Title: Sr Manager, Restaurant Technology
Location: Tampa, FL - Hybrid - 3 days onsite (Tues-Thurs), 2 days WFH (Mon+Fri)
Employment Type: Full Time
About the Role Checkers & Rally's is seeking a dynamic and experienced technology leader to drive innovation, operational excellence, and digital transformation across our restaurant technology ecosystem. With 8+ years of experience in restaurant technology, software QA, systems integration, data analytics, project management, service management, and POS strategy, the Senior Manager of Restaurant Technology will lead cross-functional teams responsible for developing, enhancing, and supporting critical restaurant systems, including POS, KDS, Back Office, online ordering, menu management, and restaurant automation platforms.
This role combines technology leadership, program delivery, analytics, and operational expertise to ensure scalable, reliable solutions that improve guest experience, restaurant performance, and franchisee satisfaction. A strong understanding of digital menu management, drive-thru operations, voice-enabled AI, and data-driven decision making is critical to success.
What You'll Do (Core Impact Areas)Technology Strategy & Roadmap- Develop and execute the restaurant technology strategy and roadmap with the IT Leadership Team in alignment with company objectives and operational priorities.
- Identify, evaluate, and recommend emerging restaurant technologies, AI capabilities, automation solutions, and vendor partnerships.
- Drive continuous innovation to enhance guest experience, operational efficiency, and franchisee satisfaction.
- Stay current on QSR technology trends, customer behavior, and industry best practices.
Restaurant Systems & Platform Management- Lead teams responsible for POS, KDS, Back Office, online ordering, drive-thru technologies, restaurant automation, and supporting integrations.
- Ensure the stability, performance, scalability, and reliability of restaurant technology platforms.
- Oversee system upgrades, patches, releases, and platform lifecycle management.
- Establish and maintain disaster recovery, business continuity, and operational readiness plans.
Program & Project Management- Lead large-scale technology initiatives including implementations, upgrades, integrations, pilots, and rollouts.
- Manage cross-functional project teams to ensure successful and timely delivery of business objectives.
- Conduct restaurant field testing and pilot programs to validate technology performance and operational impact before enterprise deployment.
Data Analytics & Business Insights- Leverage data analytics and reporting tools to evaluate technology performance, operational effectiveness, and guest experience outcomes.
- Develop and maintain KPIs, dashboards, and scorecards for restaurant technology platforms and support functions.
- Analyze trends, incidents, adoption metrics, and system performance to identify improvement opportunities.
- Partner with business stakeholders to translate operational data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
- Support data governance initiatives to ensure data accuracy, accessibility, and consistency across systems.
Team Leadership & Talent Development- Lead, mentor, and develop high-performing technology professionals.
- Establish performance goals and measurable outcomes aligned with departmental objectives.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning.
- Support succession planning, career development, and technical skill advancement across the team.
What You Bring- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, Engineering, Data Analytics, or a related field.
- Equivalent combination of education and restaurant technology experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in restaurant technology, retail technology, hospitality technology, or related industries.
- 3+ years of leadership experience managing technology teams, programs, and enterprise initiatives.
- Proven success leading cross-functional technology projects involving POS, digital ordering, menu management, systems integration, analytics, and operational technology platforms.
- Experience leveraging data analytics and business intelligence tools to drive strategic and operational decision-making.
- Experience supporting franchise and company-operated restaurant environments.
- Experience developing operational dashboards, performance scorecards, and executive reporting using tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar BI platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to leverage data analytics to improve restaurant performance, technology adoption, guest satisfaction, labor efficiency, and system reliability.
- Experience working with SQL databases, data warehouses, data governance, and data integration platforms.
- Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects while balancing business priorities, timelines, budgets, and resources.
- Experience establishing project governance, steering committees, executive communications, and change management programs.
- Proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders including Operations, Marketing, Finance, Training, Supply Chain, and Executive Leadership.
- Strong leadership skills with experience driving organizational change and technology adoption.
- Experience presenting technology strategies, business cases, and project outcomes to executive leadership and board-level audiences.
Core Competencies- Strategic Skills - Understanding the business, making complex decisions, and creating the vision
- Energy and Drive - Focusing on the bottom line, action orientation, and perseverance.
- Personal and Interpersonal Skills - Compassion, ethics, values, and self-awareness.
- Command Skills - Relishes leading; takes unpopular stands if necessary; encourages direct and tough debate but isn't afraid to end and move on; is looked to for direction in a crisis; faces adversity head on; energized by tough challenges.
- Directing Others - Is good at establishing clear directions; sets stretching objectives; distributes the workload appropriately; lays out work in a well-planned and organized manner; maintains two-way dialogue with others on work and results; brings out the best in people; is a clear communicator.
Benefits- This role is Bonus eligible
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits available
- Competitive PTO Policy with Paid Holidays Off
- 401k w/ a company match
- Cell Phone Reimbursement
- Employee Discount at restaurants
Work Environment & Essential Physical Requirements - Location: Tampa, FL - Hybrid
- Travel Expectations: Occasional travel to company locations for on-site support.
- Individual must live in the Tampa area and is required to be in the Restaurant Support Center or Innovation Center 3 days per week, at a minimum.
- Ability to sit for extended periods (4-6 hours/day) at a desk or computer.
- Ability to stand, walk, and move throughout a corporate facility during in-office days, employee meetings, or multi-department coordination activities.
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in person, by phone, and via virtual platforms throughout the workday.
- Occasional lifting or carrying of materials up to 20 lbs.
- Visual acuity to review documents, schedules, reports, and digital materials with or without corrective lenses.
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