Sr. Manager, Operations Standards & Audit

Panera Bread•Newton, MA

2d•$136,383 - $163,660•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Operations Standards & Audit Programs leads the strategy, governance, and continuous improvement of Panera's BSR, FSA, Health Department audits, and pest-management support programs within Operations Services. This leader directly oversees the Manager, Brand Standards Review and Manager, Food Safety Audit, ensuring parallel accountability, consistent governance, effective third-party administration, integrated reporting, operational improvement, and future-solution development.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.
4+ years of experience in restaurant operations, food safety, quality assurance, audit-program management, compliance, operational excellence, or a related field.
Demonstrated cross-functional program and team-leadership experience.
Experience managing third-party providers and vendor relationships.
Exceptional project planning, organization, prioritization, and follow-through.
Strong business acumen, analytical thinking, judgment, and creative problem-solving.
Ability to influence without authority, navigate ambiguity, and build stakeholder alignment.
Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and executive presentation skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and project-management tools.
Ability to travel based on business needs.

Responsibilities

Own the integrated strategy, governance, effectiveness, and roadmap for BSR and FSA.
Establish annual and cycle priorities for content, administration, reporting, communication, and improvement.
Ensure programs measure Panera brand, operational, food-safety, and regulatory standards.
Govern assessment additions, removals, revisions, testing, and approvals.
Lead and develop the BSR and FSA Managers with aligned expectations across both functions.
Coordinate priorities, resources, calendars, dependencies, and workload.
Serve as senior business owner for audit and pest-management providers.
Oversee quality, calibration, scheduling, data accuracy, service levels, contracts, performance, and issue resolution.
Evaluate BSR, FSA, Health Department, pest activity, corrective action, and operational information as one view of cafe risk and performance.
Lead dashboards, scorecards, heat maps, and executive reporting.
Convert findings into prioritized actions for executives and Operations teams.
Lead reviews of recurring findings to identify root causes and systemic opportunities.
Sponsor improvements to standards, processes, training, tools, equipment, facilities, communications, or technology.
Oversee pilots, rollout, and measurement of future solutions.
Present performance, risks, recommendations, and decisions to senior leadership.