needs, emerging technologies, and evolving brand standards.
Evaluate long-term asset health, infrastructure needs, and scalability requirements to ensure future restaurant readiness across new and existing locations.
Identify opportunities to modernize equipment platforms, improve standardization, and reduce long-term operating and maintenance costs.
Oversee repair and maintenance programs to ensure timely resolution of facility and equipment issues.
Manage relationships with service providers, contractors, and equipment vendors.
Develop a network of self-performing service vendors in each DMA.
Evaluate vendor performance, service levels, and costs to ensure value and reliability.
Coordinate emergency repairs and support restaurants during critical equipment or facility failures.
Partner with vendors to identify future-focused solutions, including more durable equipment, predictive maintenance tools, service model improvements, and cost-saving opportunities.
Partner with field and restaurant leadership to address facilities and equipment needs.
Serve as a subject matter expert for equipment use, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
Provide guidance to restaurant teams on proper equipment care and basic maintenance practices.
Support new equipment installations.
Collaborate with Risk Management & Loss Prevention to address physical safety risks and security needs.
Ensure facilities and equipment comply with safety, health, and regulatory requirements.
Support corrective actions resulting from safety audits, inspections, or incident reviews.
Monitor changing regulatory, safety, and operational requirements to help position the organization ahead of future compliance and risk management needs.
Work with Operations to ensure facilities and equipment standards align with operational procedures.
Partner with Supply Chain and Finance on purchasing, budgeting, and capital expenditure management.
Support operational readiness for equipment changes and equipment tests.
Provide facilities and equipment input during testing and rollout planning.
Help ensure new builds, remodels, and retrofits are designed not only for current operations, but also for future flexibility and operational demands.
Partner cross-functionally to define the facilities, equipment, and infrastructure capabilities required to support the business 3, 5, and 10 years from now.
Contribute to long-range planning discussions related to restaurant prototypes, growth strategies, digital and technology enablement, labor optimization, and capital investment priorities.
Track maintenance trends, costs, and equipment performance metrics.
Analyze repair data to identify recurring issues and opportunities for improvement.
Recommend enhancements to preventative maintenance programs and equipment standards.
Use data and trend analysis to inform long-term decisions around asset lifecycle, replacement timing, equipment standardization, and future capital needs.
Own the administration, optimization, and ongoing management of the company’s third-party CMMS platform to support work order management, preventive maintenance scheduling, asset tracking, service history, reporting, and data integrity across restaurant locations.
Partner with CMMS providers, internal stakeholders, and service vendors to ensure the platform is configured to support business needs and operational workflows.
Monitor CMMS performance and user adoption, identifying opportunities to improve processes, reporting, automation, and system utilization.
Use CMMS data to analyze maintenance trends, equipment reliability, vendor performance, and long-term capital replacement needs.