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…