Director of Operational Excellence and Growth

Naked Farmer Careers•Tampa, FL

18h

About The Position

The Director of Operational Excellence & Growth is responsible for scaling operational excellence across the organization by leading new restaurant openings (NROs), field training programs, and operational systems that support the company’s rapid expansion. This role partners closely with Operations, Culinary, People, and Finance leadership to ensure every new location launches successfully and every existing location operates with consistency, clarity, and high standards. This leader oversees the Operations Excellence team, driving training and development, SOP creation and maintenance, operational support (prioritizing NRO’s), and continuous improvement initiatives across all restaurants. The role plays a critical part in translating brand standards into scalable systems that support both team member development and exceptional guest experiences. As the company grows, this role will help build the operational playbook and training infrastructure required to support consistent performance across both new and existing restaurants

Requirements

10+ years of restaurant or hospitality leadership experience
Experience leading field training, NROs, or multi-unit operational training
Strong operational knowledge in high-volume, high-growth restaurant environments
Proven ability to build scalable systems and training programs
Experience supporting new restaurant openings or market expansions
Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills
Ability to operate cross-functionally with Operations, Culinary, People, and Finance
Ability to travel (around 80%) to support NRO’s and field operations

Responsibilities

Lead operational readiness and training execution for all new restaurant openings
Lead and execute all New Restaurant Opening (NRO) training agendas and timelines
Build and manage NRO training teams and deployment plans
Partner with Operations, Culinary, People, and Finance teams to ensure operational readiness
Develop and continuously improve NRO playbooks, including pre-opening preparation, training deployment, opening week execution and post-open stabilization, consistently openings across markets
Evaluate NRO performance and identify opportunities for improvement Training & Development
Design and lead scalable training programs for hourly team members and leadership
Develop onboarding, leadership development, and skill-building initiatives
Ensure training materials reflect operational standards, brand values, and guest experience expectations
Implement tools and systems to measure training effectiveness and performance outcomes
Lead the Ops Excellence team, focused on operational support and continuous improvement (Ops Excellence and Ops Services)
Identify operational inefficiencies and implement solutions that improve consistency, productivity, and restaurant performance
Partner with Operations leadership to strengthen systems that support multi-unit growth
Support rollout of new initiatives, menu updates, technology deployments, and operational process changes across restaurants
Act as a bridge between field operations and the support center to continuously improve systems and processes