Sr. Manager, Operations Innovation & Effectiveness

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Location: Miami

Ready for a fresh, new career? Look no further because one of the world's most iconic brands can help you get there.

At Subway, "better" is baked into our DNA. We are a brand that believes in continued improvement in our lives, our businesses, and our planet. From the handshake that started our very first sandwich shop to earning our position as the world's leading restaurant brands, we've always embraced change and the path ahead. And today, we're making better living way easier.

Our purpose is about more than the food we serve in our restaurants. It's centered on fueling healthy businesses and healthier lives. It is one of the most exciting times to join the Subway team and contribute to our transformational journey.

About the Role

The Sr Manager, Operations Innovation & Effectiveness plays a pivotal role in translating Operations, culinary & equipment innovation into scalable restaurant-ready solutions that enhance speed to market, reduce operations complexity & enhance store team experience & Franchisees profitability. They are a critical liaison between the Culinary Innovation, Operations Testing, Operations and Field Execution teams.

This individual will be responsible for operationalizing innovationbridging the gap between concepts and real-world restaurant execution. This role will lead initiatives that bring new product development and equipment testing to life through rigorous testing protocols, outside-the-box problem solving, and a relentless focus on executional clarity and operational efficiency.

This hands-on leader drives excellence by rigorously testing products, procedures, and equipment to ensure every innovation delivers on quality, consistency, and simplicity.

This is a highly collaborative role, requiring strategic alignment with a wide range of key stakeholders, equipment vendors, and field partners. The ideal candidate will have a sharp operational mindset, restaurant experience, strong communication skills, and a passion for continuous improvement.

If you feel that this is the role for you, and you are successful with your application, be ready to be Bold, Empowered, Accountable, and ready to have Fun in a fast paced and agile working environment.

Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To:

Product & Initiatives Operationalization:

• Act as a primary conduct between the Culinary Innovation Team and Operations stakeholders (Testing & Field Execution), ensuring alignment with field testing for feasibility of new products and initiatives.
• Develop and lead testing protocols for new menu items, smallware's, and kitchen equipmentfocusing on both functionality and ease of execution.
• Translate culinary concepts into practical in-store processes, focusing on simplicity, speed, and consistency across formats.
• Identify operational pain points during product development that would be seen in the field and proactively deliver solutions that ensure scalability and consistency across the system.
• Testing Implementation Handoff: Package and transfer validated execution plans, tools, and protocols to the Testing Implementation Team ahead of market testsaccelerating speed to field and ensuring consistency.

Equipment & Smallware's Innovation, Updates & Enhancements:

• Equipment & Smallware's Trials: Support evaluation and selection of kitchen tools and technology to ensure operational efficiency and product integrity.
• Champion the integration of speed oven programming and optimization, leveraging data and testing insights to drive performance.

Operational Efficiency, Effectiveness & Best Practice:

• Scenario Planning & Workflow Optimization: Simulate real-world production environments, test multiple execution paths, and provide clear operational recommendations.
• Drive continuous improvement by assessing existing processes, recommending updates, and collaborating with the Field Execution team to implement changes.
• Provide post-launch operational performance analysis and recommendations to enhance future rollouts.
• Monitor key operational KPIs post-launch (e.g., throughput, execution time, waste) to identify optimization opportunities and continuous improvement needs.
• Establish strong field feedback loops with restaurant operators, field leaders, and training teams to ensure innovation is grounded in frontline realities.
• Lead & Test initiatives to innovate restaurant operations across all channels, ensuring they meet current & future guest needs & maximize the impact of new channels & category growth.
• Identify and implement process enhancements to drive greater operational efficiency and effectiveness within the organization, to improve franchisee & system profitability.

Stakeholder Engagement, Management & Collaboration:

• Work closely with & influence key leaders & various departments, including Operations, Technology, Learning & Development, Culinary, QA, Digital, Legal & Supply Chain, to ensure seamless execution of operational strategies. Engage franchisee advisory councils as required when building out key initiatives.
• Solution driven, with the ability to work with & challenge strong personalities.
• Maintain strong vendor relationships in support of new equipment trials and deployments.
• Partner with QA, Training, and Equipment teams to ensure readiness and compliance for in-store testing and broader rollouts.

Operational Execution:

• Collaborate with Training and Communications teams to develop clear, scalable content that prepares teams for innovation rolloutsbridging the "what" with the "why" and "how."
• Critical focus on reducing simplifying operations and recuing complexity.
• Improving Operational productivity and restaurant team experience.
• Highly focused and proactive in looking to constantly reduce cost of goods & labor and enhancing Franchisee profitability, by focusing on continuous operational efficiency & effectiveness.
• Global Standardization: Maintain the Global & NAM regional Operations Manual, ensuring consistency and adherence to brand standards across all territories, as required. Guide the development of high quality, materials, content & branding.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and 7+ years of experience in the quick-service restaurant (QSR), retail, or food service industry involving field operations, training, & execution excellence.
• Strong financial acumen with experience in managing budgets and resources efficiently.
• Proven ability to lead large-scale transformation & operational initiatives across large, multi-unit organizations with significant experience in operations and process improvement.
• Strong understanding of large-scale franchising, field operations, frontline team dynamics, and customer service delivery.
• Strong leadership, commercial, interpersonal & presentation skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization.
• Proven ability to think strategically while executing communications plans with precision.
• Excellent written, visual, and oral communication skills, with a strong understanding of how to tailor messages to different audiences.
• Creative and innovative thinker with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Detail-oriented with exceptional organizational and project management skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, including SharePoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with multiple, changing priorities.
• Deep understanding of restaurant workflows, equipment performance & back-of-house efficiency
• Ability to identify roadblocks and challenges that would be faced in unit level operations and a strong knowledge of Subway workflow preferred.
• Significant experience influencing and collaborating across cross-functional teams in a global, matrixed environment.
• Travel 30%

What do we Offer?

• Insurance Plans
• Competitive Bonus
• Mobility Allowance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Company Holidays
• Employee Resource Groups
• Volunteering time
• Many More

Actual pay is determined based on a number of job-related factors including skills, education, training, credentials, qualifications, scope and complexity of role responsibilities, geographic location, performance, and working conditions.