What are the responsibilities and job description for the Lead Analyst position at Steak n Shake?
Lead Analyst – Restaurant Operations Analytics
At Steak ’n Shake, we’re redefining the Quick Service Restaurant industry through innovation, operational excellence, and an unwavering commitment to serving real food, real ingredients, and real value. As we continue to expand and modernize our operations, we’re looking for an experienced restaurant operations leader who is passionate about turning data into business results.
If you have a strong multi-unit operations background and enjoy using analytics to solve business challenges, improve performance, and influence strategic decisions, this is an opportunity to make a significant impact.
Position Summary:
The Lead Analyst – Restaurant Operations Analytics is a senior-level role responsible for driving operational performance through advanced analytics, forecasting, and business intelligence. This position combines hands-on analytical expertise with real-world restaurant operations experience to deliver actionable insights that improve quality, profitability, labor efficiency, and overall business performance.
Working closely with cross-functional leadership, you will establish analytical standards, develop scalable reporting solutions, lead high-impact business initiatives, and mentor a team of analysts to support data-driven decision making across the organization.
Key Responsibilities:
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of analysts, fostering analytical excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Establish best practices for reporting, forecasting, KPI development, and performance measurement.
- Promote a culture of collaboration, innovation, and operational excellence.
Business Analytics & Strategic Insights
- Design, develop, and oversee financial and operational dashboards, reporting, and key performance metrics.
- Analyze complex operational and financial data to identify trends, risks, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
- Build forecasting models, scenario analyses, and predictive reporting to support strategic planning.
- Translate data into clear, actionable recommendations for executive leadership and business partners.
- Partner with cross-functional leaders to define success metrics and improve decision-making through data.
Operational Excellence
- Leverage restaurant operations expertise to identify opportunities for improved labor productivity, sales growth, profitability, and guest experience.
- Lead analytical initiatives including labor optimization, wage analysis, sales forecasting, and restaurant performance measurement.
- Ensure data accuracy through validation, reconciliation, and quality assurance processes.
- Improve data governance, documentation, reporting processes, and analytical workflows to increase scalability and efficiency.
- Support audit and compliance initiatives as needed.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Economics, Business Analytics, Finance, or a related quantitative field preferred.
- Required: Multi-unit restaurant operations leadership experience.
- Deep understanding of restaurant operations, labor management, food safety, sanitation, financial controls, and performance metrics.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, coach others, and influence organizational performance.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including financial modeling, forecasting, and data analysis.
- Experience developing dashboards, KPIs, and operational reporting.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities with exceptional attention to detail.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence leaders at all levels.
- High degree of integrity, accountability, and professionalism.
- Passion for continuous improvement and using data to drive operational excellence.
Why Steak ’n Shake?
This is more than an analytics role—it’s an opportunity to shape the future of one of America’s most iconic restaurant brands. You’ll work alongside senior leaders, influence enterprise-wide decisions, and help build the analytical capabilities that support our continued growth and operational excellence.
If you’re an experienced restaurant operations leader who enjoys solving business problems through data and wants to make a measurable impact, we’d love to hear from you.