Associate Director, New Restaurant Openings (NRO)

Overview The Associate Director of New Store Openings is responsible for the end-to-end execution of new restaurant launches, ensuring each location opens operationally ready, staffed, trained, and positioned to deliver exceptional guest experiences from day one.for our Texas locations. This leader oversees the pre-opening, opening, and post-opening stabilization phases, ensuring restaurants launch with the right people, systems, operational discipline, and performance metrics in place. The role combines restaurant operations, training leadership, operational readiness, and process innovation, enabling the company to scale a high volume of openings while maintaining consistent operational standards and guest experience. He/She will lead cross-functional execution and partner closely with regional leadership, operations teams, training teams, and development teams to ensure every opening is operationally excellent and scalable. Key Responsibilities New Store Opening Execution • Oversee the successful execution of 100 - 200+ restaurant openings annually, ensuring operational readiness across all locations. • Lead the end-to-end opening process, from pre-opening preparation through post-opening stabilization. • Ensure every location launches fully staffed, fully trained, and operationally prepared to meet company performance standards. • Establish and maintain consistent opening playbooks, timelines, and execution standards across all new locations. Operational Readiness • Ensure each restaurant is operationally prepared before opening, including: • General Manager readiness and leadership preparation • Team member hiring and onboarding • Equipment and operational setup • Operational workflows and station readiness • Training completion and team proficiency • Validate that locations are prepared to meet guest experience expectations from day one. Training & Team Development • Lead and oversee NSO training teams and deployment teams responsible for opening execution. • Ensure training programs are effectively implemented, measured, and continuously improved. • Drive the development of scalable training systems that support rapid growth and operational consistency. • Build frameworks to measure: • Team member proficiency • Certification and readiness levels • Training effectiveness • Ongoing development opportunities. Post-Opening Stabilization • Monitor and drive post-opening performance across key operational metrics, including: • Order-to-Eat times • Guest experience and accuracy • Labor stabilization • Waste management • Supply management • Repairs and maintenance readiness • Ensure restaurants stabilize quickly and transition smoothly into regional operational ownership. • Develop processes that accelerate time-to-stability for new locations. Performance Measurement • Establish clear pre-opening and post-opening performance metrics to evaluate opening success. • Track and monitor operational readiness indicators such as: • Hiring progress • Training completion • Team proficiency • Operational performance metrics • Use data and insights to identify improvement opportunities and strengthen future openings. Cross-Functional Leadership • Partner closely with: • Regional Directors • Regional Vice Presidents • Training and development teams • Facilities and development teams • Operations leadership • Align stakeholders to ensure successful openings and smooth transitions to regional operations teams. • Serve as the central leader coordinating operational readiness across all opening functions. Process Improvement & Scalability • Lead continuous improvement efforts to enhance the new store opening process. • Develop systems, tools, and processes that support high-volume growth and operational consistency. • Identify opportunities to improve: • Training methods • Opening playbooks • Operational readiness frameworks • Deployment models • Build scalable approaches capable of supporting hundreds of openings annually. Ideal Background • Extensive experience in restaurant operations, multi-unit leadership, or large-scale new store openings. • Proven track record managing high-volume opening pipelines. • Experience developing training systems, operational playbooks, and scalable processes. • Strong understanding of operational metrics and restaurant performance drivers. • Ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-growth environments.  

Role Details

• Salary Range: $156,000- $165,000
• Multi-Location Role, Travel Required

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary package including equity and 401K. Additionally, we provide multiple medical, dental, and vision plans to meet all of our employees' needs as well as many benefits and perks that are not listed.  

A Final Note 

At Wonder, we build the best teams by hiring with an objective lens — evaluating people for their potential while championing diversity, equity, and inclusion. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, marital status, disability, or any other protected class. As part of our commitment to fair and compliant hiring practices, Wonder participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to confirm employment eligibility. If you need an accommodation during the interview process, please let your recruiter know.

We look forward to hearing from you! We'll contact you via email or text to schedule interviews and share information about your candidacy. 

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