Brand Experience Manager - Sonic

The Manager, Brand Experience (Value), plays a crucial role in shaping and driving sustained sales and brand growth for both the brand and franchisees. This individual is expected to operate as a hands‑on leader - setting direction, influencing cross‑functional partners, and motivating teams to deliver against long‑range growth objectives.

More specifically, this role is responsible for leading the identification, development, and execution of strategic growth initiatives that enhance the Sonic brand experience. These initiatives may span the full ecosystem, including menu and culinary innovation, delivery and digital experience, loyalty, promotions, ecommerce, and pricing. The Manager will work closely with the Director of Brand Experience Strategy and serve as a primary point of integration across Inspire Brands’ shared services teams.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive brand value strategy and roadmap that aligns with the restaurant's values, mission, and business objectives.

• Owns and leads brand experience roadmaps for the discovery, testing, and launch of high impact growth initiatives aligned to sales target.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Supply Chain, Culinary, Category Management, Integrated Marketing Communications, Customer Marketing/Loyalty, Digital Retail, Revenue Management, Training, Operations, Analytics, and Consumer Insights to ensure seamless go to market execution

• Oversees the design and execution of market tests (product, pricing, delivery, technology, or experience based), including test objectives, test/control design, KPIs, and performance evaluation.

• Utilize data and analytics to track the success of brand experience initiatives and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.

• Develops and delivers executive level presentations that clearly communicate strategy, progress, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership

Requirements:

• 4 Year Degree / Bachelor’s In Marketing, Business, Hospitality, or a related field. (MBA preferred)

• 5+ years of Proven experience in a similar role within a brand experience, strategy, consulting or related function, preference within the restaurant or hospitality industry.

• Strong understanding of brand management, customer experience, and marketing principles.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to lead and inspire cross-functional teams.

• Ability to quickly develop deep knowledge of the QSR industry, consumer behavior, and performance metrics

• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data and make informed decisions.

• Ability to create and present strategies in partnership with Director to senior leadership and manage large scale multifaceted projects.

• Project management experience with ability to drive on time delivery and motivate peer to peer.

• Advanced proficiency in Excel (e.g., pivot tables, SUMIFS, INDEX/MATCH) and PowerPoint (executive storytelling)

• Experience using Tableau, Power BI, or similar analytics platforms to self‑serve and analyze data

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,300 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide. We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.