Sr. Operations Support Manager (Individual Contributor)

International Dairy Queen•Bloomington, MN

20h•Hybrid

About The Position

This individual contributor role serves as a strategic partner to International Operations leadership by overseeing the execution, optimization, and continuous improvement of operational support programs, tools, and vendor partnerships that support Dairy Queen's international franchise system. Working across International Operations, Concept Support Services, Training, Marketing, Technology, Finance, external vendors, field teams, and franchisees, this role ensures assigned programs remain effective, scalable, globally aligned, and valuable to both franchisees and internal stakeholders. The position balances program management, vendor oversight, stakeholder influence, continuous improvement, and business insights while acting as a globally connected resource that identifies opportunities to strengthen operational effectiveness, improve the franchisee experience, and support long-term brand growth. In addition, the Senior Manager is expected to leverage business and operational data to identify trends, model opportunities, evaluate program performance, and provide recommendations that support strategic decision-making across the international business. Success in this role requires strong operational judgment, comfort navigating ambiguity, the ability to influence without direct authority, a continuous improvement mindset, and the ability to turn data and stakeholder feedback into practical business action.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Communications, Project Management, Analytics, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
7 - 10 years of progressive experience in restaurant operations, franchising, multi-unit operations, business analysis. project management, consulting, vendor management, or related disciplines.
Experience working with vendors, service providers, external business partners, or cross-functional support teams.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear recaps, updates, recommendations, dashboards, and leadership-ready summaries.
Strong analytical skills and ability to translate operational data, field feedback, vendor input, and business performance indicators into actionable recommendations.
Ability to organize, analyze, and model data to support operational decision-making and strategic recommendations.
Ability to influence cross-functional partners, field teams, franchisees, and vendors in a matrixed environment.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications and comfort working with reporting tools, scorecards, surveys, dashboards, and program tracking resources.

Nice To Haves

Experience working within a franchisor organization preferred; QSR or restaurant operations experience strongly preferred.
Demonstrated ability to manage projects or programs with defined scope, timelines, stakeholder groups, risks, and success measures.
Experience using business intelligence, reporting, or data visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Excel, or similar platforms preferred.
Working knowledge of SQL, database structures, data querying methods, or data modeling concepts is highly desirable; advanced expertise is not required.
Experience developing dashboards, scorecards, business cases, forecasts, or analytical models is a plus.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary day-to-day business owner for assigned International Operations support programs, tools, and third-party partnerships.
Manage vendor relationships, recurring business reviews, performance discussions, issue resolution, roadmap follow-up, billing coordination, invoicing processes, stakeholder updates, and action tracking.
Partner with leadership on strategic vendor reviews, contract renewals, and major business planning discussions.
Collaborate with International Operations leaders, Franchise Business Managers, regional teams, franchisees, vendors, and cross-functional business partners to support consistent delivery of operational priorities.
Serve as a central point of coordination across markets, identify opportunities for standardization, recommend appropriate market-specific adaptations, and reinforce brand stability while considering operational realities and franchisee needs.
Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, reduce duplicated efforts, simplify processes, and increase program value.
Evaluate emerging tools, technologies, feedback themes, and industry practices that could support franchisee success and operational performance.
Support pilot programs, testing initiatives, and new program launches through planning, execution, measurement, and transition to ongoing ownership.
Develop and maintain reporting, scorecards, dashboards, implementation trackers, and executive-ready summaries related to assigned programs and initiatives.
Analyze operational, customer, financial, and program performance data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
Support pilot programs, vendor evaluations, and operational initiatives through data analysis, scenario modeling, and performance measurement.
Present findings and recommendations in a clear and actionable manner for leadership audiences.