Manager, Growth Operations

Manager, Growth Operations

Position Summary

The Manager, Growth Operations coordinates assigned New Bakery-Cafe Openings, remodels, market/café ownership transitions, closures, FSO openings, new franchisee café openings, relocations, and other cafe portfolio changes within Operations Services.

The Manager owns each assigned critical path, coordinates company and franchise partners, manages opening orders, monitors milestones and dependencies, and ensures successful opening, reopening, transition, closure, and stabilization.

Location: Newton, MA moving to Weston, MA (hybrid)

Key Responsibilities

Project & Critical-Path Management

· Manage assigned projects from operational engagement through stabilization.

· Build and maintain critical paths with scope, milestones, owners, dependencies, lead times, decisions, risks, and completion requirements.

· Facilitate readiness reviews, track commitments, develop recovery plans, and escalate issues.

· Maintain accurate plans, status reports, decision logs, risk logs, and documentation.

New Bakery-Cafe Openings & Orders

· Coordinate people planning, staffing, training, cafe setup, opening support, systems, vendors, and opening-week execution.

· Maintain an order tracker with items, owners, vendors, order dates, delivery dates, status, and issues.

· Maintain an inventory of all smallwares required to open a café successfully

· Monitor shortages, delays, substitutions, missing shipments, and installation dependencies.

· Coordinate recovery plans and remain engaged through post-opening stabilization.

Remodels, Transitions, Closures & FSOs

· Manage operational critical paths for remodels, temporary disruptions, franchise ownership transitions, closures, and FSOs.

· Coordinate communications, inventory, technology, equipment, vendor services, ordering, training, and business-continuity needs.

· Maintain visibility into development milestones and confirm readiness or completion requirements.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Improvement

· Coordinate Development, Operations, Franchise Operations, Supply Chain, Technology, HR, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Marketing, Facilities, Finance, and vendors.

· Maintain dashboards covering milestones, orders, readiness, risks, and open issues.

· Capture feedback and improve critical paths, checklists, ordering processes, communications, and readiness tools.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

· Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience preferred.

· 3+ years of experience in restaurant operations, new-unit openings, development operations, project management, franchise operations, supply chain, or a related field.

· Experience coordinating multi-location projects, vendors, orders, logistics, or critical deliverables preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

· Exceptional project planning, organization, prioritization, and follow-through.

· Strong business acumen, analytical thinking, judgment, and creative problem-solving.

· Ability to influence without authority, navigate ambiguity, and build stakeholder alignment.

· Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and executive presentation skills.

· Proficiency with Microsoft Office and project-management tools.

· Ability to travel based on business needs.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Disabled/Veterans

Competitive Pay $92,055 - $110,466 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

About Us

With more than 2,000 Panera LLC and independent franchise bakery-cafes in the Panera Bread® family, and more locations opening all the time, it’s no wonder our company has been an excellent source of career and personal growth opportunities for more than 25 years.

In neighborhoods across the U.S. and Canada, customers enjoy flavorful, handcrafted meals centered around freshly baked artisan bread. To us, that means serving food like we serve our own families – free of any of the items on our ‘No No’ List.

Along the way, we also like to give back to our community. We enjoy working together, shoulder to shoulder with our customers, to confront a serious problem plaguing communities across this country – Hunger. Through our Panera Cares community cafes, we offer a dignified dining experience in an uplifting environment. In addition, we support our communities through day-end donations at our bakery-cafe locations and partner with local non-profit organizations.

It’s this warmth that you’ll find when you join Panera Bread. From our competitive compensation and benefits packages to our unique cultural values, we’re confident you’ll find us a rewarding and fun place to work.

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