Senior Vice President, Strategic Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Zagat Top-Ranked Casual American Dining Restaurant Group
Dallas, TX Metro Area
SVP Strategic Innovation+Improvement (download PDF – full position profile)
Company Overview
Headquartered in the Dallas metro area, our client is one of the top-ranked full-service restaurant chains in the United States. The company is privately held (private equity), and operates family-friendly, upscale casual-dining restaurants. Nation-wide its stores are well known for the exceptional value of their delicious made from scratch meals and diverse cocktail menu.
The brand has approximately 160 U.S. locations and is approaching $1 billion in system-wide revenue. Our client regularly earns top awards from Zagat (best full-service restaurant chain; top overall in American cuisine), Consumer Reports (#1 Pub Style or Grill Category), and Nation’s Restaurant News, by serving some of the best steaks, chicken, seafood, burgers, salads and desserts in its comfortable neighborhood-style restaurants.
Our client has grown at a rapid pace during the last few years, successfully launching new restaurant locations – both company-owned and franchised – across the U.S., and is now visible in about 60% of the States. The company’s newly-appointed CEO, himself a talented chef and seasoned food and hospitality industry veteran, understands the critical need now to assess the organization’s current state, learn from what they’ve done exceptionally well, and consolidate and translate those learnings into driving innovation and continuous improvement towards an even brighter and more successful future state.
Hence, the newly created position: Senior VP, Strategic Innovation & Continuous Improvement.
The Position – Senior VP, Strategic Innovation and Continuous Improvement
Your Mandate
The SVP-SiCi will demonstrate significant “value add” for team members and investors alike by taking the lead in driving enterprise-wide, game changing operational innovation (inventing and deploying new ways of doing the organization’s work) and infusing operational excellence (excellence and continuous improvement in daily execution) – into every aspect of the company’s business. A critical objective is to build a culture in which both continuous innovation and continuous improvement thrive and sustain for the long term. The SVP-SiCi will have a major impact on simplifying and optimizing the company’s operations, thereby increasing productivity and improving margins, and ultimately, driving successful business growth with increased sales and profitability.
Reporting Structure
The Senior Vice President, Strategic Innovation and Continuous Improvement (SVP-SiCi) reports directly to the CEO, is a key member of the top leadership team, and is the critical force behind development and deployment of strategic and operational innovation, cultural transformation, and continuous improvement. The position is newly created and will be staffed as appropriate to support the SVP in meeting targeted objectives.
Requirements
Professional Qualifications
• Current or recent restaurant industry experience. While not absolutely necessary, an industry background that includes significant exposure to restaurants and consumer food service operations offers a major learning-curve advantage. However, the expertise and experience we require – and the critical leadership skills we desire – could also be acquired in many other fast-paced, complex fabrication and assembly production environments. After all, the most important metrics – safety, quality, delivery and cost – apply just as much here as they do in building luxury German automobiles, food processing equipment, or space and defense systems and equipment.
• Significant, proven record of leadership, optimally with some combination of strategic, operations and operational improvement experience in challenging, rapid-change environments where direct customer contact and customer satisfaction are critical to the organization’s successful growth and profitability.
• Demonstrated, credible hands-on achievement in leading game-changing innovation initiatives focused on delivering extraordinary levels of service and quality in all aspects of the enterprise including: infrastructure and capital investment; organizational structure; work design and accountability; measurement and reward systems; sustained continuous operational improvement.
• Well-developed quantitative and qualitative analytical skills and critical thinking skills.
• Expertise in some combination of Lean (Toyota Production System or its derivatives), TOC, and Six Sigma. Formal training and certification in these methodologies and tools would be a plus.
• A relevant and appropriate educational background, most likely including a technical, engineering, culinary or hospitality undergraduate degree. Advanced business or technical degree considered a plus.
Compensation
Our compensation package will include a competitive base salary and performance incentive as well as equity participation (company is private-equity owned). The company also offers assistance with relocation expenses appropriate to each individual situation.
Download full position profile here: SVP Strategic Innovation+Improvement
Would you like more information about this outstanding career opportunity? Please call me directly at +1 847.304.5300, or email me right now! Adam Zak