Job Location Type Hybrid Reporting to the Vice President, Business Analytics, the Director, Business Analytics is the senior-most analytics leader dedicated to the Applebee's brand, responsible for leading the business analytics function and a team of analytics professionals that deliver insights driving sales, traffic, profitability, and long-term growth. This role owns the quality, relevance, and impact of analytics across the brand, ensuring leaders, franchisees, and cross-functional partners have trusted insights to make informed business decisions. As a highly visible player-coach leader, the Director partners closely with Operations, Marketing, Finance, Development, Consumer Insights, IT, and franchise stakeholders to translate complex data into actionable business strategies. The role serves as a trusted advisor to brand leadership and the Vice President, Business Analytics, shaping priorities, influencing strategic decisions, building team capability, advancing analytics best practices, and driving the evolution of analytical capabilities to support enterprise growth. Key Responsibilities • Lead analysis of Applebee's business performance, translating sales, traffic, guest behavior, profitability, forecasting, and competitive trends into recommendations that drive profitable growth. • Develop and communicate clear business narratives that help franchisees, executives, and cross-functional teams understand performance drivers, opportunities, and risks. • Partner with Marketing, Operations, and Consumer Insights to evaluate promotions, menu innovation, media effectiveness, and other strategic initiatives, providing actionable recommendations to improve results. • Develop executive business reviews, performance scorecards, forecasts, and strategic recommendations that influence key business decisions. • Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior leadership by leading complex analyses and high-impact projects that address critical business opportunities and challenges. • Serve as the owner of analytics for the Applebee's brand, establishing analytical priorities, influencing strategic decisions, and ensuring alignment between brand objectives and enterprise analytics capabilities. • Lead metric development, data governance, and reporting validation efforts in partnership with IT to ensure accurate, trusted, and scalable analytics solutions. • Define business requirements, KPIs, and performance measures that support enterprise reporting and analytical capabilities. • Lead the development of monthly sales forecasts, annual sales budgets, and long-range growth projections, partnering with Finance and business leaders to provide data-driven insights that support strategic growth objectives. • Lead, develop, and mentor a team of three analytics professionals, including analysts and managers, serving as a player-coach by balancing people leadership, talent development, and hands-on involvement in high-priority analyses, strategic projects, and executive-level business reviews. • Demonstrate exceptional attention to detail and a passion for understanding the data behind the insights. Partner closely with Business Intelligence and technology teams to validate assumptions, investigate performance drivers, ensure data integrity, and develop a deep understanding of underlying business and data relationships. • Drive the evolution of analytics capabilities by identifying opportunities to leverage advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and emerging technologies to improve business performance. • Target Base Salary $185k-$210k depending on experience Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Economics, Business, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred. • 10+ years of progressive experience in business analytics, finance, strategy, business intelligence, or related disciplines. Experience in multi-unit restaurant, retail, hospitality, or franchise organizations preferred. • Exceptional executive communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence decisions through clear, data-driven business narratives. • Experience leading and developing high-performing analytics teams, with a demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership and hands-on analytical execution. • Experience with data governance, KPI development, reporting validation, and data quality management. • Experience partnering with technology and Business Intelligence teams to define business requirements, metrics, data structures, and reporting solutions. • Proven ability to solve complex business problems using analytical rigor, structured thinking, and sound business judgment. • Advanced experience with business intelligence tools such as Power BI, Tableau, MicroStrategy, or similar platforms. • Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills. • Strong project management, organizational, and cross-functional leadership capabilities. • Working knowledge of financial planning, forecasting, and accounting principles. • Strong intellectual curiosity and analytical rigor, with a demonstrated ability to dive deeply into data, understand underlying drivers, challenge assumptions, and translate findings into actionable business recommendations