Senior Manager, Innovation Engineer

Domino's Corporate•Ann Arbor, MI

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Innovation Engineering identifies, evaluates, develops, and implements solutions to improve operational performance across Domino's Supply Chain Centers and Restaurant Operations. The role leads initiatives involving process optimization, capacity enhancement, mass balance improvement, labor productivity, waste reduction, and operational efficiency, using emerging technologies, industry practices, and data-driven decision making. It is the primary organizational resource for evaluating future technologies, benchmarking leading practices, and converting innovative concepts into measurable business outcomes. Working across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Technology, Procurement, Finance, and Restaurant Operations, the position develops and executes pilot programs, validates business opportunities, and drives continuous improvement. It maintains the Engineering innovation pipeline and supports general project initiatives by identifying ways to improve throughput, capacity, yield, reliability, sustainability, and cost performance across the Domino's network.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent experience, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
At least 8 years of experience in manufacturing, supply chain, continuous improvement, engineering, operations, or process optimization.
Experience leading process improvement and operational transformation initiatives.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Experience developing business cases and financial analyses.
Ability to work across functions and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
Strong project management and organizational skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to travel up to 50%.

Nice To Haves

Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, distribution, logistics, or quick-service restaurant environments.
Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, or Continuous Improvement certification.
Experience with process modeling, material flow analysis, and capacity planning.
Experience evaluating automation and emerging technologies.
Knowledge of Operational Intelligence, analytics platforms, and manufacturing KPIs.
Experience leading pilot programs and technology evaluations.

Responsibilities

Own and advance a network-wide innovation and operational optimization strategy focused on throughput, waste reduction, labor productivity, reliability, sustainability, and cost performance.
Lead complex, cross-functional assessments across Supply Chain Centers and restaurant operations to identify constraints, operational risks, and transformation opportunities.
Develop future-state process strategies and scalable operating models that reduce complexity, improve system performance, and support long-term growth.
Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Technology, Procurement, and Restaurant Operations leaders to align innovation priorities with enterprise objectives.
Apply Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, and operational excellence methods to establish repeatable standards, governance routines, and value realization practices.
Prioritize and lead high-impact improvement initiatives requiring stakeholder alignment, change leadership, and measurable operational and financial results.
Benchmark performance against leading manufacturing, foodservice, automation, and supply chain operations to inform strategy and investment priorities.
Own the Engineering innovation pipeline and support a multi-year innovation roadmap aligned with project priorities, Supply Chain strategy, and restaurant needs.
Evaluate emerging technologies and operational innovations, including automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, predictive analytics, operational intelligence, manufacturing and restaurant technologies, and sustainability solutions.
Build and manage relationships with OEMs, technology providers, research organizations, startups, suppliers, and industry partners.
Establish an intake, assessment, prioritization, and stage-gate process for innovation opportunities.
Translate future-state technologies into business applications by defining operational requirements, success measures, risks, investment needs, and expected value.
Influence roadmap decisions by connecting innovation opportunities to enterprise goals, customer and team member experience, supply continuity, capacity, productivity, and financial performance.
Analyze network capacity, material flow, production efficiency, labor utilization, and long-range operational capability across Supply Chain Centers.
Develop and govern mass balance models to identify material losses, waste reduction and yield improvement opportunities, operational constraints, and investment priorities.
Assess production and restaurant-facing processes for scalability, operational impact, and financial value.
Work with Operations, Engineering, Finance, and business leaders to prioritize opportunities involving labor, equipment, material utilization, service reliability, and cost performance.
Recommend network capacity and process strategies that support growth through process redesign, equipment enhancements, automation, and operational improvements.
Convert complex operational data into insights, scenarios, risks, and recommendations for senior-level decisions.
Lead pilot programs, proofs of concept, and field validations from ideation through executive recommendation, with clear governance, accountability, and decision criteria.
Develop project charters, business cases, testing protocols, success metrics, risk assessments, and implementation plans.
Coordinate cross-functional testing with Operations, Engineering, Restaurant Operations, Technology, Quality, Procurement, Finance, and external partners.
Measure operational, financial, and adoption outcomes from pilots and translate learnings into scalable recommendations.
Recommend whether to scale, modify, sequence, or discontinue innovation initiatives based on value, readiness, risk, and strategic fit.
Create reusable playbooks, lessons learned, and best practices for future pilots and organizational adoption.
Lead benchmarking studies across manufacturing, foodservice, distribution, automation, technology, and restaurant operations.
Develop and present enterprise-level business cases, financial analyses, investment recommendations, and value realization plans.
Establish metrics, reporting routines, and governance practices connecting innovation investments to operational outcomes and business value.
Present recommendations, findings, risks, and strategic opportunities to Engineering, Supply Chain, Restaurant Operations, and senior leadership.
Track realized benefits, adoption results, and continuous improvement opportunities to sustain impact and accountability.