Senior Manager - New Store Openings

Dufry Careers•East Rutherford, NJ

14d•Remote

About The Position

Purpose: The Senior Manager of New Store Openings (NSO) supports the execution of the end-to-end new store opening process for Food & Beverage and Retail locations across North America. This role ensures operational readiness, coordinates opening timelines, and supports on-site execution to deliver successful store launches that meet company standards.

Requirements

Education and Experience: The combination of education and professional experience must exceed 6 years:
In a leadership role: Requires 2 years of experience leading F&B, Retail, or hospitality Operations professionals engaged in developing and executing new store opening/development, training, or guest experience programs
In a technical role: Requires 6-8 years of experience engaged in developing and delivering new store opening/development, training, or guest experience programs
A bachelor’s degree in a program related to the functional area can count for 3 of the six-year requirement
An MBA or a master’s level degree in a program related to the functional area can count for an additional 2 years of the six-year requirement
In the industry: 3-5 years of Hospitality, F&B and/or Retail experience
Strong operations background and knowledge of service delivery, team training, guest engagement, and store performance analytics
Demonstrated success supporting cross-functional teams in a multi-unit environment
Strong project coordination experience; demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining operational quality
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; confident presenter and relationship builder
Detail-oriented with ability to identify potential issues and escalate appropriately
Advanced business acumen and has the strategic mindset required to understand the long-term implications of new store opening decisions and to advance the organization’s goals
Demonstrated history of anticipating the needs of the business and stakeholders, the employee population, and individual circumstances
Demonstrated history of creating and maintaining positive work environments through coaching, developing, and leading teams to achieve common goals
This position may be remote; must be in close proximity to a major airport
This position requires up to 20% travel to airport locations

Responsibilities

Supports the NSO process for F&B and Retail store openings across North America; implements standardizes opening methodology and guarantees adherence to established timelines and quality standards
Coordinates project activities and maintains day-to-day communication with cross-functional teams to maintain adherence to opening timelines, critical path milestones, and budgets; escalates risks and issues to Director as needed
Serves as liaison between corporate support teams and local Operations leadership during the opening process; provides on-site support during critical opening phases from turnover through day one of service
Executes pre-opening activities in coordination with culinary, retail, and brand teams to ensure service culture, training, and operational setup align with guest expectations and brand requirements; verifies layout execution, product flow, labor planning, and inventory controls meet standards
Facilitates delivery of hospitality training programs at new locations, including service sequencing, digital guest engagement, and retail service expectations; delivers training materials and manuals effectively and provides post-opening feedback to enhance training effectiveness
Assists in developing and maintaining proprietary brand training materials and operational standards; gathers field feedback to support continuous improvement of training content and delivery methods
Supports Operations during pre-opening planning phases to implement guest experience goals, training plans, and operational strategies; ensures locations are prepared for successful launches
Assists in documenting guest incident response procedures and labor standards for new locations
Collects and reports KPI data from new openings; provides analytical insights on operational performance, training effectiveness, and improvement opportunities to support strategic decision-making