Sr. Manager, Growth Operations

Sr. Manager, Growth Operations

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Growth Operations leads Panera's operational planning and execution for New Bakery-Cafe Openings, remodels, market/café ownership transitions, closures, FSO openings, new franchisee café openings, relocations, and other cafe changes within Operations Services. This leader oversees two Managers of Growth Operations and owns critical-path governance, opening-order coordination, operational readiness, opening support and training, and post-opening stabilization.

Location: Newton, MA moving to Weston, MA (hybrid)

Key Responsibilities

Growth Portfolio Leadership

• Oversee active and upcoming growth and portfolio-change projects, including status, dates, dependencies, risks, resources, and decisions.
• Assign projects based on timing, complexity, geography, franchise group, priority, and capacity.
• Balance workload and provide support for high-risk or off-track projects.
• Establish rolling forecasts and identify conflicts with other field activity.

Critical-Path Governance

• Own and improve critical paths for each project type.
• Establish milestones, owners, dependencies, lead times, readiness requirements, escalation triggers, and completion standards.
• Conduct portfolio and readiness reviews and lead post-project lessons learned.

Opening Readiness & Orders

• Ensure each new bakery-cafe has an integrated readiness plan.
• Oversee opening orders, early orders, smallwares, uniforms, chemicals, equipment-related supplies, operational and training materials, and delivery issue resolution.
• Confirm readiness across people, product, process, technology, equipment, facilities, vendors, training, and communications.
• Oversee opening-week support and post-opening stabilization.

Remodels, Transitions, Closures & FSOs

• Oversee critical paths, business continuity, communications, systems, vendors, supplies, training, and operational readiness.
• Ensure franchise ownership transitions move access, services, ordering relationships, resources, and accountability appropriately.
• Oversee closure readiness and support the operating model and tools required for FSOs.

Team, Stakeholder & Performance Leadership

• Lead and develop two Managers of Growth Operations.
• Serve as senior integration leader across Operations Services and cross-functional partners.
• Develop portfolio dashboards, success measures, and executive updates.
• Convert recurring breakdowns and lessons learned into process and tool improvements.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.
• 4+ years of experience in restaurant operations, new-unit openings, development operations, project management, franchise operations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated cross-functional program and team-leadership experience.
• Experience coordinating openings, remodels, transitions, closures, franchise partners, and vendors preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• 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.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans

Competitive Pay $136,383 - $163,660 annually

The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

Newton Support Center