Head of Restaurant Technology

The Head of Restaurant Technology is responsible for the end-to-end ownership of all technology systems, connected devices, and digital infrastructure across Concessions International's restaurant footprint. Reporting directly to the CITO, this leader will define and execute a forward-looking restaurant technology strategy that elevates guest experience, enables operational efficiency, and supports the company's growth across airports and hospitality venues. This role is fundamentally about guest experience whereby using technology as a lever to make every dining moment faster, smarter, and more memorable. Whether a traveler has 10 minutes before boarding or an hour to spare, this leader will ensure the technology powering that experience is seamless, reliable, and always improving. The ideal candidate should be equally comfortable rolling up their sleeves to troubleshoot a POS outage or triaging degraded network connectivity at a unit. Technology Strategy & Innovation ▪ Define and own the multi-year restaurant technology roadmap aligned to CI's operational and revenue growth goals ▪ Champion a culture of innovation, continuously scanning the food & beverage, hospitality and retail tech landscape for ideas that meaningfully improve the dining experience ▪ Serve as technology advisor to operations leadership for all restaurant and concessions locations ▪ Identify and pilot emerging technologies such as AI-driven ordering, personalization engines, IoT kitchen monitoring, predictive inventory, and contactless payment that deliver competitive advantage in the airport dining environment ▪ Translate guest experience goals into technology requirements: faster ordering, reduced wait times, smarter upsell, and frictionless payment ▪ Build an innovation pipeline with clear evaluation criteria: guest impact, operational feasibility, and ROI Guest Experience & Dining Innovation ▪ Own the guest-facing technology experience across all CI locations from digital menu boards and self-service kiosks to mobile ordering and integrations ▪ Use guest feedback, transaction data, and operational analytics to continuously improve the technology experience and identify friction points ▪ Drive adoption of technology that increases average check, improves throughput, and creates memorable dining moments ▪ Lead planning, deployment, and rollout of all restaurant-facing technology systems, POS, KDS, digital menu boards, self-service kiosks, payment processing, and other platforms ▪ Own the full lifecycle of connected devices across all locations from procurement and provisioning to decommission ▪ Establish repeatable implementation playbooks and standards for new location openings and remodels ▪ Ensure all deployments meet security, compliance, and network standards in coordination with the broader IT team ▪ Drive integration between restaurant systems and enterprise platforms (ERP, workforce management, finance) Operations & Support ▪ Own the technology support model for all restaurant locations in partnership with MSP’s and IT Operations team ▪ Build and lead a high-performing restaurant technology team including engineers, support analysts, and project coordinators ▪ Establish monitoring and alerting practices to proactively detect and resolve system issues before they impact operations ▪ Partner with operations leadership to define technology-related KPIs (uptime, transaction speed, device availability) ▪ Drive a continuous improvement culture regularly soliciting feedback from operations leaders and translating it into system improvements Vendor & Partner Management ▪ Own all vendor relationships for restaurant technology, POS providers, hardware OEMs, payment processors, and integration partners ▪ Lead contract negotiations, renewal cycles, and SLA governance for all restaurant technology vendors ▪ Manage vendor performance scorecards and escalate underperformance proactively ▪ Evaluate and onboard new technology partners that align with CI's operational direction Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field. Master’s degree preferred. · 10+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, with at least 3 years in restaurant, food & beverage, hospitality, or retail technology · Demonstrated ownership of POS platforms at scale (Oracle MICROS, Toast, NCR Aloha, PAX, or equivalent) · Experience managing technology across 20+ locations in a multi-site or franchise environment · Proven track record of end-to-end technology delivery: strategy through implementation through support · Strong vendor management experience including contract negotiation and SLA governance · Experience leading cross-functional teams and building technology organization Preferred Qualifications · Experience in airport, travel retail, or high-throughput food service environments · Familiarity with concessions, quick service restaurant (QSR), or fast casual technology models · Exposure to AI-powered ordering, predictive inventory, or self-service kiosk deployments Technical Competencies · POS & Kitchen Systems: POS platforms, KDS, order management, digital menu boards · Payments & Compliance: EMV, NFC/contactless, PCI-DSS, payment gateway integrations · Connected Devices & IoT: Network-connected device management, MDM/RMM platforms, IoT sensors · Networking: Retail/hospitality-grade LAN/WAN, wireless infrastructure, SD-WAN · Integrations: API-based integration between restaurant and enterprise systems (ERP, labor, loyalty) · Data & Analytics: Operational dashboards, transaction analytics, reporting infrastructure