Director of Operations

Position SummaryThe Director of Operations owns the operational performance of Abby's Legendary Pizza's 37 company-owned parlors across Oregon and Central Washington. Reporting directly to the President, this leader is responsible for the four-wall P&L of every parlor: food and paper cost, labor cost, ticket averages, comp and void discipline, food safety, brand standards, and the guest experience that has defined Abby's since 1964. Through the team the Director translates brand strategy into consistent, in-store execution. The Director protects the legacy of "Toppings to the Edge" and 100% real mozzarella while pushing toward tighter margins, stronger same-store sales, and a bench of managers ready to grow. Key ResponsibilitiesMulti-Unit Operations LeadershipLead, coach, and hold accountable a team of 6 district-level leaders — 5 District Managers and 1 Market Coach (the Market Coach leads a 3-parlor district) — set clear performance expectations and conduct regular field visits alongside each.Approve district portfolios and boundaries across the 6 leaders; rebalance parlors between DMs and the Market Coach as new parlors open or district profile changes.Build the next generation of General Managers, Associate Managers, and Assistant Managers through structured development, in-parlor shadowing, and succession planning across the 37 parlors.Set and cascade the weekly/monthly operating rhythm with each of the 6 district-level leaders, monthly regional reviews, and quarterly company-wide scorecard reviews.Maintain a visible internal pipeline for General Manager, Associate Manager, Assistant Manager, District Manager, and Market Coach openings; promote from within wherever possible.Financial Performance & Cost StewardshipOwn target food cost, paper/supplies cost, and labor cost across all 37 parlors — drive each toward or below target while protecting guest experience.Manage the company-wide prime cost (food + labor + controllable); identify and act on cost variances weekly at the district level across all 6 district portfolios.Drive same-store sales growth through local-store marketing, LTO execution, upsell discipline, and ticket-average management.Negotiate, manage, and hold accountable distributors, food and packaging vendors, and repair/maintenance partners; ensure pricing, quality, and service-level compliance.Food, Brand & Guest ExperienceHold every parlor to Abby's brand standards.Lead menu engineering, pricing strategy, and LTO rollouts in partnership with Marketing.Own guest-experience metrics — speed of service, order accuracy, online review scores (Google/Yelp, Tattle), and Net Promoter / guest-comment tracking across all 37 parlors.Manage online ordering, the brand's direct ordering site, and third-party delivery channels (DoorDash, Uber Eats) for volume, accuracy, and channel-economics discipline.Food Safety, Compliance & RiskChampion a food-safety culture: ServSafe Manager certification maintained at all 37 parlors, HACCP-aligned daily line checks, temperature logs, and completion of all cleaning/sanitation schedules.Ensure every parlor passes federal, state, and local health inspections with documented corrective-action closure on any findings (Oregon Health Authority, Washington State Department of Health, county/city food codes).Maintain compliance with OSHA workplace-safety requirements, minor-labor laws for team members under 18, wage-and-hour rules across both Oregon and Washington, and ADA accessibility.Own incident and risk reporting: workers' comp injuries, food-borne illness complaints, customer incidents, and any regulatory contact; lead root cause and corrective action.Growth: New Parlors, Remodels & RefreshesPartner with Real Estate and Facilities Director on new-parlor openings: site-readiness checklist, hire the opening team, pre-opening training, and 30/60/90-day ramp — the new parlor slots into one of the 6 district portfolios, with rebalancing as needed.Lead remodels and brand refreshes in coordination with facilities, vendors, and the Facilities team — minimize disruption to sales during closures.Maintain and improve the multi-unit operations playbook and opening checklist so each new parlor hits performance targets inside its first 90 days.Cross-Functional PartnershipServe as the operational voice in strategic planning conversations with Marketing, Culinary, Finance, HR, and Technology.Partner with HR on hiring, onboarding, retention, benefits administration, employee relations, and investigations at the District Manager, Market Coach, and General Manager levels across the 6 portfolios.Partner with Technology on POS, online ordering, loyalty, KDS (kitchen display systems), scheduling, and inventory tools — drive adoption and circulate field feedback from all 37 parlors. Required Qualifications8–12+ years of multi-unit restaurant operations experience, with at least 3–5 years leading a team of District/Regional Managers (or equivalent multi-unit leaders) responsible for 25+ company-owned parlors.A verifiable track record of owning four-wall P&L at scale and improving food cost, labor cost, and prime-cost KPIs in a pizza, casual dining, or comparable QSR/casual restaurant environment.Demonstrated success opening new company-owned parlors and/or shepherding remodels.Strong working knowledge of ServSafe, HACCP-style daily line checks, and state/county health-department inspection processes.Willingness and ability to travel 50–60% across Oregon and Central Washington; valid driver's license; ability to work evenings and weekends aligned with restaurant operating hours.Preferred QualificationsPrior experience operating company-owned restaurant portfolios — direct accountability for staffing and P&L at the store level.Direct experience with pizza, Italian casual dining, or scratch-kitchen concepts.Proven success managing both dine-in and third-party delivery channel economics.Familiarity with restaurant POS systems and modern scheduling/inventory platforms. Core Attributes & Leadership TraitsThis role is an enterprise leadership position first and a functional operations position second. The following attributes define how the Director of Operations is expected to think, lead, and operate as a member of the executive leadership team.Enterprise Mindset — Thinks about what is best for the brand and company, not simply an individual district or parlor. Understands how Operations connects to Marketing, HR, Finance, IT, Training, Development, and Supply Chain.Strategic-to-Operational Translator — Takes the company strategy and turns it into clear field priorities, standards, routines, and measurable results. Can translate “The Abby’s Way – System, Simplicity, Scale” into how 37+ parlors actually operate.Results & Financial Acumen — Owns sales, traffic, labor, food cost, controllables, EBITDA, customer experience, and execution. Reads a P&L, knows what is driving variance this week, and acts on it — holding the line on standards without micromanaging.Leader of Leaders — Does not primarily manage GMs; develops and holds District Managers accountable to lead GMs effectively. Builds stronger leaders rather than becoming the person everyone depends upon.High Accountability / High Support — Establishes clear expectations, follows up relentlessly, addresses underperformance quickly, and still creates an environment where leaders feel supported and developed.Systems & Process Orientation — Builds repeatable operating systems rather than relying on heroic individual effort. Looks for simplification, consistency, scalability, and measurable standards.Change Leadership — Can lead Abby’s from “how we’ve always done it” toward a more disciplined operating model without losing the culture and heritage that make Abby’s special.Cross-Functional Influence — Operates as a true member of the executive leadership team. Partners effectively with Marketing, HR, Finance, IT, Real Estate/Maintenance and others rather than viewing Operations as a silo.Customer & Brand Obsessed — Protects Legendary Pizza and Legendary Hospitality. Treats the 1964 founding of Abby’s — real cheese, toppings to the edge, freshly rolled dough — as a working standard, not a slogan, and understands that operational excellence ultimately has to show up in the guest experience.Talent Builder — Creates succession depth at DM, GM and assistant-manager levels. Identifies high-potential people early, promotes from within, gives honest and timely feedback, and develops people intentionally.Data-Driven, Field-Grounded — Uses scorecards and KPIs to identify problems but doesn’t manage from spreadsheets alone. Coaches in pre-shift, walks the line during peak, tastes the product, and validates what the numbers are saying — District Managers, the Market Coach, and GMs see this leader in their parlor, not just on a Zoom call.Decisive & Courageous — Willing to make difficult calls involving people, standards, structure and resources. Doesn’t allow known problems to linger, and stays reasoned and present during a health-department visit, a catering blow-up, a weather-event closure, or a workers’ comp injury.Communication & Presence — Can credibly communicate from the Board/executive level all the way to a cook, driver or cashier. Brings clarity, stability and confidence to the organization.Ownership Mentality — Treats Abby’s resources and results as if they were their own business. Doesn’t explain away misses; identifies the issue, owns it and establishes the recovery plan.Multi-State Operator — Comfortable navigating Oregon and Washington labor law, wage rules, scheduling laws (including Oregon’s predictive-scheduling requirements), and differing health-code enforcement styles across the regions each district covers. Compensation & BenefitsBase salary: $135,000 – $185,000, with a target annual bonus. Benefits: medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with match, paid time off, dining discount, company vehicle, and phone stipend.