Sr. Manager, Gift Card

Sr. Manager, Gift Card

Job Purpose

At Panera, we believe good food can bring out the best in all of us—food served in a warm, welcoming environment by people who care, through a seamless customer experience. We are looking for a Senior Manager of Gift Cards to lead the strategy, growth, and day-to-day performance of our Gift Card business.

Gift Cards are a significant and growing part of Panera’s business, driving meaningful sales across first-party, third-party, and B2B channels. This is a highly dynamic business that requires strong partnership across internal teams and external partners, with opportunities to identify new growth opportunities, optimize existing programs, and create experiences that deliver value for both our guests and the business.

The ideal candidate is a strategic, results-oriented leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is energized by finding new ways to grow and evolve the business. This role requires strong business acumen, cross-functional leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills, along with the ability to navigate ambiguity and adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

We are looking for someone who is curious, proactive, and solutions-oriented, with a passion for using data and insights to inform strategy, uncover opportunities, and drive measurable business results. The right candidate will be equally comfortable developing a strategic vision, diving into the details, and bringing teams and partners together to turn ideas into action.

This position reports to the Director, Loyalty, Subscriptions & Gift Card.

Location: Newton, MA moving to Weston, MA July 2027

Duties & Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of this job include, but are not limited to:

• Program owner for Panera Gift Cards accountable for delivering $200M+ in Gift Card sales on an annual basis
• Plan and lead 1st Party and 3rd Party program operations, strategically managing $3.5M promotional budget for 3P placements and promotions
• Accountable for Gift Card (plastic and digital) production, fulfillment and distribution to Panera cafes and external channel partners including online, 3rd party card malls, and B2B, from creative inception through invoicing
• Own business planning, forecasting, reporting and analytics. Regularly assess business results and make recommendations to hit sales forecasts and grow portfolio.
• Lead Gift Card vendor relationships with Incomm, BHN, Fiserv, and direct partners inclusive of contract negotiations, coordinating QBRs, leading RFPs, and sales/reporting forecasts
• Accountable for managing P&L in partnership with accounting and reporting on program performance including preparing standard and ad hoc reports, reporting results to management, and tracking results to derive key business insights.
• Own the strategic roadmap to integrate and drive long-term success of Panera’s digital gift card business, including merchandising, MyPanera loyalty and enterprise gifting strategies.
• Lead collaboration with cross-functional partners including Accounting, Financial Planning & Legal, Brand, Operations, etc.
• Manage entire B2B business inclusive of engaging directly with clients, fascilitating 1P and 3P promotions and acquiring new clients
• Analyze all promotions considering promotional funding to maximize return on investment
• Manage all expenses related to gift cards inclusive of invoice submission and tracking
• Own performing pre and post-promotional campaign data entry, profitability analysis and reporting for 1P and 3P promotions
• Lead partnering with product, IT and external vendors to bring new features to life to improve the customer experience and grow overall Gift Card sales

Qualifications (Education & Experience)

Qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university; Course focus on marketing or business.
• 7+ years of experience in marketing or business, with direct experience managing gift cards
• Experience with 3rd party gift card vendors and aggregators on day-to-day program management and promotions
• Specialized knowledge: must have gift card industry experience either in retail, wholesale, marketing, or manufacturing.
• Self-starter with strong analytical, prioritization, problem-solving and negotiating skills,
• Proven experience collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders to achieve a common objective.
• Vendor management experience ideally involving negotiations and contracts.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with proven examples of times you have used data to solve a problem and influence future investments.
• Effective style of presenting solutions to various audiences, including senior leadership.
• Skilled at developing and maintaining project plans and can manage and prioritize multiple tasks.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills and experience, preferably in sales forecasting/reporting and inventory management. Proven ability to work with data to derive insights and make strategic recommendations.
• Ability to learn and apply Panera’s business model to drive insights, creative recommendations, and innovative actions
• Passion for gift card industry and understands the complexities of the different sales channels
• Highly self-motivated to proactively work and successfully achieve accurate results under firm deadlines
• Experience developing creative briefs, working with a creative team and/or agency, and providing effective creative feedback
• Experience leveraging data driven insights to develop new gift card strategies

Working Conditions

• Required travel - minimal for team meetings or industry conferences on an ad hoc basis

Physical Requirements

• While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk hear & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards

Direct Reports

• This role will not have any direct reports

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