Principal Program Lead, Restaurant Excellence Strategy and Planning

Chick-fil-A Plainfield, Indiana; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Chick-fil-A is seeking a Principal Program Lead, Strategy & Planning to unify cross-functional performance insights and influence in-restaurant execution. You will architect a data-informed strategic roadmap, coordinate with RE Consulting, Regions, Launch Support, and related teams, and drive impactful initiatives across the organization.

The role requires multi-year planning, strong data analysis, and a track record of leading complex programs in a dynamic retail/restaurant environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent is required.
• Experience in developing multi-year strategic plans and leading execution.
• Strong data analysis and ROI and impact evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Cross-functional alignment to support Restaurant excellence goals.
• Lead operational intelligence initiatives and develop tools and engagement mechanisms.
• Develop and execute high-impact strategic initiatives and R&D for future capabilities.
• Align Field Strategy with priorities to maximize value for operators.
• Drive annual and multi-year strategic plans and roadmaps with data-driven recommendations.
• Establish a framework to evaluate ROI and accountability across initiatives.
• Engage external benchmarking and innovation to inform internal practices.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Stakeholder influence

Program management

Ambiguity tolerance

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Master's degree preferred

Job description

How We Work At Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A, Inc. ('Chick-fil-A' or 'the Company') Staff members play a vital role in achieving our strategic goals by developing their skills, fostering inclusive teamwork, and embracing innovation. All Staff are expected to contribute to a compelling future by inspiring and motivating those around them. Growth and development are essential at Chick-fil-A. We want Staff to seek new perspectives and adopt new methods to drive continuous improvement and adaptation to evolving business needs. Lastly, we ask Staff to seek wisdom, expect the best, accept responsibility, respond with courage, and think others first.

Our Flexible Futures Model offers a healthy mix of working in person (currently a minimum of 8-10 days per month) and virtually, strengthening key elements of the Chick-fil-A culture by fostering collaboration and community.

Overview

The Principal Program Lead, Strategy & Planning (S&P) role serves as a strategic leader for the Restaurant Excellence Team, responsible for the cross-functional collection, synthesis, and coordination of operational performance insights across various teams supporting Restaurant excellence (e.g., Food Safety, Quality, Hospitality, Customer Experience) to identify critical connections and their implications. This role will be responsible for developing a collective “one voice” perspective from these operational performance insights and then taking them to and influencing key groups responsible for impacting in-Restaurant execution (e.g., RE Consulting, Regions, Launch Support, etc.). By pulling up to a holistic view, this role architects and maintains a data-informed strategic roadmap and portfolio of initiatives which provides recommendations on operational improvements needed to fuel performance. The S&P role will work collaboratively within our team and with partners outside our team to influence the business on strategic decisions as well as manage multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring that milestones and deliverables are met.

Responsibilities

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Facilitate the necessary touch-points and establish the linkages and processes needed between various cross-functional teams to ensure there is clarity and alignment on how to support and achieve the collective desired outcomes of Restaurant excellence across the business.
• Operational Intelligence Leadership: Make recommendations for where additional visibility into operational performance is needed, partnering with various groups to develop the appropriate technology or tools, and then partnering to create the appropriate engagement mechanism (e.g., reporting, scorecards, gamification, etc.) to influence changes in the Restaurant.
• Strategic Initiatives and R&D: Develop, support, recommend or execute high-impact strategies and initiatives (e.g., Restaurant Excellence award) that benefit Restaurant excellence and ensure a remarkable Customer Experience. This includes building business cases to lead early-stage research and development (R&D) of future operational capabilities to understand readiness, value, and potential impact. Use learnings and insights from R&D to build advocacy and organizational support to pursue further in-field testing led by other project teams (e.g., Field Insights & Technology, Quality & Customer Care, Digital Technology & Transformation, Hospitality).
• Field Strategy Alignment: Build and maintain partnership with the Field Effectiveness team to provide a data-informed perspective on the most critical Restaurant excellence opportunities. Ensure that the Restaurant Excellence Roadmap is aligned with Field Consulting priorities to maximize the value provided to Operators.
• Strategic Planning & Prioritization: Drive the focus of the Restaurant Excellence Team by facilitating the development of annual and multi-year strategic plans and roadmaps (1, 3, and 5-year). This role is responsible for providing data-driven and informed recommendations for priority setting to leadership, ensuring that the team’s strategic direction is grounded in operational reality and aligned with the broader goals for Field Operations Services.
• Performance Stewardship & Accountability: Establish and lead a comprehensive framework to evaluate the effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) of Restaurant Excellence initiatives. This includes defining standardized evaluation criteria, facilitating regular business reviews, and establishing feedback loops to ensure objective accountability. This role will serve as a consultant to other leaders across the broader Restaurant Excellence Team to ensure all programs and initiatives are measured against consistent standards of stewardship and impact.
• External Benchmarking & Innovation: Foster external partnerships and relationships valuable to Restaurant Excellence, such as benchmarking with other organizations and leveraging resources like Forrester or Gartner. This role will actively participate in industry conferences, monitor industry trends, channel evolution, and disruptive trends to bring innovative best practices back to the organization and proactively identify issues that could potentially impact the competitive position of the Brand.

Required Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities)

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear narratives and influence senior-level stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in both developing multi-year strategic plans and leading the execution of those plans across a department or organization.
• Proven experience in project management, specifically in driving the adoption of new capabilities within a complex business environment.
• Strong proficiency in quantitative analysis and data-driven decision-making; ability to recommend priorities based on rigorous insights.
• Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and remain agile in response to changing organizational priorities and emerging technologies.

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities)

• Deep working knowledge of Chick-fil-A Restaurant operations
• Experience in product development and research/experimental design, specifically in R&D or innovation context
• Experience leveraging external research partners (e.g. Forrester, Gartner) networks to drive internal innovation.

Required Years of Experience

6

Preferred Years of Experience

8

Travel Requirements

20%

Required Level of Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Preferred Level of Education

Master's Degree

Required Major/Concentration

Business, Operations, Strategy or related field

Preferred Major/Concentration

Master in Business Administration

Relocation Assistance Provided

No