Sr. Director, Business

Position: Sr. Director, Business Applications
At Caribou Coffee we create day-making experiences that spark a chain reaction of GOOD ! This is our purpose. Our team brings this to life by focusing on what’s really important around here – TEAM, GUEST, BUSINESS ! It’s that simple. If you’re ready to work somewhere you can be yourself while making an impact on your community, creating life-long relationships, and serving the best coffee around, join our herd!

Apply today and be part of the ‘Bou Crew!

Position Overview:

The Sr. Director, Business Applications leads the strategy, delivery, and continuous improvement of Caribou Coffee’s application portfolio, including customer-facing digital platforms, point-of-sale and coffeehouse operations systems, enterprise business systems, and the integrations that connect them. This role ensures applications are reliable, scalable, and aligned to business priorities across corporate, field, and franchise operations.

This leader partners closely with IT and cross-functional business teams to translate operational and strategic needs into technology solutions that improve team member efficiency, enhance the guest experience, and support business growth. They drive a balanced focus on operational excellence, system optimization, and targeted innovation to evolve the applications environment while maintaining strong day-to-day performance.

With a strong understanding of application delivery and support, the Director builds and leads a high-performing team, establishes clear processes and governance, and positions technology as a practical enabler of business outcomes, partnering across teams to align priorities, build trust, and deliver shared results.

Core Responsibilities:

Technology Strategy & Application Portfolio Develop and execute a multi-year applications roadmap aligned to enterprise priorities, balancing new capabilities with system stability and performance.

Oversee the health, performance, and lifecycle of the application ecosystem, including:

Customer-facing digital platforms (mobile app, online ordering, web, loyalty, and third-party delivery integrations)
Point-of-sale and coffeehouse technology (POS, inventory, drive-thru systems, labor management and scheduling)
Core enterprise systems (finance, supply chain, HR, store operations)
Integration architecture and data flows

Own the applications portfolio budget: develop annual operating and capital budgets, manage vendor spend, and report on value delivered relative to investment.

Identify and drive opportunities for system optimization, automation, and improved user experience.

Drive application portfolio rationalization—consolidating, retiring, or replacing redundant systems to reduce complexity, technical debt, and cost.

Lead the evolution of the applications team’s operating model to emphasize proactive improvement, automation, and business enablement, supported by clear performance metrics and accountability.

Partner with IT leadership to align applications with broader technology strategy and architecture.

AI Enablement & Intelligent Automation Identify, prioritize, and support implementation of practical AI use cases that enhance business processes, decision-making, and user experience (e.g., forecasting, personalization, workflow automation).Collaborate with IT, data, and business teams to integrate AI capabilities into existing applications and workflows where they drive measurable value.

Help establish a structured approach to evaluating and scaling AI opportunities, balancing experimentation with disciplined delivery.

Promote understanding of AI capabilities across business partners, translating opportunities into clear, actionable use cases.

Work with peers across IT, data, security, and business teams to ensure AI solutions align with data governance, security, and responsible use standards.

Delivery, Support & Operational Excellence Lead application delivery and support, ensuring reliable, high-quality service for business users and operations.

Support new coffeehouse openings, store technology rollouts, and field/store systems, ensuring dependable in-store technology that protects speed of service and the guest experience.

Establish and manage…