The Sr. Manager, Project Management, will manage a portfolio of strategic, multi-year, brand-level initiatives from ideation through deployment by leveraging core project management and knowledge of Panera operations. This role requires strong collaboration with Development, Design, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and Sourcing teams, in addition to creative problem-solving skills to ensure all projects are fully vetted for deployment and deliver measurable results.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Responsible for café prototype development and channel growth and innovation.
• Facilitate multi-departmental working group meetings to align current work in motion with future strategy & innovation.
• Collaborate cross-departmentally to understand operational complexity and impacts of new programs during the Development phase.
• Ability to build partnerships across the organization to as a conduit between several support center departments, facilitating rollout efforts for new projects and strategic company initiatives.
• Responsible for assembling project plans, identifying resource needs, performing quality reviews, and escalating issues appropriately.
• Collaborate with Ops Growth team for strategic project implementation into the new café opening process for company and franchise cafes.
• Aptitude to brainstorm and bring ideas to life, apply judgement on which ideas/suggestions will work within Panera’s framework and manage through the innovation process.
• Provide influence and leadership skills needed to work with project team members and resolve issues to ensure project goals and requirements are met.
• Provide timely, accurate status updates to team members and stakeholders.
• Responsible for tracking key project milestones and adjusting project plans and/or resources to meet the needs of customers. 

Qualifications (Education & Experience):

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent preferred. 
• 3 years GM/TGM experience needed, Panera operations optimal.
• Experience in project management or project planning.
• Ability to identify and execute daily tasks to achieve a broader strategic vision with quantifiable brand-level results.
• Detail-orientated and curious-able to quickly evaluate inter-dependencies between projects and programs and use analytics and creative problem-solving skills to identify a clear pathway to best solutions.
• Ability to multitask, prioritize and balance varying workloads to ensure delivery of high-quality results. 
• Elevated performance in a fast-paced, time-sensitive environment with demonstrated ability to complete projects on time based on scope, people/resources, and business value.
• Outstanding communication and cross-departmental team building skills with the ability to effectively persuade through oral and written means.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to effectively persuade through oral and written means.

Working Conditions:

Ability to travel up to 30% of the time depending on project needs and timing.