Director, Business Analytics (Applebee’s)

Dine Brands Global, Inc.; Pasadena (CA); Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Dine Brands Global, Inc. in Pasadena, CA, seeks a Director, Business Analytics to lead the Applebee's analytics function.

You will mentor a small team and partner with Operations, Marketing, Finance, IT, and franchise stakeholders to translate data into actionable strategies that drive sales, traffic, profitability, and growth. As a player-coach, you will set priorities, oversee KPI development, data governance, and monthly forecasts, while advancing analytics capabilities and communicating

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 leading analytics teams in multi-unit restaurant, retail, hospitality, or franchise organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead analysis of Applebee's business performance and translate data into recommendations for growth.
• Develop clear narratives to help executives and franchisees understand performance drivers.
• Partner with Marketing, Operations, and Consumer Insights to evaluate promotions and initiatives.
• Develop executive reviews, scorecards, forecasts, and strategic recommendations.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior leaders on critical opportunities.
• Own analytics for the Applebee's brand and align priorities with enterprise analytics.
• Lead data governance, KPIs, and reporting validation with IT.
• Define business requirements and performance measures for reporting systems.
• Lead monthly sales forecasts, annual budgets, and long-range growth projections.
• Lead, develop, and mentor a team of three analytics professionals.
• Demonstrate attention to detail and deep data understanding.
• Collaborate with BI and technology teams to ensure data integrity and insights.
• Drive evolution of analytics capabilities with advanced analytics and modeling.

Skills

Executive communication

Strategic leadership

Analytics storytelling

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

MicroStrategy

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Based in Pasadena, California, Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), through its subsidiaries and franchisees, supports and operates restaurants under the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar®, IHOP®, and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop® brands. As of December 28, 2025, these three brands consisted of over 3,500 restaurants across 20 international markets. Dine Brands is one of the largest full-service restaurant companies in the world and in 2022 expanded into the Fast Casual segment. For more information on Dine Brands, visit the Company’s website located at www.dinebrands.com.

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Dine Brands Global strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act and/or other applicable laws and regulations in other jurisdictions. Dine Brands reviews criminal history in connection with a conditional offer of employment.

The following is a list of all material job duties which Dine Brands reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: conduct necessary due diligence on business opportunities and transactions; analyze and handle confidential, proprietary, trade secret and non-public financial information belonging to the company and third parties.

For information on how we collect and use your personal information, please visit our Applicant & Employee Privacy Notice.

Based in Pasadena, California, Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), through its subsidiaries and franchisees, supports and operates restaurants under the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar®, IHOP®, and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop® brands. As of December 28, 2025, these three brands consisted of over 3,000 restaurants across 20 international markets. Dine Brands is one of the largest full-service restaurant companies in the world and in 2022 expanded into the Fast Casual segment. For more information on Dine Brands, visit the Company’s website located at www.dinebrands.com.