Manager, Food Operations - Innovation & Support

Manager, Food Operations, Innovation & Support

The Manager, Food Operations, Innovation & Support manages a portfolio of New Product Development projects from ideation through deployment. This role partners closely with Culinary, Operations, and Support Center teams to ensure new products, programs, and operational processes are fully validated, operationally feasible, and ready for successful national implementation.

This role is Hybrid, and requires a minimum of three days a week at our Newton, MA offices.

Key Responsibilities

Product Development & Operational Validation

• Partner with Culinary and cross-functional teams to identify operational impacts, risks, and complexity of new menu items and programs during development.
• Lead product testing efforts, ensuring concepts are thoroughly vetted and validated before deployment.
• Evaluate operational readiness and recommend solutions that balance innovation, quality, execution, and guest experience.

Project Management & Execution

• Manage multiple projects simultaneously from concept through rollout, developing project plans, timelines, and resource requirements.
• Monitor project milestones, identify risks, remove barriers, and escalate issues when needed to ensure successful execution.
• Provide accurate status updates and drive accountability across project teams to deliver results on time and within scope.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Innovation

• Serve as a key liaison between Operations, Culinary, Training, Marketing, Supply Chain, Technology, and other support teams.
• Influence stakeholders and facilitate decision-making to align priorities and achieve project objectives.
• Apply creative problem-solving and operational expertise to transform innovative ideas into scalable Panera solutions.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent preferred. 
• 5+ years’ experience in restaurant operations environment needed.
• Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Detail-orientated and curious, able to quickly evaluate inter-dependencies between projects and programs, and use analytics and creative problem-solving skills to identify a clear pathway to best solutions.
• Ability to multitask, prioritize and balance varying workloads to ensure delivery of high-quality results. 
• Elevated performance in a fast-paced, time-sensitive environment with demonstrated ability to complete projects on time based on scope, people/resources and business value.
• Outstanding communication and cross-departmental team building skills with the ability to effectively persuade through oral and written means.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to effectively persuade through oral and written means.
• Detail-orientated, possess strong analytics and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time depending on project needs.

Competitive Pay $83,686 to $100,423 annually.

The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

Newton Support Center