Senior Manager, IT Implementation

Dine Brands Global; Pasadena (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Dine Brands Global, Inc. in Pasadena, CA, seeks a Senior Manager, IT Implementation to lead franchisee-facing technology deployments across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s.

You will oversee end-to-end program delivery for POS, payments, hardware lifecycle, ownership changes, and related initiatives to ensure scalable, restaurant-ready solutions. You will build and strengthen implementation processes using ITIL/ITSM, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement, partnering with Restaurant Technology,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of IT implementation or multi-site deployment experience.
• Experience with POS, payments, endpoint or hardware lifecycle programs.
• Strong leadership across coaching, performance, prioritization, and talent development.
• Excellent stakeholder management and decision-making abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead franchise-facing restaurant technology deployments across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s.
• Oversee implementation planning, readiness, vendor coordination, and post-go-live stabilization.
• Standardize processes, playbooks, and governance for IT delivery.
• Provide executive reporting on portfolio health, risks, and finances.
• Drive continuous improvement using ITIL/ITSM and Six Sigma.

Skills

IT program management

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Communication

Analytical skills

Problem solving

Budget management

Vendor management

ITIL/ITSM

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, business, engineering, operations, or equivalent experience

Tools

Smartsheet

ServiceNow

Jira

Job description

Based in Pasadena, California, Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), through its subsidiaries and franchisees, supports and operates restaurants under the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar®, IHOP®, and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop® brands. As of December 28, 2025, these three brands consisted of over 3,500 restaurants across 20 international markets. Dine Brands is one of the largest full-service restaurant companies in the world and in 2022 expanded into the Fast Casual segment. For more information on Dine Brands, visit the Company’s website located at www.dinebrands.com.

Job Location Type

Hybrid

The Role

The Senior Manager, IT Implementation leads franchisee-facing restaurant technology deployments across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s. This role will oversee the delivery of POS, payment, endpoint, change-of-ownership, and other multi-location technology initiatives, ensuring each program is well-planned, scalable, and ready for successful restaurant adoption.

The Senior Manager will lead a team responsible for implementation planning, operational readiness, vendor coordination, franchisee engagement, issue escalation, documentation, and post-go-live stabilization. This leader will also strengthen implementation processes using continuous improvement, Six Sigma, and ITIL/ITSM practices to improve consistency, reduce risk, and drive better outcomes across brands.

This role partners closely with Restaurant Technology, Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Security, Legal, the service desk, brand teams, franchisees, and external technology providers.

Key Responsibilities

Technology Delivery and Program Execution

• Own the implementation portfolio for franchise facing restaurant technology programs across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s, including priorities, capacity, schedules, dependencies, budgets, risks, reporting, and follow-up.
• Lead end-to-end deployments for POS, payments, hardware lifecycle, ownership changes, and related restaurant technology initiatives.
• Coordinate cross-functional, vendor, and franchisee planning to resolve dependencies before deployment.
• Manage vendor and partner performance, including SOWs, milestones, staffing, service levels, issues, change control, and commercial accountability.
• Escalate and resolve high-risk implementation issues, franchisee impacts, vendor concerns, and post-go-live stabilization needs.
• Deliver executive reporting on portfolio health, risks, finances, quality, and follow-up actions.

Process Excellence and Operational Maturity

• Standardize implementation processes, playbooks, templates, RACI models, readiness gates, handoffs, and governance routines.
• Embed ITIL/ITSM practices into delivery, including change, service transition, knowledge, incident, problem, request, and continual-improvement processes.
• Create closed-loop feedback processes that connect deployment issues, incidents, vendor performance, franchisee feedback, and post-implementation reviews to corrective action.
• Maintain current, accessible, version-controlled implementation artifacts for franchisees, vendors, deployment teams, service desk, and support functions.
• Establish governance and reporting that provide visibility into demand, capacity, deployment status, exceptions, quality trends, process performance, vendor performance, and improvement benefits.
• Identify opportunities for automation, self-service, standardized intake, notifications and integrated reporting.

People Leadership Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary implementation team accountable for delivery, readiness, vendor coordination, documentation, reporting, and transition to support.
• Translate strategy into clear goals, priorities, accountabilities, service expectations, and measurable outcomes.
• Foster a culture of transparency, customer focus, disciplined execution, risk management, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure accurate tracking, documentation, milestone management, dependency coordination, early risk escalation, and timely issue resolution.
• Strengthen cross-functional relationships, clarify ownership, and resolve conflicts across technology, operations, franchise, vendor, and support teams.

Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, business, engineering, operations, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of experience in IT implementation, technology program management, service delivery, restaurant or retail technology, or multi-site deployment.
• Experience with POS, payments, endpoint or hardware lifecycle programs, or comparable store-technology deployments.
• People-leadership experience across coaching, performance, prioritization, and talent development.
• Experience managing concurrent programs across scope, schedule, budget, risk, dependencies, quality, communications, vendors, and operational readiness.
• Working knowledge of ITSM practices, including change, release, deployment, service transition, incident, problem, knowledge, and continual improvement.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication, analytical, problem-solving, financial, and decision-making skills.
• Strong ownership, follow-up, escalation, and execution discipline.
• Practical problem-solver with the technology fluency to diagnose issues, identify root causes, and coordinate technical and business teams effectively.
• Support implementations outside normal business hours and travel as needed.
• Target Base Salary $140k-$160k depending on experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in franchise, restaurant, hospitality, retail, or multi-brand environments.
• PMP, PgMP, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt, or comparable certification.
• Experience with payment standards, processors, gateways, P2PE, or payment-device implementations.
• Experience with Smartsheet, ServiceNow, Jira, or similar tools.
• Experience managing budgets, SOWs, vendor invoices, franchisee charges, and financial performance.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Dine Brands Global strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act and/or other applicable laws and regulations in other jurisdictions.

Dine Brands reviews criminal history in connection with a conditional offer of employment. The following is a list of all material job duties which Dine Brands reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: provide effective solutions for company technology and information management; maintain cybersecurity systems that protect confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information belonging to the company; and prevent unauthorized disclosure of personal, financial, and medical information belonging to employees and third parties.

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