manager, program management - Testing Lab Environments

Starbucks • Seattle, WA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Manager, Program Management - Testing Lab Environments, you will help shape how Starbucks brings innovation to life by leading the strategy, performance, and enablement of lab-based testing environments across SODO 8, Tryer, and future lab capabilities. This role ensures our environments operate with clear purpose, strong execution standards, and the right capacity, tools, routines, and partner experience to generate high-quality, decision-ready learning. Working at the intersection of operations, innovation, strategy, and cross-functional partnership, you will define how each environment is used, align demand with capacity and business priorities, and continuously improve the systems that help Starbucks test, learn, de-risk, and scale ideas with greater confidence. This is a unique opportunity to build the lab ecosystem that enables better decisions, faster learning, and greater enterprise impact.

Requirements

• 8–12+ years of experience in operations, innovation, program management, or related leadership roles.
• Strong operational leadership experience, including leading complex, multi-team or multi-environment operations.
• Deep understanding of customer and partner experiences, including operational practices rooted in Green Apron Service.
• Strong systems thinking and experience designing scalable operating models, processes, and capabilities.
• Experience building performance routines, KPIs, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms that drive accountability and decision-making.
• Proven capabilities in operational excellence, capacity planning, resource management, and continuous improvement.
• Financial acumen, including experience with planning, forecasting, budgeting, and investment decisions.
• Ability to translate business priorities into clear strategies, operating models, and execution plans.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across functions and levels.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in QSR, retail, hospitality, food & beverage, testing environments, innovation, product development, or business operations preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead the incubation and innovation environment strategy – Provide strategic leadership for SODO 8, Tryer, and future testing environments, partnering with cross-functional teams to bring innovation to life, accelerate learning, and shape future customer and partner experiences.
• Define the role and evolution of lab environments – Establish the purpose, capabilities, and operating model for each environment, ensuring they support the right testing methodologies, business priorities, and customer experiences rooted in Green Apron Service.
• Own lab ecosystem performance and enablement – Define and track performance, readiness, utilization, throughput, and effectiveness metrics to ensure environments operate as designed and deliver measurable business value and decision-ready learning.
• Align demand, capacity, and priorities – Partner with testing domain leaders and cross-functional teams to align business demand with environment capabilities, anticipate constraints, and optimize investment, capacity, and strategic value.
• Build scalable operating routines and standards – Establish operating principles, performance routines, playbooks, dashboards, tools, and standards that create consistency, transparency, and ease of engagement across the testing ecosystem.
• Enable exceptional partner and stakeholder experiences – Create clear pathways for teams engaging with testing environments, increasing accessibility, reducing friction, and fostering confidence, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Lead financial and planning discipline – Partner with Finance and business leaders to drive planning, forecasting, investment decisions, and sustainable scaling of lab capabilities as testing volume and complexity increase.
• Develop a high-performing leadership team – Lead and develop leaders responsible for lab operations, customer experience, capacity planning, and performance management while fostering operational excellence, curiosity, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Turn learning into business impact – Translate risks, opportunities, and environment learnings into recommendations that strengthen enterprise decision-making and accelerate innovation across Starbucks.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, and other voluntary insurance benefits.
• short-term and long-term disability
• paid parental leave
• family expansion reimbursement
• paid vacation from date of hire
• sick time (accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked)
• eight paid holidays
• two personal days per year
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• discounted company stock program (S.I.P.)
• Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock)
• incentivized emergency savings
• financial well-being tools
• 100%25 upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan
• student loan management resources
• access to other educational opportunities
• backup care
• DACA reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager