Head of Restaurant Technology

Job description

The Head of Restaurant Technology is responsible for the end-to-end ownership of all technology systems, connected devices, and digital infrastructure across Concessions International's restaurant footprint. Reporting directly to the CITO, this leader will define and execute a forward-looking restaurant technology strategy that elevates guest experience, enables operational efficiency, and supports the company's growth across airports and hospitality venues.

This role is fundamentally about guest experience whereby using technology as a lever to make every dining moment faster, smarter, and more memorable. Whether a traveler has 10 minutes before boarding or an hour to spare, this leader will ensure the technology powering that experience is seamless, reliable, and always improving.The ideal candidate should be equally comfortable rolling up their sleeves to troubleshoot a POS outage or triaging degraded network connectivity at a unit.

Technology Strategy & Innovation

Define and own the multi-year restaurant technology roadmap aligned to CI's operational and revenue growth goals

Champion a culture of innovation, continuously scanning the food & beverage, hospitality and retail tech landscape for ideas that meaningfully improve the dining experience

Serve as technology advisor to operations leadership for all restaurant and concessions locations

Identify and pilot emerging technologies such as AI-driven ordering, personalization engines, IoT kitchen monitoring, predictive inventory, and contactless payment that deliver competitive advantage in the airport dining environment

Translate guest experience goals into technology requirements: faster ordering, reduced wait times, smarter upsell, and frictionless payment

Build an innovation pipeline with clear evaluation criteria: guest impact, operational feasibility, and ROI

Guest Experience & Dining Innovation

Own the guest-facing technology experience across all CI locations from digital menu boards and self-service kiosks to mobile ordering and integrations

Use guest feedback, transaction data, and operational analytics to continuously improve the technology experience and identify friction points

Drive adoption of technology that increases average check, improves throughput, and creates memorable dining moments

Lead planning, deployment, and rollout of all restaurant-facing technology systems, POS, KDS, digital menu boards, self-service kiosks, payment processing, and other platforms

Own the full lifecycle of connected devices across all locations from procurement and provisioning to decommission

Establish repeatable implementation playbooks and standards for new location openings and remodels

Ensure all deployments meet security, compliance, and network standards in coordination with the broader IT team

Drive integration between restaurant systems and enterprise platforms (ERP, workforce management, finance)

Operations & Support

Own the technology support model for all restaurant locations in partnership with MSP’s and IT Operations team

Build and lead a high-performing restaurant technology team including engineers, support analysts, and project coordinators

Establish monitoring and alerting practices to proactively detect and resolve system issues before they impact operations

Partner with operations leadership to define technology-related KPIs (uptime, transaction speed, device availability)

Drive a continuous improvement culture regularly soliciting feedback from operations leaders and translating it into system improvements

Vendor & Partner Management

Own all vendor relationships for restaurant technology, POS providers, hardware OEMs, payment processors, and integration partners

Lead contract negotiations, renewal cycles, and SLA governance for all restaurant technology vendors

Manage vendor performance scorecards and elevate underperformance proactively

Evaluate and onboard new technology partners that align with CI's operational direction

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

10+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, with at least 3 years in restaurant, food & beverage, hospitality, or retail technology

Demonstrated ownership of POS platforms at scale (Oracle MICROS, Toast, NCR Aloha, PAX, or equivalent)

Experience managing technology across 20+ locations in a multi-site or franchise environment

Proven track record of end-to-end technology delivery: strategy through implementation through support

Strong vendor management experience including contract negotiation and SLA governance

Experience leading cross-functional teams and building technology organization

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in airport, travel retail, or high-throughput food service environments

Familiarity with concessions, quick service restaurant (QSR), or fast casual technology models

Exposure to AI-powered ordering, predictive inventory, or self-service kiosk deployments

Technical Competencies

POS & Kitchen Systems: POS platforms, KDS, order management, digital menu boards

Payments & Compliance: EMV, NFC/contactless, PCI-DSS, payment gateway integrations

Connected Devices & IoT: Network-connected device management, MDM/RMM platforms, IoT sensors

Networking: Retail/hospitality-grade LAN/WAN, wireless infrastructure, SD-WAN

Integrations: API-based integration between restaurant and enterprise systems (ERP, labor, loyalty)

Data & Analytics: Operational dashboards, transaction analytics, reporting infrastructure

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Who can apply

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