At CAVA we make it
deliciously simple to eat well and feel good every day. We are guided by a Mediterranean heritage that’s been
perfecting how to eat and live for four thousand years. We prioritize
authenticity, curiosity, and the pursuit of excellence in everything we do. We
are working towards something big together.
We
foster a culture built on five core values:
· Generosity First, Always: We lead with kindness. Our best work
happens when we act in service of others.
· Constant Curiosity: We are eager to learn, grow, and
explore beyond the obvious.
· Act with Agility: We welcome change; it’s the only
constant. We embrace, adjust, adapt.
· Passion for Positivity: We greet each day with warmth and
possibility.
· Collective Ambition: We have high aspirations that are
achieved when we work together with a shared purpose.
The
Role
The
Director of Culinary Innovation sits within Ops Services and is responsible for
translating culinary vision into scalable restaurant execution.
Partnering closely with the Culinary team (who owns ideation), this role
ensures new menu items are operationally sound, executable at volume, and ready
for system-wide rollout. You will lead the testing and validation
process—proving concepts in real restaurant environments before they scale
across the system.
This role is accountable for ensuring innovation works on the line, during
peak, with real teams—balancing guest experience, throughput, labor, and food
quality.
What
You’ll Do
Lead
Operational Testing & Validation
-
Design and execute ops tests (6–8 restaurants) to validate in-store execution
-
Scale successful items into market tests (20–40 restaurants) to assess
performance at volume
-
Define clear success metrics across incidence, labor, food cost, and guest
experience
Translate
Culinary Vision into Execution
-
Partner with Culinary to convert concepts into simple, repeatable builds and
prep systems
-
Pressure-test ideas against real kitchen constraints: station flow, equipment,
staffing, and peak volume
-
Ensure execution consistency across varying restaurant volumes and team
capabilities
Protect
Throughput & Labor Efficiency
-
Evaluate and optimize impact on speed of service, ticket times, and line
complexity
-
Identify and eliminate friction points before broader rollout
-
Make clear tradeoffs to maintain operational simplicity at scale
Drive
Data-Informed Decisions
-
Partner with Analytics to assess PMIX, labor impact, food cost, and guest
feedback
-
Deliver clear go / iterate / stop recommendations based on performance
Enable
Field Execution
-
Partner with Training to develop clear, operator-friendly SOPs and rollout
materials
-
Ensure test restaurants and field teams are set up for clean execution and
feedback loops
-
Incorporate field insights into iteration and final recommendations
Cross-Functional
Alignment
-
Partner with Supply Chain to validate ingredient readiness and operational
feasibility
-
Align across Culinary, Ops, and Marketing from concept through rollout
-
Act as the bridge between test kitchen and restaurant reality
Who
You Are
-
Operator-first mindset with deep understanding of restaurant workflows
-
Experience in high-volume environments and scaling execution
-
Practical, decisive, and able to simplify complexity quickly
-
Credible with field teams and grounded in real restaurant conditions
-
Comfortable making tradeoffs to protect throughput and performance
What
We’re Looking For
Minimum
Qualifications
-
5–8+ years of experience in restaurant operations, culinary operations, or menu
innovation
-
Experience testing and rolling out initiatives across multi-unit restaurant
systems
-
Strong understanding of throughput, labor models, and station design
-
Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives from concept through
execution
Preferred
Qualifications
-
Experience in fast-casual or QSR environments at scale
-
Exposure to menu testing, pilots, or test-and-learn environments
-
Strong understanding of menu economics (PMIX, COGS, labor impact)
-
Experience working closely with field operations teams
Operator
Accountability
This
role is based out of our Washington DC Collaboration Center and accountable for
ensuring new menu items are proven to work in real restaurant conditions—during
peak—before national rollout.
Physical Requirements:
·
Ability
to maintain stationary position to be able to operate a computer and other
office equipment
·
Must
be able to identify, analyze and assess details
·
For
certain positions, must be able to occasionally move or transport items up to
50 pounds
·
Ability
to communicate with others and exchange information accurately and effectively
·
Constantly
positions self and move about to support ordinary restaurant or food production
support or office operations, as applicable
·
Ability
to work in a constant state of alertness and in a safe manner
What we offer:
·
Competitive salary, plus bonus and
long-term incentives*
·
Early Wage Access!
·
Unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, plus
paid opportunities to give back to the community
·
Health,
Dental, Vision, Telemedicine, Pet Insurance plus more!
·
401k
enrollment with CAVA contribution
·
Company-paid
STD, LTD, Life and AD&D coverage for salaried positions*
·
Free
CAVA food
·
Casual
work environment
·
The opportunity to be on the ground floor
of a rapidly growing brand
- All
exempt and non exempt employees are eligible for benefits. Benefits are
effective the 1st of the month following 30 days of service and you have
until the day before the effective date to enroll. A new hire can enroll
in our benefit program by selecting a link that is emailed directly to the
new hire at their personal email address once hired.
- Please
note that visa sponsorship is not available.
- The
posting range is an all cash range.
*Indicates qualifying
eligible positions only
CAVA – Joining “A culture, not a
concept”
As an equal opportunity
employer, CAVA considers applicants for all positions without regard to race,
color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, height, weight, marital
status, sexual orientation, familial status, genetic information or any other
characteristic or protected classes as defined by federal, state, or local law.
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