Director, Innovation

Who We Are We’re not in the wing business. We’re in the flavor business. It’s been our mission to Serve the World Flavor since we first opened in 1994, and we’re just getting started. 1997 saw the opening of our first brand partner operated Wingstop location, and by 2002 we had served the world one billion wings. It’s flavor that defines us and has made Wingstop one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry. Above all else – our success is largely due to our people and our core values, or what we call The Wingstop Way of being entrepreneurial, service-minded, fun, and authentic. We believe having a strong people foundation centered on these collective values creates a crave-worthy culture and talented team, as well as ensures our brand is poised for accelerated growth. We all win together. What We’ll Need As the Director, Innovation, you will be responsible for building and operating a high-velocity innovation engine that drives repeatable, profitable growth across Wingstop’s menu — including flavors, dips, sides, desserts, and new occasions. Sitting at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and commercial performance, this role owns the full lifecycle of innovation — from identifying opportunities to testing, scaling, and optimizing — with a clear focus on speed, business impact, and operational feasibility. This role is accountable for turning ideas into measurable outcomes, ensuring every initiative is grounded in a clear revenue hypothesis, executed with discipline, and evaluated with rigor. Core Responsibilities Innovation Pipeline & Cadence Ownership Own the end-to-end innovation pipeline — from ideation through test, scale, and post-analysis Establish and operate a repeatable innovation cadence (monthly tests, quarterly launches) Maintain a live pipeline of concepts across flavors, sides, dips, desserts, and occasions Balance core, seasonal, and disruptive ideas to drive both short-term performance and long-term growth Commercialization & Revenue Accountability Define a clear revenue hypothesis for every initiative, including expected incremental traffic, mix impact, and margin implications Partner with Finance and Commercial to model scenarios and evaluate tradeoffs Ensure all initiatives align with enterprise financial and strategic guardrails Measure and report performance against defined business outcomes, not just activity Speed to Market & Test-and-Learn Discipline Own time from concept → test → scale, with clear expectations on speed and iteration Lead a structured test-and-learn agenda tied to key business questions (pricing, bundling, occasions, product innovation) Rapidly iterate based on performance data and real-time feedback Ensure insights are translated into actionable decisions, not just observations Success Criteria, Cannibalization & Decision Discipline Define clear success metrics and kill criteria for every initiative Assess incremental impact vs. cannibalization and adjust strategy accordingly Make timely decisions to scale, iterate, or discontinue initiatives Avoid accumulation of low-performing or overly complex offerings Cultural Signal Integration (PAC) Leverage Platforms, Algorithms, and Culture (PAC) signals to identify emerging trends and opportunities Translate cultural insights into testable product and campaign ideas Maintain a forward-looking pipeline informed by real-time consumer behavior and trends Ensure Wingstop stays ahead of, not behind, cultural moments Cross-Functional Execution & Scalability Partner with Brand, Digital, Operations, Culinary, Supply Chain, and Analytics to bring innovations to life Ensure all initiatives are operationally executable at scale across restaurants Identify and mitigate execution risks early in the process Align innovation with restaurant realities and franchisee economics Continuous Improvement & Portfolio Optimization Develop and manage innovation scorecards tied to traffic, mix, margin, and adoption Lead structured postmortems that drive clear decisions and future improvements Apply learnings from past initiatives to improve future performance Manage innovation as a portfolio, optimizing across multiple initiatives simultaneously What You’ll Need Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Innovation, or a related field required MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred, especially with a focus on strategy, innovation, or consumer insights 12+ years of experience in marketing, brand strategy, innovation, or related fields Experience within QSR, restaurant, retail, or consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries strongly preferred Demonstrated track record of leading end-to-end initiatives—from insight generation through execution and scaling Preferred (not required): certifications in Design Thinking, Agile Marketing, or Innovation methodologies (e.g., IDEO, Scrum, Lean Startup) Strong experience with marketing analytics and insights platforms (e.g., Tableau, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics) Experience with test-and-learn frameworks, A/B testing tools, and experimentation platforms Familiarity with CRM and digital marketing ecosystems (e.g., Braze, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, paid media platforms) Comfort working with consumer research tools and methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) Proficiency in Microsoft Office and presentation tools (PowerPoint) to synthesize and communicate ideas clearly Strong strategic thinking with the ability to connect consumer insights to business outcomes Highly collaborative with proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority Excellent storytelling and communication skills—able to sell ideas and bring stakeholders along the journey Comfortable operating in ambiguity and leading through change in a fast-paced environment High level of curiosity, creativity, and willingness to challenge the status quo Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously Who You Are No job is too small. You recognize that the real work happens in the restaurants, and everything we do should support their success. You stay humble, roll up your sleeves, and always look for ways to help. You learn from others and contribute wherever you can. You care deeply about doing great work and driving results. You’re curious, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to improve. You don’t just point out problems—you bring solutions, ideas, and perspectives that move the team forward. You take full responsibility for your work and see things through to completion. You aren’t afraid to fail because you know that failure is a part of learning and growth. You take action, move fast, and keep pushing forward. You lead with empathy, respect, and emotional intelligence. You collaborate effectively, fostering a culture of trust and constructive feedback. You understand the importance of teamwork and ensure that your actions build others up rather than break them down. You push yourself and others to be better. You embrace healthy conflict, knowing that great ideas and strong teams emerge from honest, constructive conversations. You believe that leaders create leaders and are committed to fostering a culture of growth, challenge, and continuous improvement. Benefits Unlimited paid time off for exempt employees One paid volunteer day of your choice Competitive bonus structure for eligible roles Team member stock purchase plan Health savings or flexible spending account options 401k – (dollar for dollar on the first 3% and then 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2% for team member contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation) Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits Basic life and AD&D insurance provided Pet insurance Education Assistance Wellness reimbursement program Paid maternity and paternity leave Fun Is The Best Flavor Lunch provided every Tuesday and Thursday in office Discount on Wingstop gift cards Onsite game room Wingstop provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law. #J-18808-Ljbffr