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Insomnia Cookies

Late-night delivery of cookies to students

Regional Director of Operations

Food & Beverage Operations ManagementPosted on Nov 9
Full-timeChicago, IL, USA$140k - $150k /yr

About the Job

Requirements

  • At least 10 years of progressive multi-unit restaurant, retail, or hospitality operations experience, including at least 5 years leading multi-unit field leaders such as Regional Directors or District Managers, or equivalent.
  • Experience leading a large, geographically dispersed business with full P&L accountability across multiple markets.
  • Experience operating within small- to mid-sized, high-growth companies and handling the pace, ambiguity, and hands-on problem-solving involved in scaling a business.
  • Strong business and financial acumen across sales, EBITDA, labor, cost of goods sold, budgeting, forecasting, and expense management, with a track record of delivering results to plan.
  • Ability to set clear expectations, coach with purpose, build accountability, and develop leaders who can own their businesses.
  • Demonstrated success building strong teams, developing high-potential talent, strengthening succession pipelines, and promoting from within.
  • Ability to use data to diagnose performance, identify root causes, and turn insights into action while remaining engaged with field operations.
  • Hands-on leadership style, including willingness to work alongside teams when business needs require it.
  • Experience leading through growth and change and turning strategy and innovation into consistent field execution.
  • Strong communication, relationship-building, and influencing skills across field teams, senior leadership, and cross-functional partners.
  • Ability to travel approximately 50–70%, including regular overnight travel.
  • Ability to work a flexible schedule based on business needs, including evenings, late nights, weekends, and holidays.
  • Ability to perform the essential functions of the role with or without reasonable accommodation.

Responsibilities

  • Deliver the region’s business plan and achieve sales, profitability, labor, cost of goods sold, operating income, EBITDA, guest experience, and operational performance targets across more than 70 bakeries.
  • Use profit and loss statements, performance data, guest insights, and field observations to understand business results and identify opportunities.
  • Set regional priorities and translate company goals into focused plans for District Managers and their teams.
  • Identify opportunities to grow sales, improve productivity, manage costs, and strengthen profitability without compromising the guest or employee experience.
  • Recognize and scale effective practices across the region and anticipate risks, opportunities, and future business needs.
  • Diagnose underperformance, address root causes, and hold leaders accountable for sustained improvement.
  • Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of District Managers who own their businesses and results.
  • Coach leaders through observation, questions, candid feedback, recognition, and accountability for both results and leadership behaviors.
  • Create a culture of training and development and ensure leaders understand performance expectations and have the capability to meet them.
  • Hold leaders accountable for developing future leaders and building succession depth across the region.
  • Partner with the People team to identify and develop high-potential talent, strengthen retention, and create career growth opportunities.
  • Set operational standards across product quality, food safety, cleanliness, speed of service, hospitality, and brand standards.
  • Ensure bakeries deliver an Always Warm guest experience and achieve results in a way that supports that experience.
  • Visit bakeries and markets to observe operations, coach leaders, speak with guests and employees, and identify opportunities to improve.
  • Work alongside teams when needed to stabilize operations and understand root causes, while building leaders’ ability to solve problems independently.
  • Translate company strategy into field execution and ensure leaders understand priorities, their purpose, and expected results.
  • Lead change and challenge the team to find better and simpler ways to operate.
  • Partner with Marketing, Finance, Digital, Supply Chain, People, Development, and other teams to launch products, programs, technology, bakery openings, and company initiatives.
  • Represent field perspectives in company decisions using operating and performance data, and candidly communicate what is and is not working.
  • Remove barriers and unnecessary complexity that prevent leaders from operating businesses, developing teams, and serving guests effectively.

Desired Qualifications

  • Restaurant/QSR or high-volume food service experience is strongly preferred.
  • Experience overseeing more than 50 locations is strongly preferred.
  • A bachelor’s degree is preferred; equivalent relevant leadership experience will be considered.

About the Company

Insomnia Cookies

Late-night delivery of cookies to students

Insomnia Cookies delivers freshly baked, warm cookies to customers during late-night hours, mainly serving college students. Its products are ordered online for delivery or pickup, with cookies baked in company bakeries and distributed through a mix of company-owned locations and franchises. The company differentiates itself with reliable late-night delivery and strong brand recognition, supported by a scalable franchise system and standardized operating plans. Its goal is to grow both company-owned stores and franchises to expand its footprint and revenue as the leading late-night dessert option.

Company size
1,001-5,000
Company stage
Acquired
Total funding
$4.4M
Headquarters
East Norriton Township, Pennsylvania
Founded
2003

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