Manager - Regional Marketing and Strategy - Sonic

IRB USA Inspire Resources; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Inspire is seeking a Manager, Regional Marketing and Strategy to drive regional plans in tandem with national programs. The role converts regional insights into business cases and in-market initiatives, managing projects from sizing opportunities to performance readouts.

You will partner with Marketing, Operations, Data and Analytics, and Brand teams to ensure go-to-market alignment and measurable results across regions.

Qualifications

• 4 Year Degree in Marketing, Business, Economics or related field (MBA Preferred).
• 5+ Years of experience in marketing, strategy, analytics or related field.
• 2+ years experience in QSR/retail/hospitality with regional/local marketing preferred.
• Strong ability to interpret data, size opportunities and build business cases.
• Experience designing and reading in-market tests (test/control, incrementality).
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills for executive storytelling.
• Experience with Tableau or similar analytics tools to self-serve data.

Responsibilities

• Analyze market-level sales, traffic, share, and consumer data to identify regional growth opportunities and build size-of-prize estimates.
• Develop and execute regional marketing plans in partnership with Field Marketing and IMC.
• Design and manage in-market tests with clear KPIs and performance reads.
• Track KPIs and build dashboards and evaluations to inform future plans.
• Translate regional insights into actionable recommendations with D&A and Consumer Insights.
• Develop and deliver strategic presentations to Director and brand leadership.

Skills

Excel

PowerPoint

Tableau

Power BI

Project management

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

MBA preferred

4 Year Degree in Marketing/Business/Economics or related field

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Job description

The Manager, Regional Marketing and Strategy, plays a key role in Sonic's shift from a traditional National Calendar to a regional marketing strategy, in which bespoke regional plans run in tandem with national plans to unlock incremental growth. Reporting to the Director, Regional Strategy and Marketing, this individual turns regional insights into business cases, in-market programs, and measurable results. More specifically, this role is responsible for the analysis, planning, and execution behind regional initiatives: sizing opportunities, building business cases, managing project plans, designing and reading in-market tests, and tracking program effectiveness. The Manager will work closely with partners on the National Marketing and Strategy, Integrated Marketing Communications, Field Marketing, Operations, and Data and Analytics teams to ensure seamless go-to-market execution. After resetting the fundamentals in 2026, Sonic is poised to return to growth in 2027, and the regional team is central to that effort. Because the regional approach is new to the organization, the Manager should be comfortable with ambiguity, data-driven and analytically strong, with a bias for action and the ability to move several projects forward at once.

Responsibilities

• Analyze market-level sales, traffic, share, and consumer data to identify regional growth opportunities, and build size-of-prize estimates and business cases to support prioritization.
• Develop and execute regional marketing plans and initiatives in partnership with Field Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), Operations, and Brand Experience (BX), managing project plans, timelines, and deliverables.
• Design and manage in-market tests for regional programs, including test objectives, test/control design, KPIs, and performance reads, and recommend whether to scale, refine, or stop.
• Track and report KPIs and success metrics for regional programs, building dashboards and post-program evaluations that inform future plans.
• Partner with Data & Analytics (D&A) and Consumer Insights to translate consumer trends and regional insights into actionable recommendations.
• Develop and deliver presentations that communicate strategy, progress, risks, and recommendations to the Director and brand leadership.

Requirements

• 4 Year Degree in Marketing, Business, Economics or related field (MBA Preferred)
• 5+ Years of experience in marketing, strategy, consulting, analytics, or a related field
• 2+ years of experience in QSR, retail, or hospitality preferred, ideally with regional, local, or multi-market marketing
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data, size opportunities, and build a clear business case.
• Experience designing and reading in-market tests (test/control, incrementality).
• Advanced proficiency in Excel (e.g., pivot tables, SUMIFS, INDEX/MATCH) and PowerPoint (executive storytelling).
• Experience using Tableau, Power BI, or similar analytics platforms to self-serve and analyze data.
• Project management experience, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives and competing timelines and drive on-time delivery.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with cross-functional partners without direct authority.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Travel Required: 10-15%, given regional market visits and franchisee meetings

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,300 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 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. Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,400 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants across 55 global markets. In an industry facing increasing disruption, our leaders saw an opportunity to build a restaurant company unlike any other – one that brings together differentiated yet complementary brands and aims to make them stronger than they would be on their own. Found inherently in the purposes of our family of brands, we identified a common thread between our restaurants – the capacity to inspire. From guest experience to career development to community well-being, Inspire plays a role in the lives of millions of people every day. Our brands are diverse, distinctive, and fan favorites. In a sense, you could say we seek those who provide something different than the norm.