Senior Director of Information Technology

About the Company

Vintage Hospitality Group, LLC, operating the FORD'S GARAGE restaurant brand, is based in Tampa, FL. As the official licensee of Ford Motor Company, FORD'S GARAGE creates a distinctive dining atmosphere inspired by America's passion for automobiles, quality food, and warm hospitality. This brand is rapidly expanding across the U.S., blending a unique culinary experience with automotive themes.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of IT holds the highest technology leadership role within the company. This individual is responsible for overseeing all technology operations, security measures, and management of vendor relationships at both the restaurant and corporate levels. The role involves executing the technology roadmap aligned with company strategy, managing the IT budget, leading the internal IT team, and acting as the main technology liaison for the executive team and franchise partners. A strong focus on hospitality technology ensures improved guest experiences, operational efficiency, revenue growth, and cost control.

Key Responsibilities

• Implement the technology strategy and roadmap in collaboration with executive leadership and strategic advisors, ensuring effective delivery and priority management.
• Recruit, lead, and develop an internal IT team fostering a service-driven culture and managing performance and priorities.
• Oversee the IT operating and capital budgets, including technology investments for new restaurant openings and equipment refresh cycles.
• Manage critical technology vendor partnerships related to point-of-sale (POS), back office systems, network service providers, support desks, loyalty programs, online ordering, and payment processing.
• Act as executive sponsor for major technology initiatives like POS system migrations, back-office standardization, and network upgrades.
• Be accountable for full organizational security posture including compliance with PCI DSS, incident response, endpoint protection, phishing prevention, data backup verification, security awareness, and audit/access control reviews.
• Direct the deployment of security controls in restaurant and corporate settings, assigning execution to administrators and vendors while maintaining overall accountability.
• Define and monitor IT performance indicators such as system uptime, help desk service levels, project completion, and cost efficiency per restaurant.
• Support franchise growth by establishing technology standards, onboarding playbooks, and franchise technology governance policies.
• Evaluate new technologies like artificial intelligence, data platforms, and kitchen automation, creating practical business cases for adoption.
• Represent technology interests at leadership forums, franchise advisory groups, and franchisee meetings.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years progressive IT experience, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles.
• Experience in multi-unit restaurant or hospitality IT management preferred; franchise environment knowledge highly valued.
• Hands-on familiarity with restaurant POS platforms (e.g., Toast, NCR Aloha, PAR Brink), back-office systems (e.g., Restaurant365, Crunchtime), and online ordering and loyalty ecosystems.
• Proven understanding of PCI DSS requirements and restaurant network infrastructure design.
• Strong skills in vendor management and contract negotiations.
• Excellent executive communication abilities to translate complex technical concepts for operators and franchise stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience; relevant certifications such as CISSP, ITIL, or PMP are advantageous.

Success Metrics (First Year)

• Technology roadmap finalized by leadership and communicated throughout the franchise network.
• Achieve or exceed 95% service level agreement compliance for help desk support.
• Ensure full PCI compliance across all corporate sites and establish compliance programs for franchises.
• Collaborate on the rollout of pay-at-the-table payment solutions across all locations, managing vendor coordination and timeline adherence.
• Develop and enforce cybersecurity standards for the brand, acting as the primary accountable party for implementation across all restaurants.
• Deliver IT budget within 3% variance of projections.

Location & Employment Details

This role is a full-time contract position based onsite in Tampa, Florida.