Senior Manager of People Operations and Services

Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc.; Denver (CO); Remote; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Bagel Brands is seeking a Senior Manager of People Operations & Services to lead People Services, Employee Relations, and HR Compliance. The role shapes an employee-centered service model and partners with HRBPs to align with bakery operations.

Based in the Denver area with remote options, the position offers $140,000–$160,000 salary plus 15% annual bonus and a $20,000 LTIP, reflecting a focus on strategic partnership and operational excellence across field teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant work experience; HR or related field preferred.
• 7-10 years of progressive HR/People Operations experience, including 3+ years in people-management.
• Knowledge of benefits, recruiting, and payroll in HR.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced org and manage multiple projects.
• Experience redesigning an HR service delivery model and change management.
• Experience applying automation and AI tools to HR workflows.
• Experience owning HR policies and an employee handbook across states.

Responsibilities

• Define strategy, roadmap, and lead the current team to move transactional work off HRBPs.
• Catalog services and map ownership to People Services, automation, AI, or other teams.
• Lead transition plan; develop SOPs, knowledge-base, training, and change management.
• Oversee day-to-day people support, policies, and Employee Handbook; manage HR inquiries.
• Lead HR compliance program with procedures, controls, reporting, and audit readiness.
• Oversee Employee Relations; resolve workplace concerns with policy alignment.
• Drive process optimization, automation, and AI; partner with HR Technology.

Skills

People Operations

Leadership

Change management

Communication

Automation/AI in HR

Education

Bachelor’s degree or relevant work experience

Job description

Brand: Bagel Brands Bagel Brands is the parent company for your favorite breakfast brands, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bruegger's Bagels, Noah's NY Bagels, and Manhattan Bagel. We believe in the bagel and how it has the unique ability to bring people together. Our team has a standard set of values and behaviors that allow us to spread a little more joy and happiness in the world. They let us laugh, smile, and enjoy each other’s company a little more. These are the behaviors that guide how we work, how we treat each other, and how we treat our guests. We believe that there is no better way to make someone’s day than with a warm, fresh-baked bagel and a heart-felt good morning.

Position Mission

The Senior Manager of People Operations & Services plays a pivotal role in facilitating the success of Bagel Brands’ People Team strategies & priorities. The position provides strategic and operational leadership for the People Services, Employee Relations, and HR Compliance functions, ensuring an integrated, employee-centered approach across all three areas. People Services is the central owner of day-to-day people support & people policies. As a key enabler function, it absorbs generalist work from our HR Business Partners (HRBPs), freeing them to focus on strategic partnership with their client groups. This leader will work with People Leadership to define the vision and approach for a reimagined People Services model and guide the current team through its execution.

Department: People Services Salary: $140,000 to $160,000 Annual Bonus: 15% Long Term Incentive Plan: $20,000 Ideally, this position is based in the Denver Support Center HQ. Remote candidates will be considered.

Responsibilities Include, but are Not Limited To:

• Together with People Leadership, define the strategy, approach, roadmap, and lead the current team in moving transactional and generalist work off the HR Business Partners refocusing them on strategic partnership with their client groups.
• Catalog every people service we provide today, reviewing each transaction and process end to end, and map each to its future owner: People Services, automation, AI, employee/manager self-service, or another team.
• Execute the transition plan and stand up the redefined People Services model, including sequencing, SOPs, knowledge-base content, training, and change management with HRBPs and Field leaders.
• Serve as HR’s central owner of day-to-day people support, people policies, and the Employee Handbook, overseeing a tiered service model for employee and manager questions, HR administration, case intake, and HR data so Field leaders can focus on running great bakeries.
• Lead the HR compliance program, including procedures, documentation, controls, training, required reporting, and audit readiness in line with applicable employment laws.
• Oversee the Employee Relations function and serve as an escalation point for complex workplace matters, promoting timely, consistent, well-documented, and policy-aligned resolution of employee and manager concerns.
• Drive process optimization, automation, and AI (e.g., self-service tools, AI-assisted knowledge and case routing, workflow automation), defaulting to automation over added headcount, and partner with HR Technology on system requirements, testing, and implementation.
• Establish SLAs, KPIs, and dashboards for service quality and responsiveness, and use case trends and HR data to identify root causes and proactively address Field Operations needs with HR Leadership and Training.
• Manage vendor relationships and service performance, identifying opportunities to improve value, quality, and cost effectiveness.
• Manage, coach, and develop the People Services, Employee Relations, and Compliance teams, establishing clear priorities, performance expectations, service standards, and strong collaboration across the functions.

Leadership Competencies (Senior Manager)

Effective Communication: Synthesizes complex market, financial, and performance data into clear, actionable recommendations. Communicates effectively with senior leaders and cross-functional partners, adapting the level of detail and approach to support informed decision-making and alignment.

Accountability & Ownership: Takes ownership of market planning analyses, recommendations, tools, and deliverables while ensuring accuracy, quality, and timely execution. Operates with independence and follows decisions through to understand their business impact.

Adaptability & Perseverance: Navigates ambiguity, changing development priorities, incomplete information, and evolving market conditions while maintaining a disciplined, fact-based approach to solving complex business challenges.

Empowerment: Builds strong cross-functional partnerships and uses expertise, insights, and influence to enable others to make better development decisions. Shares knowledge and creates tools and frameworks that strengthen organizational capability.

Curiosity: Proactively explores market dynamics, consumer behavior, competitive activity, emerging data sources, and analytical methodologies to uncover new growth opportunities and continuously improve decision-making.

Self-Awareness: Demonstrates strong judgment, credibility, and awareness of personal impact when influencing decisions without direct authority. Seeks diverse perspectives, remains open to challenging assumptions, and adjusts approach based on stakeholder and business needs.

Strategic Focus: Connects market and location insights to longer-term development and business priorities. Evaluates opportunities through multiple lenses, including growth potential, financial performance, portfolio impact, operational considerations, and market dynamics, to inform sustainable growth decisions.

Required Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant work experience required; HR or related field preferred.
• 7- 10 years of progressive HR/People Operations experience, including 3+ years in a people-management or team-lead capacity
• Knowledge of and/or experience in multiple areas of HR (Benefits, Recruiting, Payroll, etc.)
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced organization and handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and lead cross-functionally within a fast-paced, growth-oriented organization.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Capable of building collaborative teams and establishing effective working relationships at all levels of the organization
• Strong analytical and independent problem-solving skills as demonstrated by the ability to identify problems and determine appropriate solutions.
• Experience redesigning an HR service delivery model or building a People Services / shared services function, including service cataloging, process mapping, and change management.
• Experience applying automation and AI tools to HR workflows, with sound judgment on where technology can safely take on work and where a person is needed.
• Experience owning HR policies and an employee handbook, ideally across multiple states.
• Builder mindset: comfortable with ambiguity, able to create structure from scratch, and quick to ship, measure, and iterate.

Physical Demands

This position primarily operates in an office or remote work environment and requires the ability to sit, stand, and use a computer for extended periods of time. The role requires travel for market visits, franchise and license partner meetings, development activities, industry events, and other business needs. During travel, the position may require walking development sites, bakery locations, or other operating environments. These requirements may be met with or without reasonable accommodation. The duties of this position may change from time to time. The Company reserves the right to add or delete duties and responsibilities at the discretion of the Company or its managers. This job description is intended to describe the general level of work being performed. It is not intended to be all-inclusive.

Bagel Brands is committed to providing equal employment opportunity, and fair treatment in employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender/gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, military status or any other basis in protected by applicable federal, state and local law. Bagel Brands makes employment decisions based solely on qualifications for the position. **Ranges reflect what employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for such position.

Address: | 1720 S Bellaire St. Skybox , Denver, Colorado 80222 | The physical demands for this position are sits, stands, bends, lifts, and moves intermittently during working hours. These physical requirements may be accomplished with or without reasonable accommodations.

We have amazing coffee and fantastic bagels delivered with a fast, fun, and friendly experience. California applicants: learn how Einstein Bros. Bagels collects, uses, and protects your personal information in accordance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by reviewing our Applicant Privacy Policy.