Lead Technology Operations Analyst - SONIC

Inspire Brands, Inc.; Atlanta, Northern (GA, KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Inspire Brands, Inc. is seeking a Lead Technology Operations Analyst in Atlanta to oversee cross‑functional teams.

The role designs, executes, and continuously improves processes, automations, and technical workflows within a defined technology domain to deliver high‑quality outcomes. The ideal candidate will guide ITIL/SDLC execution, mentor peers, and partner with engineering and help desk teams to optimize capabilities and drive business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 7–10 years IT experience in related fields.
• Expert knowledge of ITIL and SDLC processes.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage stakeholders.
• Strong vendor management and system integration experience.

Responsibilities

• Oversee design, execution, and continuous improvement of processes and automation.
• Coordinate and own ITIL/SDLC tasks, incidents, and projects for on‑time delivery.
• Mentor peers and collaborate with engineering and help desk teams.
• Communicate clearly with customers and stakeholders about capabilities and roadmap.
• Manage vendor relationships and drive performance against SLAs.
• Lead readiness for QA/UAT and ensure reliable service delivery.

Skills

Vendor coordination

ITIL

SDLC

Cross-functional leadership

Communication skills

Automation

PowerShell

Python

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

PowerShell

Python

Job description

TheLeadTechnology OperationsAnalystoverseescross-functional teams to understand complex solutionsandintegrations,as well asdrive releases to improve solutions.This role focuses on deliveringhigh‑qualityoperational outcomes within a defined technology domain by designing, executing, and continuously improving processes, automations, and technical workflows.As a specialized subject matter expert, this positionsupports Inspire Brands’ technology ecosystem byidentifyinggaps, recommending enhancements, andoptimizingcapabilities within the assigned area of focus.

The role requiresstrong communicationskills, effective vendor coordination, and the ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues across hardware, software, and integrated solutions. It also contributes to ongoing process refinement, readiness for QA/UAT, and ITIL/SDLC execution, ensuring reliable service delivery andreal‑timetransparency for customers and stakeholders. Additionally, this rolementorspeers, partners with engineering and help desk teams, and supports the future evolution of tools and technologies to improve efficiency, quality, and business outcomes across the organization.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Effectivelydesign,continuously improve,coordinateand complete all tasks necessary for successful execution, ensuring all assigned work is delivered on time using runbooks, automations, artificial intelligence, and established processes.

• Specialize in your area of focus, including but not limited to identification and solutionrecommendationsfor potential gaps, process improvement areas,innovativeopportunitiesand continuous learningin your area ofsubject matterexpertise.

• Have an ownership mindset where you are actively supporting, influencing,driving,and/ordesigning the future of your area of focus.

• Effectively communicate with stakeholdersas a subject matter expert,to prevent errors, ensure success, and manage expectations. Clearly and accurately communicate with customers, stakeholders, engineering teams and leadersregardingsupported technology, capability optimization and future capabilities as defined by role; including partnership to drive business needs forward.

• Have a strongunderstandingof how these technologies interact with components across the organization andtake actions to ensuresuccess across the organization.

• Manage vendor performance and build vendor partnerships that result in positive outcomes for Inspire Brands throughout the business relationship.

• Influence,and/or own, asappropriatethe vendor’s roadmap, participation in commercialnegotiations,coordinatecommercial engagementsand ensurevendors meet contractual, operational, and service‑level commitments.

• Influence& refinefuture development/improvements,identifygaps and recommend areas for process improvements and/or new tools for success.

• Mentorroutinely both junior team members and peers, toensure theyare successfully prepared for growth opportunities and have success throughout the employee lifecycle.

• Maintain high qualityin accordance withcompany standards and best practices and proactivelyidentifyand suggest areas for improvement.

• Manage & execute Requests, Projects, Incidents/Cases, and Problems through designated ITIL/SDLC processes to ensure customers’ real-time visibility of service status.

• Performbasic and advancedtriage on reported defects tovalidateissues,identifyconfiguration errors, and gather necessaryand/or analyze necessarylogs fora resolution.Includespartnership with help desk teams for ongoing support.

• Developand executeprocesses that ensure thathardware,softwareandappropriate integrationsareready prior to being turned over for QA/UAT efforts.

L2/L3 Support

• Be able tocreate,write, debug and update scripts in a variety of languages, including, but not limited to PowerShell,Pythonand other brand-basedlanguages.

• Demonstratestrong, hands-on,understanding ofrestaurant technology including, networking,POS, BOS, System Integrations, Drive Thru, Audio/Visual, Payments etc.

• Recommend,designand managesoftware and integrationsupport after deployment to production.

• Actively source methodologies, platforms and scripts to “shift left”,moving support closer to the end user than specialized technicians.

• Haveastrongunderstanding of how these technologies interact with components across the organization andtake actions to ensuresuccess across the organization; proactively alertpossible issuespriorto full scale deployment of software and/or hardware.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS

Strongly Desired:Bachelor's Degree

• Seven to ten years of progressive, relevant IT experience such assystem configuration and implementation experience

• Expert knowledge of relevant applications and technical platforms.

• Expert experience with Microsoft Operating Systemsand associated software such as Microsoft Office

• Proficientknowledge of at least one other operating system such as iOS, Android,Linuxetc.

• Expert knowledgewith ITSM frameworks such as ITIL

• Proventrack recordof supportingmulti-modal and geographical disparate locations

• Expertexperience in building business and technical requirements

REQUIRED NOWLEDGE, SKILLS, OR ABILITIES

• Excellent customer service skills. Must be empathetic and continually solving problems through the eyes of the user

• Proventrack recordof providing effective team leadership

• Excellent verbal and written communication, with an emphasis on being able to present technical topics in an easy-to-understand way for non-technical customers

• Extremely well organized (including good project and time management skills) and high attention to detail

• Collaborate strongly withbusiness partners,generally acombination of individual contributors, managers, directors, vicepresidentsand executives,through a service mindset

• Strong partnering skills and a service leadership mindset arerequired

• Proventrack recordof team member development outside of formal channels

This position is based in our Atlanta Support Center, with an expected on-site presence of 80%.

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.

We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.