Sr. Manager, Food Operations, Innovation & Support

Panera Bread

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Sr. Manager, Food Operations, Innovation & Support will manage a portfolio of New Product Development and projects, from ideation through deployment, by leveraging core project management, knowledge of Panera operations, collaboration with our Culinary team in the Boston Culinary Center, and creative problem solving skills to ensure new food products are fully vetted for national deployment. This role is an integral part of the team that contributes to accuracy and operational readiness of products and programs that lead to successful Celebration and off-Celebration introductions. The manager will partner with the Culinary team in the Boston Culinary Center to understand operational complexity and impacts of new products during the Development phase. They will manage tests for new food products, ensuring projects are delivered on time, fully vetted, ready for national deployment, and adhere to high quality standards and meeting customer expectations. The position requires the ability to communicate, collaborate, and build partnerships across the organization to act as a conduit between several support center departments, facilitating rollout efforts for new products, smallwares, and strategic company initiatives. Responsibilities also include assembling project plans, identifying resource needs, performing quality reviews, and escalating issues appropriately. The individual will brainstorm and bring ideas to life, apply judgement on which ideas/suggestions will work within Panera’s framework and manage through the innovation process. They will provide influence and leadership skills needed to work with project team members and resolve issues to ensure project goals and requirements are met, provide timely, accurate status updates to team members and stakeholders, and track key project milestones, adjusting plans and/or resources as needed.

Requirements

• 3+ years’ experience in restaurant operations environment needed
• Experience in project management or project planning
• Detail-orientated and curious, able to quickly evaluate inter-dependencies between projects and programs
• Use analytics and creative problem-solving skills to identify a clear pathway to best solutions
• Ability to multitask, prioritize and balance varying workloads to ensure delivery of high-quality results
• Elevated performance in a fast-paced, time-sensitive environment with demonstrated ability to complete projects on time based on scope, people/resources and business value
• Outstanding communication and cross-departmental team building skills with the ability to effectively persuade through oral and written means
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Detail-orientated, possess strong analytics and problem-solving skills
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time depending on project needs

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
• Panera operations optimal

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of New Product Development and projects, from ideation through deployment, by leveraging core project management, knowledge of Panera operations, collaboration with our Culinary team in the Boston Culinary Center, and creative problem solving skills to ensure new food products are fully vetted for national deployment.
• Contribute to accuracy and operational readiness of products and programs that lead to successful Celebration and off-Celebration introductions.
• Partner with our Culinary team in the Boston Culinary Center to understand operational complexity and impacts of new products during the Development phase.
• Manage tests for new food products, ensuring projects are delivered on time, fully vetted, ready for national deployment, and adhere to high quality standards and meeting customer expectations.
• Communicate, collaborate, and build partnerships across the organization to as a conduit between several support center departments, facilitating rollout efforts for new products, smallwares, and strategic company initiatives.
• Assemble project plans, identifying resource needs, performing quality reviews, and escalating issues appropriately.
• Brainstorm and bring ideas to life, apply judgement on which ideas/suggestions will work within Panera’s framework and manage through the innovation process.
• Provide influence and leadership skills needed in order to work with project team members and resolve issues to ensure project goals and requirements are met.
• Provide timely, accurate status updates to team members and stakeholders.
• Track key project milestones and adjusting project plans and/or resources to meet the needs of customers.

Benefits

• An energetic and colorful place to work where you can be your authentic self and are surrounded by other people who want to be here
• Clear impact on operations by playing a key role in decisions made to enable operators to deliver world class service
• Learn a lot about what is required to: introduce change into an organization, incorporate it into everyday operations, and ensure it is sustained over time
• Play hard, have fun at work, and participate in our culture of helping those around you
• The chance to join a passionate, collaborative, fast growing team
• Competitive Pay
• Competitive compensation and benefits packages

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees