Portfolio Delivery Manager (Restaurant Operations & Technology)

Chipotle Mexican Grill; Newport Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 133,000 - 187,000; Full time

Job summary

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Newport Beach, CA is seeking a Portfolio Delivery Manager (Restaurant Operations & Technology) to plan, evaluate, and drive enterprise initiatives that deliver measurable business value.

You will partner with executives across Finance, Operations, Technology, and Development to shape business cases, govern programs, and realize benefits through structured delivery and governance.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive experience leading complex project, program, portfolio, commercialization, or enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, cross-functional programs with significant dependencies, organizational visibility, and business impact.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including experience evaluating business cases, ROI, costs, benefits, labor impacts, capacity requirements, or other value-realization measures.
• Experience with portfolio planning, prioritization, resource/capacity management, governance, or strategic investment decision support.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with functions such as Finance, Operations, Technology, Supply Chain, Marketing, Culinary, Development, and Training.
• Experience presenting complex initiatives, recommendations, risks, and tradeoffs to senior and executive leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, highly visible enterprise initiatives from intake and scoping through planning, execution, deployment, and value realization.
• Develop and manage detailed end-to-end program plans, including milestones, critical paths, dependencies, risks, decision points, and measurable exit criteria.
• Coordinate multiple cross-functional workstreams and proactively identify dependencies or blockers that could impact execution.
• Adapt the level and type of program support based on the complexity, maturity, and evolving needs of each initiative.
• Drive accountability across project teams and ensure decisions, risks, and dependencies are resolved at the appropriate level.

Skills

Strategic program leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Financial acumen

Portfolio planning

Executive communication

Analytical thinking

Program governance

Change management

Tools

Microsoft Project

Smartsheet

Planview

Job description

Food served fast does not have to be a typical fast-food experience. Chipotle has always done things differently, both in and out of our restaurants. We are changing the face of fast food, starting conversations, and directly supporting efforts to shift the future of farming and food. We hope you will join us as we continue to learn, evolve, and shape what comes next on our mission to make better food accessible to everyone.

LOCATION

This position will be based in our Newport Beach, CA office 4 days per week (with work from home on Friday). Remote work is not available for this role.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Portfolio Delivery Manager (Restaurant Operations & Technology) will lead the planning, evaluation, and execution of highly strategic, enterprise-wide initiatives that drive measurable business and operational value.

This role sits at the intersection of strategy, portfolio management, program delivery, finance, and restaurant operations. You will partner with executive leaders and cross-functional teams to evaluate new initiatives, define expected business value, prioritize investments and capacity, and lead complex programs from intake and business case development through execution and value realization.

You will operate as an internal consultant and strategic program leader, asking the right questions to determine whether initiatives are worth pursuing, identifying critical dependencies and risks, and translating strategy into executable plans.

The portfolio includes some of the company's highest-visibility initiatives spanning restaurant innovation, technology, equipment, operational efficiency, labor optimization, new restaurant development, and other enterprise transformation efforts.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Lead Strategic Enterprise Programs

• Lead complex, highly visible enterprise initiatives from intake and scoping through planning, execution, deployment, and value realization.
• Develop and manage detailed end-to-end program plans, including milestones, critical paths, dependencies, risks, decision points, and measurable exit criteria.
• Coordinate multiple cross-functional workstreams and proactively identify dependencies or blockers that could impact execution.
• Adapt the level and type of program support based on the complexity, maturity, and evolving needs of each initiative.
• Drive accountability across project teams and ensure decisions, risks, and dependencies are resolved at the appropriate level.

Evaluate Business Value & Investment Decisions

• Operate as an internal consultant to business leaders by challenging assumptions, identifying opportunities, and helping determine whether proposed initiatives create sufficient value for the organization.
• Partner closely with Finance and business leaders to evaluate financial and operational impacts, including cost, revenue opportunity, labor implications, resource requirements, efficiency gains, and incremental return.
• Develop and support business cases that translate strategic ideas into measurable financial and operational outcomes.
• Define benefit-realization metrics and KPIs before execution and measure actual performance against expected outcomes throughout the program lifecycle.
• Use data and business insights to recommend whether initiatives should proceed, change direction, be reprioritized, or stop.
• Support portfolio planning, intake, prioritization, sequencing, and capacity management across a portfolio of strategic enterprise initiatives.
• Analyze who is working on what, available organizational capacity, expected initiative value, timing, dependencies, and resource constraints to inform prioritization decisions.
• Establish clear governance, stage gates, decision criteria, and measurable exit criteria appropriate to each initiative.
• Develop portfolio reporting and analytics that provide leadership with visibility into portfolio health, value delivery, capacity, risks, and strategic alignment.
• Help ensure organizational resources remain focused on initiatives with the greatest strategic and financial impact.

Lead Operational and Technical Transformations

• Lead and support initiatives designed to improve restaurant efficiency, throughput, labor productivity, team member experience, and guest experience.
• Partner across Operations, Finance, Technology, Supply Chain, Marketing, Development, Training, and other functions to successfully execute and scale enterprise initiatives.
• Evaluate how new equipment, technologies, products, and operating processes affect workflows, labor models, physical layouts, resource requirements, and overall economics.
• Support pilots and testing by establishing success criteria, identifying operational risks, capturing learnings, and translating results into go/no-go or scale recommendations.
• Apply structured project delivery methodologies (such as Agile) while adapting the approach to the needs of individual programs.

Influence Executive Decision-Making

• Build trusted relationships with executive leaders and senior cross-functional stakeholders.
• Develop and deliver executive-level presentations that translate complex program and portfolio information into clear business narratives.
• Frame key decisions, alternatives, risks, tradeoffs, financial implications, and recommendations so leaders can make informed decisions quickly.
• Establish effective executive governance and decision cadences for strategic programs.
• Influence outcomes without relying on direct authority and constructively challenge stakeholders when data, business value, capacity, or execution risk warrants a different approach.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO THE TABLE

• 6+ years of progressive experience leading complex project, program, portfolio, commercialization, or enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, cross-functional programs with significant dependencies, organizational visibility, and business impact.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including experience evaluating business cases, ROI, costs, benefits, labor impacts, capacity requirements, or other value-realization measures.
• Experience with portfolio planning, prioritization, resource/capacity management, governance, or strategic investment decision support.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with functions such as Finance, Operations, Technology, Supply Chain, Marketing, Culinary, Development, and Training.
• Experience presenting complex initiatives, recommendations, risks, and tradeoffs to senior and executive leadership.
• Ability to move comfortably between strategic thinking and detailed execution - asking challenging business questions while also managing schedules, dependencies, risks, and deliverables.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to use data to identify issues, evaluate alternatives, and drive decisions.
• Experience working in a high-growth, fast-moving environment; global experience is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience with different project types and methodologies: Stage-Gate, Agile, waterfall, hybrid, or similar approaches.
• Hands-on experience using Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Planview, or another enterprise project/portfolio management platform to manage complex schedules and dependencies.
• Hands-on experience with LTO/menu commercialization in a restaurant, QSR, foodservice, or closely related environment is a plus.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

A reasonable estimate of the current base pay range for this position is $133,000.00–$187,000.00. You are also eligible for annual cash bonuses and equity awards based upon performance and other factors. Actual compensation offered may vary depending on skill level, experience, and/or education. Chipotle offers a competitive total rewards package, which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401k, sick leave, vacation time, and much more. Visit https://jobs.chipotle.com/benefits for more details.

WHO WE ARE

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle has restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe. With employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM

Chipotle Mexican Grill is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. As a people-first company rooted in values, our purpose extends beyond serving nutritious food using real ingredients. It means hiring world-class individuals and fostering a culture that champions diversity, ensures equity, and celebrates inclusion. All qualified applicants, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.

Qualified applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or certain state or local laws. Please contact [e-mail] you need an accommodation due to a disability to complete an application, job interview, and/or to otherwise participate in the hiring process. This email does not respond to non-accommodations related requests.