Manager - Restaurant Leadership Development

Wingstop Restaurants Inc.; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited paid time off for exempt

Volunteer day

Competitive bonus structure

Stock purchase plan

Health savings or flexible spending

401k

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Life and AD&D insurance

Pet insurance

Education Assistance

Wellness reimbursement

Paid maternity and paternity leave

Job summary

Wingstop Restaurants Inc. is seeking a Manager, Restaurant Leadership Development in Dallas to design and deliver growth-focused leadership programs for multi-unit operators.

The role emphasizes practical learning experiences, credible facilitation, and measurable impact on restaurant performance. You will drive Flavor Champions, coordinate content refreshes, and partner with operations leaders and franchise teams to elevate leadership capabilities across the system.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience in learning and development, leadership development, restaurant operations, field enablement, consulting, or a related role.
• Proven ability to facilitate engaging learning experiences for experienced adult learners, ideally restaurant, retail, hospitality, or other field-based operators.
• Ability to earn credibility quickly, hold attention in a fast-paced environment, read the room, and adapt facilitation in real time.
• Ability to make leadership concepts practical and immediately usable through strong storytelling, discussion, practice, and real-world examples.
• Experience managing learning or development programs from planning through completion.
• Strong project-management, relationship-building, communication, and influence skills.
• Comfort using participation data and feedback to improve program quality and learner experience.
• Ability to travel up to 10%, including occasional overnight travel, for workshops, facilitation, and field visits.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-impact virtual and in-person learning experiences that keep restaurant operators engaged and make leadership skills immediately relevant to their work.
• Own the delivery, operating rhythm, and continuous improvement of Flavor Champions, including program calendar, enrollment, communications, facilitator coordination, attendance, assignments, completion, recognition, and follow-up.
• Adapt facilitation in real time, using restaurant examples, discussion, practice, and peer learning to meet the needs of each audience.
• Support Flavor Champion Workshops through logistics, materials, participant communication, facilitation, and post-workshop follow-up.
• Partner with restaurant operators, subject‑matter experts, and vendors to refresh learning content, facilitator guides, participant tools, and practice activities.
• Use participation data, learner feedback, and field insight to identify barriers and improve the program experience.
• Build strong working relationships with Operations leaders, Field HRBPs, Brand Partners, restaurant leaders, and Talent Development partners.
• Support targeted development solutions for Franchise Business Consultants as needs and priorities are defined.

Skills

Learning & development

Leadership development

Restaurant operations

Field enablement

Consulting

Project management

Relationship-building

Communication

Influence skills

Travel up to 10%

Job description

Who We Are

We’re not in the wing business. We’re in the flavor business. It’s been our mission to Serve the World Flavor since we first opened in 1994, and we’re just getting started. 1997 saw the opening of our first brand partner operated Wingstop location, and by 2002 we had served the world one billion wings. It’s flavor that defines us and has made Wingstop one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry.

We’re not in the wing business. We’re in the flavor business. It’s been our mission to Serve the World Flavor since we first opened in 1994, and we’re just getting started. 1997 saw the opening of our first brand partner operated Wingstop location, and by 2002 we had served the world one billion wings. It’s flavor that defines us and has made Wingstop one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry.

Above all else – our success is largely due to our people and our core values, or what we call The Wingstop Way of being entrepreneurial, service-minded, fun, and authentic. We believe having a strong people foundation centered on these collective values creates a crave-worthy culture and talented team, as well as ensures our brand is poised for accelerated growth. We all win together.

What We’ll Need

Wingstop is growing quickly, and strong restaurant leadership is essential to delivering a consistent guest and Team Member experience across our system.

The Manager, Restaurant Leadership Development is first and foremost an exceptional facilitator. This person will lead engaging, practical learning experiences for busy restaurant operators and earn credibility quickly in the room. They know how to turn leadership concepts into relevant discussion, practice, and action.

The role owns the delivery and continuous improvement of Flavor Champions, Wingstop’s leadership-development experience for Multi-Unit Managers and other restaurant-facing leaders. Flavor Champions builds practical skills in coaching, feedback, delegation, prioritization, talent development, financial discipline, and execution.

The Manager will facilitate learning, coordinate program operations, partner with subject‑matter experts to refresh content and tools, and use participant feedback to improve the experience over time. As priorities are defined, the role may also support emerging development needs for Franchise Business Consultants.

What you’ll do

• Lead high-impact virtual and in-person learning experiences that keep restaurant operators engaged and make leadership skills immediately relevant to their work.
• Own the delivery, operating rhythm, and continuous improvement of Flavor Champions, including the program calendar, enrollment, communications, facilitator coordination, attendance, assignments, completion, recognition, and follow-up.
• Adapt facilitation in real time, using restaurant examples, discussion, practice, and peer learning to meet the needs of each audience.
• Support Flavor Champion Workshops through logistics, materials, participant communication, facilitation, and post-workshop follow-up.
• Partner with restaurant operators, subject‑matter experts, and vendors to refresh learning content, facilitator guides, participant tools, and practice activities.
• Use participation data, learner feedback, and field insight to identify barriers and improve the program experience.
• Build strong working relationships with Operations leaders, Field HRBPs, Brand Partners, restaurant leaders, and Talent Development partners.
• Support targeted development solutions for Franchise Business Consultants as needs and priorities are defined.

What You’ll Need

• Five or more years of experience in learning and development, leadership development, restaurant operations, field enablement, consulting, or a related role.
• Proven ability to facilitate engaging learning experiences for experienced adult learners, ideally restaurant, retail, hospitality, or other field‑based operators.
• Ability to earn credibility quickly, hold attention in a fast‑paced environment, read the room, and adapt facilitation in real time.
• Ability to make leadership concepts practical and immediately usable through strong storytelling, discussion, practice, and real‑world examples.
• Experience managing learning or development programs from planning through completion.
• Strong project‑management, relationship‑building, communication, and influence skills.
• Comfort using participation data and feedback to improve program quality and learner experience.
• Ability to travel up to 10%, including occasional overnight travel, for workshops, facilitation, and field visits.

Who You Are

No job is too small. You recognize that the real work happens in the restaurants, and everything we do should support their success. You stay humble, roll up your sleeves, and always look for ways to help. You learn from others and contribute wherever you can.

You care deeply about doing great work and driving results. You’re curious, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to improve. You don’t just point out problems—you bring solutions, ideas, and perspectives that move the team forward.

You take full responsibility for your work and see things through to completion. You aren’t afraid to fail because you know that failure is a part of learning and growth. You take action, move fast, and keep pushing forward.

You lead with empathy, respect, and emotional intelligence. You collaborate effectively, fostering a culture of trust and constructive feedback. You understand the importance of teamwork and ensure that your actions build others up rather than break them down.

You push yourself and others to be better. You embrace healthy conflict, knowing that great ideas and strong teams emerge from honest, constructive conversations. You believe that leaders create leaders and are committed to fostering a culture of growth, challenge, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Unlimited paid time off for exempt employees
• One paid volunteer day of your choice
• Competitive bonus structure for eligible roles
• Team member stock purchase plan
• Health savings or flexible spending account options
• 401k – (dollar for dollar on the first 3% and then 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2% for team member contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Basic life and AD&D insurance provided
• Pet insurance
• Education Assistance
• Wellness reimbursement program
• Paid maternity and paternity leave

Fun Is The Best Flavor

• Lunch provided every Tuesday and Thursday in office
• Discount on Wingstop gift cards
• Onsite game room

Wingstop provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.