VP, Strategic Operations

Job Summary

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The Vice President, Strategic Operations is responsible for leading enterprise-wide operational execution across the GoTo Foods portfolio. This role partners with brand leadership, field operations, shared services, vendor partners, and executive stakeholders to translate strategic priorities into operating plans, governance routines, performance visibility, and scalable support models. The position provides oversight for strategic operations services, implementation governance, operations systems support, customer care, new store opening and transfer administration, and cross-brand initiatives. This leader establishes clear priorities, accountabilities, processes, and communication routines to support consistent execution, improved franchisee and guest experience, operational excellence, and measurable business results.

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Essential Functions

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• Lead the Strategic Operations function by translating enterprise, brand, and cross-functional priorities into structured operating plans, governance routines, performance measures, and scalable support processes.

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• Provide governance for major enterprise and brand initiatives by ensuring clear objectives, timelines, milestones, success measures, communication plans, risk mitigation plans, and post-implementation reporting.

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• Lead cross-brand operations services and process improvement efforts that increase consistency, reduce duplication, clarify ownership, and improve the organization’s ability to execute at scale.

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• Oversee operations implementation and operations systems support, including launch readiness, technology-enabled operations initiatives, issue escalation, operational documentation, vendor coordination, and ongoing business support.

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• Provide oversight for new store opening and transfer administration processes, including readiness tracking, stage-gate management, cross-functional coordination, franchisee-facing support, status reporting, and escalation management.

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• Lead the Customer Care function and related vendor relationships to strengthen service performance, improve guest satisfaction, identify root-cause opportunities, and connect customer insights to operational improvement efforts.

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• Partner with Business Performance, Finance, Technology, Operations Excellence, Training, and brand teams to develop reporting routines, dashboards, scorecards, and executive updates that provide visibility to operational health, initiative performance, franchisee performance, and business risks.

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• Facilitate cross-functional planning and prioritization with brand leaders, field leaders, and shared services partners to align annual operating plan initiatives, strategic projects, resource allocation, and execution support.

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• Lead strategic projects and cross-brand initiatives related to operational innovation, equipment and technology evaluation, process automation, franchisee support, and business model evolution.

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• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team by setting expectations, coaching leaders, managing capacity, reinforcing accountability, and fostering a culture of collaboration, problem solving, continuous improvement, and business impact.

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• Serve as a senior operations advisor to executive leadership by synthesizing operational, financial, franchisee, technology, and customer-care information into clear recommendations, decision points, action plans, and executive communications.

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Education

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• Bachelor's Degree, required
• Master's Degree, Business Administration, preferred.

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Work Experience

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• Minimum 10–12 years of progressive leadership experience in strategic operations, multi-unit restaurant or retail operations, franchise operations, business performance, management consulting, transformation, or related enterprise execution roles.
• Minimum 5 years of senior leadership experience at the Senior Director level or above, with accountability for enterprise, multi-brand, multi-region, franchise, or other distributed operating environments.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving operations, technology, finance, training, customer care, vendor partners, field teams, brand leadership, and senior executives.
• Experience developing or improving governance models, implementation processes, reporting frameworks, operating routines, executive business reviews, and performance-management routines.
• Experience in quick service restaurant, multi-unit franchise operations, hospitality, retail, or another distributed operating environment required; restaurant, QSR, or franchise experience strongly preferred.
• Minimum 8 years of people leadership experience, including experience leading leaders, developing teams, and influencing matrixed teams and stakeholders.

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Skills

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• Ability to lead at an enterprise, multi-brand, multi-region, franchise, or distributed operating scale, with sound judgment and accountability for complex operational outcomes.
• Ability to translate strategy into clear operating plans, governance routines, decision rights, ownership models, milestones, and measurable performance outcomes.
• Strong business, operational, and financial acumen, with the ability to connect operational execution, franchisee performance, guest experience, technology adoption, and business results.
• Strong knowledge of restaurant, QSR, franchise, hospitality, retail, or similar distributed operating environments, including the operational requirements needed to support consistent execution across locations.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex operational, financial, customer, and technology information into clear recommendations for executive audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, including the ability to work effectively with senior executives, brand leaders, field teams, shared services partners, vendor partners, and franchisee-facing teams in a matrixed environment.
• Strong project, program, and change-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, timelines, risks, resources, dependencies, and stakeholder expectations.
• Ability to use data, dashboards, scorecards, key performance indicators, executive business reviews, and performance-management routines to identify trends, assess performance, measure impact, and guide action.
• Strong people leadership skills, including the ability to build teams, lead leaders, coach talent, manage performance, reinforce accountability, and develop organizational capability.
• Ability to operate effectively in a complex environment with ambiguity, changing priorities, competing business needs, and high executive visibility.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and collaboration tools; experience with reporting, analytics, project-management, or workflow platforms preferred.

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Certifications

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Travel Requirement

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• May be required to travel up to 25% of the time