Director of Operations

Location: Columbus, OH, or along the Columbus to Evansville corridor (on-site, in-market)

Reports to: President

Type: Full-time, salaried

Travel: Heavy regional travel, roughly a 75/25 split between the restaurants and the home office

About Goat Restaurant Group

Goat Restaurant Group operates 46 Pizza Hut restaurants across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, with markets in Evansville and Bloomington, IN; Owensboro, KY; and Columbus, OH. We are building a culture where high standards are the norm, not the exception. We believe winning starts with developing people, executing consistently, embracing accountability, and never settling for "good enough."

About the Role

The Director of Operations is the top operations seat at Goat, reporting directly to the President. The President sets the direction. You make it happen across every restaurant we run.

This is a highly visible leadership role that blends strategic thinking with operational execution. You'll work alongside the President to shape company priorities, then lead their execution across every market. Success in this role means building and developing high-performing leaders, driving operational excellence through consistent coaching and accountability, and spending meaningful time in the restaurants where the real work happens. You'll own the performance of the business, from people and culture to guest experience, operational standards, and financial results.

What You’ll Own

Operational Excellence: You'll be responsible for driving operational execution across every restaurant and every market. From sales and profitability to operational standards and guest experience, you'll ensure our restaurants consistently perform at a high level. You'll leverage data to identify trends, uncover opportunities, remove obstacles, and ensure every initiative translates into measurable results.

Leadership & Talent Development: Our greatest competitive advantage is our people. You'll recruit, coach, develop, and hold your above-store leadership team accountable while building a deep bench of future leaders. You'll create an environment where expectations are clear, feedback is continuous, and people are challenged to grow professionally and personally.

Restaurant Standards & Execution: You'll establish a consistent rhythm of restaurant visits, business reviews, and operational follow-up to ensure every location executes at the highest level. Cleanliness, food safety, staffing, training, execution, and attention to detail aren't occasional priorities. They're daily expectations. You believe the best leaders verify through observation, not assumptions.

Financial Performance: You'll own the financial health of the business by driving sales growth, maximizing profitability, controlling labor and food costs, and managing expenses with discipline. You'll understand the story behind the numbers and work proactively with your leadership team to improve performance before small issues become larger problems.

Guest Experience: You'll champion a culture that puts the guest at the center of every decision. By developing strong operators, maintaining exceptional restaurant standards, and relentlessly improving execution, you'll help create restaurants that earn loyal guests and become the preferred choice in every community we serve.

Culture & Accountability: You'll help shape the culture of our organization through your leadership. We believe in setting high expectations, supporting our people, and creating accountability through coaching, not micromanagement. You'll model an ownership mentality, encourage continuous improvement, and foster a culture where leaders don't wait for problems to be solved. They identify them, own them, and take action.

What We’re Looking For

We're looking for a leader who raises the standard, not just maintains it. Someone who develops people, drives execution, embraces accountability, and leads with humility. The right candidate is equally comfortable discussing strategy in the boardroom and coaching a Restaurant General Manager in the middle of a lunch rush.

The ideal candidate will have:

•  Proven multi-unit restaurant operations leadership experience, preferably in QSR or fast casual, with a demonstrated history of improving restaurant performance across multiple locations and markets.

•  A passion for developing people. You believe the best leaders build other leaders and take pride in coaching, mentoring, and creating opportunities for others to grow.

•  A strong operational mindset. You understand that consistent execution, attention to detail, and disciplined follow-through are what separate good operators from great ones.

•  The ability to translate data into action. You use financial and operational metrics to identify opportunities, make informed decisions, and drive continuous improvement.

•  A high level of ownership and accountability. You don't wait to be asked. You anticipate challenges, solve problems, and deliver results.

•  Experience leading through others. You know how to establish clear expectations, provide meaningful coaching, hold people accountable, and build a culture where leaders take ownership of their business.

•  Strong business acumen with experience managing sales, profitability, labor, food cost, staffing, scheduling, operational audits, and food safety.

•  The ability to balance strategy with execution. You're comfortable thinking long-term while remaining deeply engaged in the day-to-day operation of the business.

•  A willingness to spend the majority of your time where it matters most, in the restaurants. This role requires approximately 75% travel throughout our markets.

•  Residence in Columbus, OH, or along the Columbus to Evansville corridor. This is an in-market leadership position; remote candidates will not be considered.

What We Offer

•  Competitive base salary starting at $125,000 , commensurate with experience

•  Performance-based bonus

•  Car and phone allowance

•  Full benefits package and paid time off

•  Real ownership of how the operation runs day to day

•  The chance to be the President’s right hand on operations, and the person the entire field looks to

Goat Restaurant Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic