Partner Operations Manager Jobs in Lake Forest, CA

CULTIVATE A BETTER WORLD

Food served fast does not have to be a typical fast-food experience. Chipotle has always done things differently, both in and out of our restaurants. We are changing the face of fast food, starting conversations, and directly supporting efforts to shift the future of farming and food. We hope you will join us as we continue to learn, evolve, and shape what comes next on our mission to make better food accessible to everyone.

THE OPPORTUNITY

THE OPPORTUNITY

Chipotle's International Partnerships & New Ventures function serves as a primary growth engine for the enterprise. The team enables licensed and joint venture partners to open, operate, and scale Chipotle restaurants globally while protecting the brand's core standards and supporting emerging business formats.

We are seeking a high-agency Senior Manager who can serve as the operational integration layer between Chipotle's U.S. standards and the realities of international markets, including localized equipment, regulatory requirements, supply chain constraints, labor models, partner capabilities, and training needs. This person must understand the restaurant as an integrated operating system and be able to translate ambiguity into clear plans, owners, risks, and decisions.

This is a lean, high-ownership role. The Senior Manager will drive cross functional workstreams to completion, represent Chipotle credibly with external partners, and help build scalable tools, playbooks, and routines as the international portfolio grows.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• International Market Readiness: Own Operations readiness for assigned international markets from planning through post-open stabilization. Build and manage readiness plans, issue trackers, stage gates, risk logs, partner follow-ups, and escalation paths so openings are grounded in operational readiness, not just calendar dates.

• Whole-Restaurant Operating Model: Assess equipment, sourcing, layout, labor, training, food safety, digital and front-line execution, cleaning, dish, waste, guest flow, and manager routines fit together inside the restaurant. Translate market-specific differences into practical procedures, training inputs, labor assumptions, and opening requirements.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Act as the Operations integrator across Culinary, Food Safety, Supply Chain, Restaurant Design, Training, Ops Services, Marketing, Finance, Technology, and partner teams. Convert functional input into clear restaurant-level decisions and drive workstreams to closure without constant direction.

• Partner-Facing Operations Leadership: Serve as a trusted Chipotle Operations representative with licensee and joint venture partners. Communicate clearly and professionally, answer or route partner questions, maintain urgency, and build partner confidence in Chipotle's operating discipline.

• Standards Adaptation & Validation: Protect Chipotle's non-negotiable standards while leading operational impact assessments for localized equipment, layouts, ingredients, cleaning systems, packaging, waste handling, and service model changes. Ensure approved deviations are validated, documented, trained, and scalable.

• Throughput, Labor & Guest Experience: Help partners execute the Chipotle operating model in a way that supports speed, accuracy, hospitality, crew execution, and strong unit economics. Identify bottlenecks that affect peak-period execution, training readiness, workload, food quality, or guest experience.

• Function Building & New Ventures: Create tools, templates, playbooks, and governance routines that improve repeatability across markets. Support emerging formats and new ventures as needed while helping define future support needs as the portfolio scales.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING TO THE TABLE

• 6+ years in restaurant operations, operations services,

• NRO/opening support, franchise or international operations, field operations, process improvement, or related operational roles.

• Multi-unit field or corporate restaurant operations experience strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience driving ambiguous, cross-functional operational workstreams from problem definition through execution.

• Experience with new market entry, licensee/JV/franchise operations, equipment or process adaptation, restaurant training, or opening support is highly preferred.

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

WHO WE ARE

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle has restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe. With employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM

Chipotle Mexican Grill is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. As a people-first company rooted in values, our purpose extends beyond serving nutritious food using real ingredients. It means hiring world-class individuals and fostering a culture that champions diversity, ensures equity, and celebrates inclusion. All qualified applicants, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.  

Qualified applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or certain state or local laws. Please contact ADAaccommodations@chipotle.com if you need an accommodation due to a disability to complete an application, job interview, and/or to otherwise participate in the hiring process. This email does not respond to non-accommodations related requests.