Vice President of Field Operations
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGIES (RT)
Restaurant Technologies (RT) is a high-growth integrator of automated safety and efficiency solutions, and complex peripheral services, for the commercial kitchens of restaurants (independent, QSR, fast food), convenient stores, retail outlets, grocers, delis, casinos, hotels, and other food services organizations. Owned by Energy Capital Partners, a ~$20B ESG investment firm, RT employs over 1,500 people and is generating roughly $1B in annual revenue, with steady long-term, double digit year-over-year growth, and an extraordinarily high-performing bottom line. Founded by entrepreneurial spirits tied to the McDonald's organization in the 1990's, RT is a well-established organization with an impressive executive team that is currently driving transformation, innovation, scalability, and major growth across the US.
With lofty aspirations ahead after recently surpassing $1B in annual revenue, the RT executive team has made it a top priority to significantly invest in their enterprise business processes creating a much stronger, more scalable infrastructure. RT has transformed their legacy centralized field execution function, upskilling to a more decentralized senior "operator" model focused on standardization of process, systematic execution, and consistent feedback loops. As the core leader for field execution and operational strategy, the Vice President of Field Operations will oversee all Regional Directors, and subsequently all depot General Managers, driving performance and service to new heights across a vast North American footprint generating ~$600M in annual revenue. This leader will be responsible for all execution and optimization along with partnering with Operations Excellence to implement standardized operational procedures to improve consistency and efficiency.
A Foundation you can build on
Getting a sense of the foundation that has been built prior to your arrival offers a lens through which you can see where your career may go.
Restaurant Technologies (RT)
Restaurant Technologies (RT) is a ~$1 billion, privately held, vertically integrated full service integrator of automated safety solutions and services for commercial kitchens across the United States. RT is the fastest-growing provider of cooking oil management, and back-of-house hood and exhaust cleaning solutions, in the country. It services well over 45,000 national quick-service and full-service restaurant chains, independent restaurants, grocery delis, hotels, casinos, convenience stores, universities, and hospitals and has grown tremendously year-over-year for decades.
RT's History
RT was founded in the late 1990's by a group of entrepreneurial spirited leaders from the food service industry who had strong ties to the McDonald's organization and recognized a serious challenge in the way that cooking oil was managed in commercial kitchens. They realized that the lack of automation in the handling of oil - its replenishment, monitoring, filtration, and even the logistical movement of the product - was exposing many workers to serious danger, enormous amounts of labor intensive and costly work, and creating an absolute mess in kitchens across the US. So they started Restaurant Technologies in 1997 to solve this problem on the foundation of a single, incredibly well-engineered system and service model, which is branded today as "Total Oil Management" - an all-encompassing solution for cooking oil delivery, filtration, grease removal, automated replenishment, and recycling at the push of a single button. Having developed a proprietary, evolutionary system that was non-existent and remains without much competition, the company has grown immensely at a very rapid pace.
A Stand Out In Food Service
Restaurant Technologies is a stand out in food service as it operates in a niche space with little competition. With its incredibly well-operated, vertically integrated structure, RT owns its proprietary systems and technology, and has intelligently built peripheral service structures around these equipment solutions to drive "vertical integration", which includes its own delivery teams, storage facilities (depots), installation services, and customer support/field service groups. Recognizing its strength of position in the space, RT has embarked on a transformation to drive continued growth of the existing "core" product portfolio while introducing new products and services in an effort to continue diversifying the organization in the greater food services space within which RT is only 1% penetrated.
Scale
RT is the most efficient and fastest growing provider of oil management solutions in the food services industry today, employing over 1,500 people across the United States whose efforts are generating roughly $1B in annual revenue. RT operates 41 distribution centers in 33 states, and services over 45,000 customers across restaurant and hospitality industries, including some of the most formidable brands in the business like McDonald's, Burger King, HyVee, Dairy Queen, Jack In The Box, Denny's, Kwik Trip, and many more.
Our Take On RT
Performance
RT is an explosively growing organization. Its leadership team is not interested in status quo or maintenance. Rather, they wish to continue the intelligent expansion of the business from a top and bottom line perspective, personnel and team growth, and product portfolio diversification and growth. RT hires aspirational, high-performing leaders who align with the company's expectation for continued change and healthy growth.
Integrity
RT's leadership team embodies strength in character. From the CEO through the entire organization, this team is constantly encouraged and expected to do what is right with candor, without compromise. The executive team is honest, forthcoming, and transparent and fully understands the value in establishing trust inside and outside the organization.
Speed
RT's leadership team moves quickly. Decisions and progress are made with tremendous velocity, an imperative characteristic of a high-growth, vertically integrated organization. RT embodies an entrepreneurial culture, where leaders have the autonomy to drive the business forward in the most nimble and agile way.
