Senior Manager, Innovation Engineer at Domino’s… · Ann Arbor

Company Description

Domino’s is a purpose-inspired, performance-driven company powered by exceptional people who are committed to feeding the power of possible—one pizza at a time. Founded in 1960 as a single store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Domino’s has grown into the largest pizza company in the world, with more than 22,300 stores across 90+ markets. Our success is built on the strength of our people, technology, and franchise system. As a leader in innovation, we continue to transform the pizza and QSR industry while creating opportunities for team members to learn, grow and thrive. If you're ready to make an impact, build a meaningful career and help shape what's next, there's a place for you at Domino's.

Job Description

The Senior Manager, Innovation Engineering is responsible for identifying, evaluating, developing, and implementing innovative solutions that improve operational performance across Domino's Supply Chain Centers and Restaurant Operations. This role leads initiatives focused on process optimization, capacity enhancement, mass balance improvement, labor productivity, waste reduction, and operational efficiency by leveraging emerging technologies, industry best practices, and data-driven decision making.

The position serves as the organization's primary resource for evaluating future technologies, benchmarking industry-leading practices, and translating innovative concepts into measurable business outcomes. Working closely with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Technology, Procurement, and Restaurant Operations teams, the Senior Manager, Innovation Engineering develops and executes pilot programs, validates business opportunities, and drives continuous improvement initiatives that enhance network performance and support long-term business growth.

The role is responsible for maintaining the Engineering innovation pipeline and supporting general project initiatives by identifying opportunities to improve throughput, capacity, yield, reliability, sustainability, and cost performance across the Domino's network.

Responsibilities

Process Improvement & Operational Optimization

• Own and advance a network-wide innovation and operational optimization strategy focused on throughput, waste reduction, labor productivity, reliability, sustainability, and cost performance.
• Lead complex, cross-functional assessments across Supply Chain Centers and restaurant operations to identify systemic constraints, operational risks, and high-value transformation opportunities.
• Develop future-state process strategies and scalable operating models that reduce complexity, improve system performance, and support long-term growth across the Domino's network.
• Serve as a senior business partner to Operations, Engineering, Quality, Technology, Procurement, and Restaurant Operations leaders to align innovation priorities with enterprise objectives.
• Establish and leverage Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, and operational excellence methodologies to create repeatable standards, governance routines, and value realization practices.
• Prioritize and lead high-impact improvement initiatives that require broad stakeholder alignment, change leadership, and measurable operational and financial results.
• Benchmark Domino's performance against best-in-class manufacturing, foodservice, automation, and supply chain operations to inform strategic recommendations and investment priorities.

Innovation Pipeline Development & Technology Evaluation

• Own the Engineering innovation pipeline and support the development of a multi-year innovation roadmap aligned to general project priorities, Supply Chain strategy, and restaurant operational needs.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and operational innovations across automation and robotics, Artificial Intelligence, computer vision, predictive analytics, operational intelligence, manufacturing technologies, restaurant technologies, and sustainability solutions.
• Build and manage strategic relationships with OEMs, technology providers, research organizations, startups, suppliers, and industry partners to identify solutions that can be adapted for Domino's operations.
• Establish a disciplined intake, assessment, prioritization, and stage-gate process for innovation opportunities, ensuring resources are focused on the highest-value concepts.
• Translate future-state technologies into actionable business applications by defining operational requirements, success measures, implementation risks, investment needs, and expected value.
• Influence cross-functional roadmap decisions by connecting innovation opportunities to enterprise goals, customer and team member experience, supply continuity, capacity, productivity, and financial performance.

Capacity, Mass Balance & Network Performance Improvement

• Lead strategic analyses that evaluate network capacity, material flow, production efficiency, labor utilization, and long-range operational capability across Supply Chain Centers.
• Develop and govern mass balance models that identify material losses, waste reduction opportunities, yield improvement potential, operational constraints, and investment priorities.
• Evaluate end-to-end production and restaurant-facing processes to determine the scalability, operational impact, and financial value of proposed improvements.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Finance, and business leaders to prioritize opportunities that optimize labor, equipment, material utilization, service reliability, and cost performance.
• Recommend network capacity and process strategies that support business growth through process redesign, equipment enhancements, automation, and operational improvements.
• Provide senior-level decision support for strategic initiatives by converting complex operational data into clear insights, scenarios, risks, and recommendations.

Pilot Programs & Proof of Concept Execution

• Lead pilot programs, proof-of-concept initiatives, and field validations from ideation through executive recommendation, ensuring clear governance, accountability, and decision criteria.
• Develop project charters, business cases, testing protocols, success metrics, risk assessments, and implementation plans that support investment and deployment decisions.
• Coordinate cross-functional testing activities with Operations, Engineering, Restaurant Operations, Technology, Quality, Procurement, Finance, and external partners.
• Measure operational, financial, and adoption outcomes from pilot implementations and translate learnings into scalable recommendations.
• Provide senior leadership with recommendations to scale, modify, sequence, or discontinue innovation initiatives based on business value, readiness, risk, and strategic fit.
• Create and maintain reusable playbooks, lessons learned, and best practices that improve future pilot execution and organizational adoption.

Benchmarking, Strategy & Value Realization

• Serve as a thought leader on industry-leading practices, emerging technologies, operational trends, and competitive innovations that may impact Domino's Supply Chain and restaurant operations.
• Lead benchmarking studies across manufacturing, foodservice, distribution, automation, technology, and restaurant operations to inform strategic priorities and roadmap decisions.
• Develop and present enterprise-level business cases, financial analyses, investment recommendations, and value realization plans for innovation initiatives.
• Establish metrics, reporting routines, and governance practices that connect innovation investments to measurable operational outcomes and business value.
• Prepare and deliver clear recommendations, findings, risks, and strategic opportunities to Engineering, Supply Chain, Restaurant Operations, and senior leadership audiences.
• Track realized benefits, adoption results, and continuous improvement opportunities from implemented solutions to ensure sustained impact and accountability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent experiences, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 8 years of experience in manufacturing, supply chain, continuous improvement, engineering, operations, or process optimization.
• Experience leading process improvement and operational transformation initiatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience developing business cases and financial analyses.
• Ability to work across multiple functions and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Able to travel up to 50%

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, distribution, logistics, or quick-service restaurant environments.
• Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, or Continuous Improvement certification.
• Experience with process modeling, material flow analysis, and capacity planning.
• Experience evaluating automation and emerging technologies.
• Knowledge of Operational Intelligence, analytics platforms, and manufacturing KPIs.
• Experience leading pilot programs and technology evaluations.

Additional Information

Benefits:

• Paid Holidays and Vacation
• Medical, Dental & Vision benefits that start on the first day of employment
• No-cost mental health support for employee and dependents
• Childcare tuition discounts
• No-cost fitness, nutrition, and wellness programs
• Fertility benefits
• Adoption assistance
• 401k matching contributions
• 15% off the purchase price of stock
• Company bonus

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.