Restaurant Experience Manager

Inspire Brands, Inc.; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Buffalo Wild Wings and Buffalo Wild Wings GO locations are seeking a Restaurant Experience Manager to drive innovative operational initiatives, improve guest experience, and strengthen brand consistency across brands within Inspire Brands.

The role requires deep operational understanding, strong problem-solving, and the ability to translate complex challenges into actionable, field-ready solutions. Collaboration with multiple brand operations teams is essential to success.

Qualifications

• Minimum: 4 yr degree in Business, Operations Management, Hospitality, Project Management, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ yrs experience in restaurant operations required.
• Proven experience in project management or innovation roles.
• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Operationalization & Scale: Lead end-to-end workstreams translating strategies into repeatable restaurant processes and activation plans for Sports Bars and BWW GO.
• Operations Innovation Project Leadership: Oversee multiple initiatives with project plans, cross-functional alignment, and on-time delivery of enhancements.
• Smallwares & Restaurant Tools: Coordinate selection, testing, standardization, and rollout of tools ensuring cost-effectiveness and usability.
• POS / KDU Experience & Design Support: Define requirements, influence design, validate usability, and improve throughput and accuracy.
• Equipment Rollouts & Readiness: Support specification, testing, deployment, and training for new equipment across locations.
• Manager Tools & Routines Enablement: Design dashboards, routines, and guides to simplify daily execution and accountability.
• Field Insight & Operational Performance: Analyze site visits and data to ground new processes in real-world constraints.
• Cross-Functional Partnership & Influence: Align stakeholders across Brand Operations, Training, Technology, Supply Chain, Equipment Innovation, and Inspire teams.
• Communication & Change Enablement: Create operator-focused communications and materials to promote adoption of new processes.
• Operational Support & Ad Hoc Priorities: Support guest experience and performance improvement initiatives.
• Cross-Brand & Inspire Collaboration: Represent Buffalo Wild Wings operational perspective in cross-brand initiatives.
• Additional Responsibilities: Perform other duties to support brand priorities.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Communication

Analytical skills

Microsoft Office

Education

4 yr degree in Business/Operations/Hospitality/PM

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

SharePoint

Job description

The Restaurant Experience Manager is responsible for leading and executing high-impact innovation and operational improvement initiatives that strengthen restaurant performance, team member experience, and guest satisfaction across Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars and Buffalo Wild Wings GO locations. This role drives the development, refinement, and implementation of solutions that address operational challenges, enhance brand consistency, and enable best-in-class execution.

This position collaborates closely with cross‑functional partners across the Buffalo Wild Wings brand and Inspire Brands to design, optimize, and roll out initiatives that simplify operations, strengthen team member capability, and elevate the guest experience. Success in this role requires deep operational understanding, strong problem-solving and innovation skills, and the ability to translate complex challenges into actionable, field‑ready solutions.

RESPONSBILITIES

• Operationalization & Scale: Lead end‑to‑end workstreams that translate strategies and concepts into practical, repeatable restaurant processes, standards, and activation plans for both Sports Bars and Buffalo Wild Wings GO. Ensure solutions are scalable, field‑ready, and aligned with operational realities

• Operations Innovation Project Leadership: Oversee multiple simultaneous innovation initiatives by building project plans, aligning cross‑functional partners, driving decision‑making, mitigating risks, and ensuring high-quality, on‑time delivery of operational enhancements.

• Smallwares & Restaurant Tools: Own and coordinate the selection, testing, standardization, and rollout of smallwares and operational tools. Ensure all solutions are cost‑effective, durable, operationally efficient, and optimized for team member ease of use.

• POS / KDU Experience & Design Support: Collaborate with Technology, Operations, and cross‑functional teams to define requirements, influence design, and validate usability of POS and KDU operational flow. Support improvements that enhance throughput, order accuracy, and overall team member efficiency.

• Equipment Rollouts & Readiness: n partnership with the equipment team, support the specification, testing, and deployment of new or updated equipment by managing field communications, change‑management planning, readiness activities, and training enablement. Ensure smooth adoption across company and franchise locations.

• Manager Tools & Routines Enablement: Design, refine, and implement manager‑facing tools—including routines, checklists, dashboards, and operational guides that simplify daily execution, strengthen accountability, and drive consistent performance across Sports Bars and BWW GO formats

• Field Insight & Operational Performance: Collect, analyze, and synthesize insights from site visits, operator feedback, performance data, and cross‑functional partners to ensure new processes, tools, and solutions are grounded in real‑world restaurant conditions and operational constraints.

• Cross‑Functional Partnership & Influence: Act as a key operational liaison and integrator across Brand Operations, Training, Technology, Supply Chain/Procurement, Equipment Innovation, and other Inspire teams. Align stakeholders on requirements, evaluate tradeoffs, and ensure operational readiness for new initiatives and systemwide deployments.

• Communication & Change Enablement: Develop clear, operator‑focused communications, executive updates, and implementation materials that promote understanding, reduce friction, and accelerate adoption of new processes and initiatives across Sports Bars and BWW GO.

• Operational Support & Ad Hoc Priorities: Support ad hoc operational needs and systemwide priorities related to guest experience, restaurant simplification, team member efficiency, and overall performance improvement.

• Cross‑Brand & Inspire Collaboration: Participate in cross‑brand or Inspire Brands initiatives as assigned, representing the Buffalo Wild Wings operational perspective and ensuring alignment with restaurant realities.

• Additional Responsibilities: Perform other duties as assigned to support brand priorities, operational excellence, and continuous improvement across the Buffalo Wild Wings system.

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum: 4 yr degree in Business, Operations Management, Hospitality, Project Management, or a related field preferred.

EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum: 5+ yrs experience in restaurant operations required

• Proven experience in project management or innovation roles within the foodservice or hospitality industry.

• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, OR ABILITIES

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage complex projects and coordinate resources across multiple teams.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to create clear, actionable project documentation and present to various stakeholders.

• Ability to think strategically and translate business needs into actionable plans.

• Strong leadership, decision-making and problem-solving skills to navigate challenges during projects.

• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, meeting deadlines and achieving project objectives.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office tools, including Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint.

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data and generate insights that inform project decisions.

• Ability to manage project timelines, risks and issues to ensure successful project delivery.

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 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.