Director of Operations

Taste Buds Kitchen - HQ · United States

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Opportunity for advancement
• Paid time off
• Training & development
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) matching
• Competitive salary
• Dental insurance
• Employee discounts

• Operational Leadership: Direct and mentor the corporate operations team (Operations Systems Specialist, Franchise Business Coaches and Culinary Lead) to maintain a cohesive, support-driven culture focused on franchisee success.
• Field Support Architecture: Design and scale our regional field coaching model as our footprint grows; establish studio-visit cadences, audit standards, and business-consulting playbooks that transition field support from simple "policing" to strategic financial coaching.
• Financial Benchmarking & Unit Economics: Leverage monthly P&Ls and our system scorecard to rigorously analyze unit-level economics across all locations. Use this data to drive proactive coaching and lead targeted operational interventions for units to improve location margins and protect overall network health.
• Resource Allocation & Budgeting: Manage the operations department budget, vendor allocations, and team priorities to maximize return on effort as the studio counts scale.
• Cross-Functional Growth & Marketing Team Leadership: Directly lead and manage the Creative & Brand Marketing Manager and Operations Systems Specialist. Ensure brand marketing campaigns, localized franchisee toolkits, digital agency execution, and CRM technical workflows are seamlessly integrated, measured against ROAS/CPA targets, and directly drive unit-level customer acquisition and studio profitability.

• Operational Architecture: Establish, evaluate, and continuously refine the operational standards, platforms, and operating manuals that govern daily studio operations.
• Supply Chain Health: Partner with executive leadership to manage vendor contracts and monitor order guide compliance.
• Unit-Level Execution Frameworks: Translate brand strategy into clear, executable operational frameworks that simplify studio operations for multi-unit operators, general managers, and studio teams across the franchise system.
• SOP & Best Practice Governance: Partner with the Operations Systems Specialist to ensure all brand manuals, training materials, and Operandio workflows reflect current best practices and brand standards.

• New Studio Opening (NSO) Operational Execution: Own operational readiness and soft/grand opening execution for 15–20 new studio launches over the next 18 months, managing the formal operational hand-off from onboarding to sustained field support.
• Master Rollout Scheduling: Set the annual and quarterly rollout calendar for all new corporate initiatives, technological updates, vendor transitions, and product/menu launches.
• Cross-Functional Execution: Oversee cross-functional rollout workflows, coordinating with Marketing, Culinary, Systems, and Onboarding to ensure seamless execution from kickoff to studio-level adoption.
• Post-Launch Evaluation: Track system-wide adoption rates, franchisee feedback, and ROI metrics for all major updates, using data to refine future launch playbooks.

• Multi-Unit Operator Strategy: Evaluate operational capacity and studio performance for existing multi-unit operators before approving additional studio development, delivering specialized frameworks tailored for multi-unit district leaders.
• Policy Communication & Enforcement: Clearly communicate corporate policies, system modifications, and compliance expectations to the network, balancing firm brand enforcement with empathy and support.
• Escalation & Dispute Resolution: Act as the senior escalation point for complex franchisee relations issues, working constructively with franchise owners to resolve operational hurdles and protect brand integrity.

• Experience: 7–10+ years of progressive leadership in multi-unit operations, with at least 3–5 years leading operations within a fast-growing franchise system (prior experience navigating the 20-to-50 unit growth scaling phase is highly preferred).
• Proven Track Record: Proven track record in franchise business coaching, franchisee relationships, unit economics, and managing New Studio Openings (NSOs).
• Leadership & Influence: Outstanding leadership, executive communication, and negotiation skills—capable of inspiring corporate team members while building deep trust with independent franchise business owners.
• Financial & Business Acumen: Fluency in P&Ls, Prime Cost management, and unit economics benchmarking.
• Strategic & Process Mindset: Ability to toggle seamlessly between high-level operational strategy, supply chain management, and tactical execution oversight.
• Work Model: Hybrid (2-3 days in-person at Corporate HQ in Chester, MD)
• Travel: Willingness to travel up to 25–35% for site visits, new studio openings, regional franchisee meetings, and team alignment.
• Compensation: Commensurate with multi-unit/franchise growth experience. Performance bonus potential.

• Network Financial Performance: System-wide Same-Studio Sales (SSS) growth and average franchisee unit-level profitability (Prime Cost targets).
• NSO On-Time Execution: Opening 15–20 planned units on schedule and meeting 90-day post-opening operational and financial benchmarks.
• Initiative Adoption Rate: Percentage of studio-level adoption and compliance on key corporate rollouts within designated timeframes.
• System Compliance & Studio Health: Average system-wide audit scores and percentage of studio meeting operational brand standards.
• Franchisee Satisfaction & Retention: Overall franchisee sentiment, FAC alignment, and brand health metrics.