Manager, Guest Technology & Personalization

The Manager, Guest Technology & Personalization owns the operational performance, readiness, and evolution of Build-A-Bear’s Guest-facing store technology, omnichannel order fulfillment capabilities, and personalization platforms. The Manager ensures current experiences remain reliable, compliant, and easy to execute while shaping enhancements, future requirements, and new store technology capabilities.

Responsibilities:

Digital Experience Ownership

• Own Guest-facing applications and associate tools.
• Manage application setup, configuration, maintenance, roadmaps, dependencies, and support.
• Partner with IT and vendors to maintain performance and resolve issues.
• Set standards for documentation, communications, training, and adoption.
• Lead prioritization, testing, pilots, and launch readiness for POS and Guest-facing updates.

Workshop Experience Stewardship

• Own the quality and evolution of technology-enabled workshop experiences.
• Keep each experience intuitive, engaging, current, and aligned with the Guest journey.
• Refresh content, options, workflows, features, and operating practices.
• Use Guest and store feedback to improve engagement and execution.
• Coordinate updates, pilots, launches, and long-term roadmaps.

Personalization Experience Operations

• Own the end-to-end operations supporting Personalize Me.
• Coordinate partners to deliver a seamless experience.
• Improve quality, speed, relevance, participation, associate confidence, and revenue potential.

Guest Experience Technology and POS

• Own POS, Guest-facing applications, personalization, omnichannel fulfillment, and supporting associate tools.
• Lead store fulfillment solutions, including BOSFS, BOPIS, Uber delivery, and future capabilities.
• Improve routing, workflows, handoffs, exceptions, communications, training, and support.
• Partner with IT, Digital Commerce, product owners, vendors, Guest Services, and field leaders on requirements, performance, and issue resolution.
• Lead release readiness, testing, communications, training, and support planning.
• Manage pilots and ensure updates improve engagement, ease, reliability, compliance, and execution.

Continuous Improvement & Experience Optimization

• Gather and organize feedback from Guests, stores, field leaders, Guest Services, and partners.
• Combine feedback with performance, usage, adoption, incident, and operational data.
• Turn insights into prioritized improvements, pilots, process changes, and training.
• Monitor results and refine experiences to remain relevant and engaging.

New Application & Experience Launches

• Represent Store Operations in the design, testing, and launch of new digital experiences.
• Define operational requirements, store impacts, resource needs, support, and readiness criteria.
• Coordinate pilots, training, communications, launch support, and reviews.
• Establish ownership, maintenance, compliance, support, and measurement before rollout, then assume ongoing accountability.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead cross-functional partnerships.
• Align partners on issues, decisions, and priorities.
• Translate technical needs into clear operational impacts.
• Champion Guest and store-team needs in planning.

Governance, Maintenance, & Compliance

• Coordinate maintenance, updates, servicing, content refreshes, and vendor support.
• Maintain standards, controls, documentation, ownership, and escalation paths.
• Support privacy, security, accessibility, payment, purchasing, brand, and operational requirements.
• Address recurring issues through root-cause analysis and prevention.
• Maintain continuity plans and store support resources.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Five or more years of experience in retail operations, digital product operations, store technology, Guest experience, project management, or a related field.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and managing multiple workstreams, priorities, and stakeholders.
• Ability to translate store and Guest needs into clear operational and technology requirements.
• Strong problem-solving, project management, communication, facilitation, and organizational skills.
• Comfort working with applications, equipment, vendors, operational processes, feedback, and performance measures.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting multi-location retail technology or Guest-facing digital platforms.
• Experience supporting POS releases, store back-office systems, inventory management applications, technical testing, pilots, and operational rollout planning.
• Experience with omnichannel order management, store fulfillment, or last-mile delivery operations.
• Experience with personalization, customization, made-to-order products, embroidery, or screen printing.
• Experience launching and sustaining new applications, equipment, processes, or guest experiences at scale.
• Experience with user acceptance testing, change management, training, and field adoption.

Behavioral Traits for Success:

• Analytical problem solving
• Disciplined, detail-oriented work style
• Independent and self-directed
• Strong sense of urgency with accuracy
• High standards and conscientiousness
• Big-picture thinking with structured follow-through
• Decisive, factual communication
• Consistency, reliability, and adherence to process

Working Environment:

• Typical office environment with climate control and sufficient lighting, ergonomic desk/chairs
• Hybrid work schedule
• Corporate Office located in St. Louis, MO

Your Performance will be measured on:

Your ability to achieve annual department objectives and corporate goals, which includes but is not limited to the following:

• Decision-making, judgment, and execution
• Clear and thorough communication, both spoken and written, with internal and external parties
• Timeliness and follow-up
• Problem solving and removing obstacles
• Planning and organization
• Relationships with external vendors
• Creating a positive experience for both internal and external guests
• Internal and external stakeholder Feedback

This description is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills, and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent an expressed or implied contract of employment, nor does it alter your at-will employment, and Build-A-Bear, Inc. reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as may be deemed appropriate.