Area Director - St. Louis, MO

Overview:
At Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers®, our concept is focused and unique. We have only ONE LOVE® - quality chicken finger meals! Every talented Crewmember in our Restaurant Support Office (RSO) is integral to our success and a value to our rapidly growing company.
Restaurants will always be the center of our business. As we strive to achieve Raising Cane's Vision, we leverage multiple partnerships to expand our global footprint while maintaining a local presence & identity through great teamwork! In addition, to Vendors, Franchise and RSO Partners, Restaurant Support Business Unit Team Partners & Crewmembers are critical to our success!
At Raising Cane's, we support our Restaurants with both Business Unit & RSO support. Our commitment & dedication to Restaurant support is a competitive advantage! Business Unit Support Crewmembers are aligned to a specific Business Unit defined as either a Region, Market or Area. The Business Unit Teams are comprised of Support Crewmembers who are functional experts in various disciplines. The various Support Departments or Functions are led by best-in-class experts. The RSO Support Department / Functional leader is responsible for the hiring, training, personnel management, development & functional routines for the Business Unit Crewmembers.
Responsibilities:
The Business Unit Leader will lead & direct the Business Unit Team. With alignment from Department / Function leaders, the Business Unit Leaders will determine & direct the day to day priorities of Business Unit Crewmembers. The Business Unit Leader will set priorities & goals for the Business Unit Team that are aligned to Company objectives & plans so there is a singular message and clarity in priorities for the entire Business Unit Team. The Business Unit Crewmembers will leverage their functional expertise to develop strategies, tactics and plans that help the Business Unit achieve its' goals.
The Area Director of Restaurants is the restaurant leader responsible for directing and operating restaurants within a specific area that is assigned to him or her, while leveraging, directing and collaborating with the Area Business Unit Team.
The Area Director is fully accountable for all Restaurants within his or her Area including new restaurant growth, revenue and sales growth, profitability and human capital management. As the Area Director of Restaurants, he or she is responsible to the Operations Department Strategic Direction: to deliver What We Do, Culture, Leadership & Financial Performance; leverages Restaurant Support; and is actively involved in our Communities. The Area Director is focused on near-term, restaurant-level results in the Area which in turn create sustainable, long-term value for the company's Owner, Crewmembers and Shareholders.
- Ability to lead, motivate, and empower Cane's managers to higher levels of performance
- Customer & Crewmember focused
- Team oriented, collaborative & culturally aligned (Work Hard & Have Fun!)
- Restaurant Support focused!
- Sales driven & Profit smart
- Exercises good judgment & decision making
- Internally motivated & trustworthy
- Problem solver, analytical, detailed & process oriented
- Self-starter, organized and able to manage multiple priorities (project management)
- Excellent interpersonal & communication skills
- Ability to establish goals and convert plans into action
- Data-driven and Results oriented
Primary Responsibility - Provide Leadership & Support to all Restaurants and Business Unit Team
- Responsible to deliver What We Do, high-performing, best-in class Operations by working with, leading & inspiring restaurant management teams & Crewmembers, identifying areas of opportunity, holding accountability and celebrating successes
- Ensure Company Restaurant activities and operations are aligned to Raising Cane's Vision, Mission, Core Values & Non-Negotiables
- Directs and operates Restaurants while leveraging, directing and collaborating with the Area Business Unit Team
- Builds and executes Operational plans built from the ground up
- Delivers operations performance aligned to sales driven, profit smart philosophy
- Coaches restaurant leaders to show appreciation through the 3 R's of Cane's Love: Respect, Recognize and Reward
- Maintains full responsibility for financial performance directly impacting area restaurant operations and is accountable to all aspects of the restaurant EBITDAR - budget planning, management and performance.
Secondary Responsibility - Provide Leadership and Coaching to Business Unit Team
- Identifies current needs and/or gaps and directs Business Unit Team support to achieve desired results
- Directs Area Marketing support in developing and altering plans to most effectively utilize media, sponsorships and active community involvement
- Directs Training support to support underperforming Restaurants, certify training Restaurants, facilitate rollouts and assess effectiveness of current training programs
- Directs Recruiting support to assess needs, build recruitment strategies and allocate resources to attract and onboard all levels of Restaurant Crewmembers
- Conducts regular business reviews in conjunction with the Area Business Unit Team
Tertiary Responsibility - Collaborates with RSO and Functional Crewmembers to Support Restaurants
- Collaborates with Functional Leaders to screen and hire best-in-class Functional experts for the Area Business Unit Team
- Collaborates with Functional Leaders in all personnel management of the Business Unit Teams: compensation, performance reviews, expense management and PTO review and approvals
- Provide insight and feedback to RSO & Functional Crewmembers on the effectiveness and usefulness of all Restaurant programs, systems and tools
- Recognizes when potential gaps in support, processes, and/or tools for the Restaurants exist and notify the appropriate parties for resolution
- Leverages appropriate forums to ensure all RSO & Functional Crewmembers are aligned to the goals and objectives of the Area Business Unit Team
Qualifications:
- 5 years experience in the restaurant industry with multi-unit leadership experience
- Retail / Restaurant experience in Operations for multiple units
- Microsoft Proficient: Word, Excel & Power Point
- Exceptional people & soft skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Acts as a role model, consistently represents & lives Cane's Values
- Adherence to Company "How We Do Business" requirements
- Required to live within assigned Region, Area or Market (Home Base or Regional Office Base as assigned)
- Ability to Travel as required
- Strong work ethic and "hands on" approach
- High level of attention to detail, analytical & decisive decision maker
- Action & result oriented, strong commitment to quality & data-driven results
- Ability to see the "big picture" and focus on unit level performance concurrently