Senior Manager, IT Implementation
The Role
As a Senior Manager, IT Implementation, you will lead franchisee-facing restaurant technology deployments across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s. This includes overseeing POS, payment, endpoint, change-of-ownership, and other multi-location technology initiatives.
Key Responsibilities
Own the implementation portfolio for franchise facing restaurant technology programs across IHOP, Applebee’s, and Fuzzy’s, including priorities, capacity, schedules, dependencies, budgets, risks, reporting, and follow-up.
Lead end-to-end deployments for POS, payments, hardware lifecycle, ownership changes, and related restaurant technology initiatives.
Cross-functionally plan with vendors and franchisees to resolve dependencies before deployment.
Manage vendor and partner performance, including SOWs, milestones, staffing, service levels, issues, change control, and commercial accountability.
Escalate and resolve high-risk implementation issues, franchisee impacts, vendor concerns, and post-go-live stabilization needs.
Deliver executive reporting on portfolio health, risks, finances, quality, and follow-up actions.
Process Excellence and Operational Maturity
Standardize implementation processes, playbooks, templates, RACI models, readiness gates, handoffs, and governance routines.
Embed ITIL/ITSM practices into delivery, including change, service transition, knowledge, incident, problem, request, and continual-improvement processes.
Create closed-loop feedback processes that connect deployment issues, incidents, vendor performance, franchisee feedback, and post-implementation reviews to corrective action.
Maintain current, accessible, version-controlled implementation artifacts for franchisees, vendors, deployment teams, service desk, and support functions.
Establish governance and reporting that provide visibility into demand, capacity, deployment status, exceptions, quality trends, process performance, vendor performance, and improvement benefits.
Identify opportunities for automation, self-service, standardized intake, notifications, and integrated reporting.
People Leadership
Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary implementation team accountable for delivery, readiness, vendor coordination, documentation, reporting, and transition to support.
Translate strategy into clear goals, priorities, accountabilities, service expectations, and measurable outcomes.
Foster a culture of transparency, customer focus, disciplined execution, risk management, and continuous improvement.
Ensure accurate tracking, documentation, milestone management, dependency coordination, early risk escalation, and timely issue resolution.
Strengthen cross-functional relationships, clarify ownership, and resolve conflicts across technology, operations, franchise, vendor, and support teams.
Skills & Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, business, engineering, operations, or equivalent experience.
8+ years of experience in IT implementation, technology program management, service delivery, restaurant or retail technology, or multi-site deployment.
Experience with POS, payments, endpoint or hardware lifecycle programs, or comparable store-technology deployments.
People-leadership experience across coaching, performance, prioritization, and talent development.
Experience managing concurrent programs across scope, schedule, budget, risk, dependencies, quality, communications, vendors, and operational readiness.
Working knowledge of ITSM practices, including change, release, deployment, service transition, incident, problem, knowledge, and continual improvement.
Strong stakeholder-management, communication, analytical, problem-solving, financial, and decision-making skills.
Strong ownership, follow-up, escalation, and execution discipline.
Practical problem-solver with the technology fluency to diagnose issues, identify root causes, and coordinate technical and business teams effectively.
Support implementations outside normal business hours and travel as needed.
Target Base Salary
$140k-$160k depending on experience.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in franchise, restaurant, hospitality, retail, or multi-brand environments.
PMP, PgMP, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt, or comparable certification.
Experience with payment standards, processors, gateways, P2PE, or payment-device implementations.
Experience with Smartsheet, ServiceNow, Jira, or similar tools.
Experience managing budgets, SOWs, vendor invoices, franchisee charges, and financial performance.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Dine Brands Global strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act and/or other applicable laws and regulations in other jurisdictions. Dine Brands reviews criminal history in connection with a conditional offer of employment. The following is a list of all material job duties which Dine Brands reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: provide effective solutions for company technology and information management; maintain cybersecurity systems that protect confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information belonging to the company; and prevent unauthorized disclosure of personal, financial, and medical information belonging to employees and third parties. For information on how we collect and use your personal information, please visit our Applicant & Employee Privacy Notice.