What You'll Own
The Vice President of Restaurant Operations owns operational excellence across existing and new US restaurants and will be instrumental in Fogos trajectory to double in size. This seasoned, hands-on servant leader will execute the proven operating model with discipline, develop Regional and Area Directors as leaders of leaders, align field and support center teams, and drive KDRs across People, Operational Excellence, Revenue, and EBITDA. The role is accountable for brand consistency, same-store sales growth, a strong leadership bench, and disciplined expansion, grounded in the belief that Fogos strength begins with the frontline Team Members who deliver the Guest experience every day.
Operational Excellence & Standardization
- Establish and sustain a scalable operating model that drives consistent execution across all restaurants.
- Strengthen adherence to Fogos Standards of Excellence, culinary standards, recipes, service expectations, food safety requirements, and operating procedures.
- Build standardized operating rhythms, scorecards, reporting, and accountability structures that improve restaurant-level execution.
- Reduce performance variability across markets by implementing clear operational expectations and follow-through mechanisms.
- Partner with field leaders to identify execution gaps and implement sustainable corrective actions.
Business Performance & Financial Discipline
- Drive a culture of ownership and accountability for restaurant-level financial performance.
- Ensure leaders understand and actively manage labor, food cost, controllable expenses, discounts, promotions, productivity, and profitability.
- Build financial acumen throughout the operations organization by improving leaders ability to interpret P&Ls, performance metrics, and business trends.
- Simplify operational and financial reporting so leaders focus on actionable insights rather than excessive data.
- Establish consistent business review processes that translate performance data into action plans and measurable results.
Leadership Capability & Talent Development
- Develop leaders of leaders, particularly Regional and Area Directors, who can build high-performing teams and a strong pipeline of ready-now and ready-next operational leaders.
- Improve hiring quality, onboarding effectiveness, leadership development, and retention across all levels of the organization.
- Ensure leaders are equipped to coach performance, develop talent, and create high-performing teams.
- Strengthen succession planning processes to support growth and long-term organizational stability.
- Create clear leadership standards and expectations that promote accountability, consistency, and operational excellence.
Scalability & Growth
- Build the systems, processes, and leadership capability necessary to support existing and future restaurant growth.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure new restaurants are launched and transitioned with consistent operational standards.
- Develop repeatable operational practices that allow the organization to scale efficiently while preserving the Fogo culture and guest experience.
- Ensure growth is supported by strong execution, talent readiness, operational discipline, and financial performance.
Leadership & Culture
Cultivate a high-performing operations culture centered on accountability, integrity, continuous improvement, and leadership readiness. Champion a servant-leader philosophy that recognizes Fogos history, honors the frontline Team Members as the tip of the spear, and balances genuine compassion for Team Members with the operational discipline required to deliver results at scale. Ensure field leaders are ready to optimize Guest experience, grow SSS, and execute consistently in every restaurant.
- Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing field operations team spanning regional, area, and restaurant-level leaders, with a clear mandate to build ready-now and ready-next leadership capability.
- Model Fogo de Chão leadership principles: Above the Line accountability (See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It), and clearly communicate strategy, KDRs, and expectations to the organization.
- Foster an environment of candor, humility, and ownership, where leaders are empowered to make decisions, held accountable for outcomes, and expected to serve the frontline teams who deliver the brand promise.
- Reinforce a culture of recognition, belonging, and shared purpose across all markets.
Operational Excellence
Oversee daily operations across all restaurant locations, ensuring brand standards, service quality, food safety, and Guest experience are consistently upheld. Drive the operational rhythms, SOPs, and performance disciplines that translate strategy into flawless restaurant-level execution, strengthen Guest loyalty, improve SSS, and create the consistency required to gain share across markets.
- Monitor performance metrics and implement strategies to improve sales, speed of service, profitability, Guest satisfaction, and same-store sales growth.
- Develop and enforce Fogos Standards of Excellence for front-of-house and heart-of-house operations, ensuring flawless execution at every touchpoint.
- Drive consistency across markets while remaining agile and adaptable to local Guest and market needs.
- Maintain food safety, sanitation, and compliance standards to the highest level across all locations.
- Ensure consistent participation in EcoSure and other compliance programs, with timely corrective action plans, root-cause follow-up, and sustained adherence to food safety, sanitation, and brand standards.
- Conduct focused restaurant visits, approximately 40-50% travel, and ensure Fogo Evaluation Plans are used to diagnose performance gaps, validate execution, coach leaders, and follow through on improvement commitments in-person.
Strategic Growth & Market Development
Serve as the post-NRO operational owner of Fogos expansion strategy in close partnership with the Vice President of Restaurant Excellence, who is accountable for New Restaurant Openings (NROs). Once a restaurant transitions from NRO to Operations, this role is accountable for receiving trained and ready Team Members and leaders, stabilizing execution, sustaining brand standards, accelerating the performance ramp, and converting opening momentum into durable same-store sales growth and market share gains.
- Partner with the Vice President of Restaurant Excellence on NRO planning, readiness, and transition milestones, while clearly owning the post-handoff operating agenda: execution discipline, leader coaching, performance routines, Guest experience consistency, and continued growth after opening.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Restaurant Excellence, Real Estate, Marketing, HR, Supply Chain, and Finance, to align new market transitions and ongoing operations with company-wide growth objectives.
- Support annual strategic planning, budgeting, and the establishment of performance benchmarks for new and existing markets, linking SSS growth and four-wall performance to reinvestment in footprint expansion and brand-building priorities.
- Partner with Sales, Marketing, and field leaders to strengthen local sales-building routines, community relationships, OpenTable/yield optimization, group dining execution, and market-level revenue growth.
- Evaluate operational readiness at handoff and lead the post-NRO stabilization period, ensuring each new restaurant moves quickly from launch execution to sustained operating excellence, local market relevance, Guest loyalty, and profitable growth.
Guest Experience & Brand Integrity
At Fogo, the Guest is the center of everything, and the frontline Team is the tip of the spear in creating that experience. This leader is accountable for ensuring that every Guest who walks through our doors, in any market and at any location, experiences the warmth, quality, and hospitality that defines the Fogo brand, powered by ready leaders who know how to serve their Teams and create exceptional experiences consistently.
- Ensure consistent, high-quality service and Southern Brazilian hospitality across all restaurants and markets, with leaders prepared to translate brand standards into memorable Guest experiences.
- Reinforce operational systems and disciplines that directly elevate the overall Guest experience, from arrival to farewell.
- Lead the organizations response to Guest feedback, using data and field insights to diagnose root causes, drive systemic improvements, strengthen loyalty, and improve SSS.
Financial & Business Management
Lead with a strong understanding of restaurant-level economics and a disciplined approach to P&L ownership. This leader understands that financial performance and Guest experience are not in tension; they are both the result of excellent operations, ready leadership, and consistent execution that grows SSS and creates the revenue capacity to expand Fogos footprint and build the brand.
- Own P&L performance at the restaurant and portfolio levels by seeing the business clearly, taking personal accountability for results, removing barriers with field leaders, and ensuring disciplined follow-through on actions that improve sales, profitability, and execution.
- Analyze financial and operational data to identify performance trends, drive improvement, reduce controllable costs, and focus leaders on the actions that improve SSS and four-wall profitability.
- Coach field leaders to translate performance data into clear business plans and gap action plans, with defined owners, timelines, follow-up routines, and measurable impact on People, Operational Excellence, Revenue, and EBITDA.
- Optimize labor deployment and scheduling practices to maximize productivity without compromising the Guest or Team Member experience.
- Identify and implement cost-saving measures and operational efficiencies that improve four-wall profitability across the portfolio and free capacity for reinvestment in Team Member development, brand growth, Guest experience, and brand-building initiatives.
- Partner with the VP of FP&A & Operational Finance as a peer to ensure field operations and financial planning are tightly aligned.
