Director, Data Platforms & Engineering

Taco Bell is looking for an experienced leader in the data space to join our team as a Director of Data Platforms & Engineering. We are looking for someone to further advance our already established data analytics capabilities, as we are creating solutions that bring competitive advantage for our restaurants and delight our customers. The role will be a critical part of the data analytics leadership team, collaborating with key stakeholders in technology, operations, digital and marketing. The role holder will lead a team of data engineers, architects, analysts and reliability professionals working on data warehouse, reporting and analytics solutions.    

The right candidate must be a data nerd at heart and bring leadership, collaboration, and innovation while driving a creative, engineering first mindset. Business acumen and leadership are expected; the candidate will partner with other executives to help Taco Bell become a truly data driven organization.  This is a high visibility role and a rare opportunity for a strategic operator with a passion for data to make a mark on one of the most iconic brands.  This role will report to the Sr. Director of Data Platforms & Engineering with Yum! Brands.  

The Day-to-Day

Partner with executive business and product leaders to develop data solutions for in-restaurant and above-restaurant needs  

Leads operational, real-time data processing from in-restaurant systems  

Leads strategic objectives and guides the team to translate these initiatives into concrete projects, products, and scaled operations

Leads multiple data projects across a spectrum of technologies  

Providing counsel to Taco Bell’s executive leaders on best system, process, tools and vendors regarding BI tools and technologies, large data lake, data warehouse and reporting system design and operations  

Modernize data & BI practices, exhibit an industry-leading vision for advanced data analytics  

Responsible for leading teams that deliver on designing, implementing and maintaining complex master data, transactional data & reporting solutions, and restaurant & customer data platforms  

Ensure financial accountability and efficiency of data operations

Influence the company in becoming a data-driven organization and spearheads a data-driven culture and influences cross-functional partners on ways to best create, utilize and maintain data.  

Hiring, coaching and mentoring your team to grow and develop within Taco Bell.  

Partner with stakeholders at Yum! and our other brands to lead teams and deliver game-changing data initiatives.  

Provide peer coaching and guidance to help teams build comfort with new tools and ways of working, especially those powered by AI and analytics.

Serve as a day-to-day advocate for Crave.AI within the brand, collaborating with the Yum! D&T Center of Excellence to identify high impact use cases, drive activation, and support seamless integration into brand workflows.  

Act as a key connector between Taco Bell and the Yum! AIDA team, translating brand priorities into actionable opportunities that leverage Crave.AI and other central capabilities.

Is This You?

BS/BA degree, with evidence of technical experience or equivalent relevant experience  

Minimum of 10+ years of technical expertise and experience implementing complex, scalable enterprise BI solutions.    

Previous BI experience on modern platforms; cloud, data engineering, data analytics experience preferred  

Experience managing complex BI teams  

Excellent problem solving, planning, influencing, communication, and interpersonal skills to help the team operate effectively and efficiently.  

Excellent analytical and quantitative skills; strong bias towards data-based decision making  

An eagerness to contribute to the success of a fast-paced and entrepreneurial environment  

A techie at heart – strong technical acumen and the ability to dig in with the engineers on complex technical issues.  

Achievement-oriented -- enjoys taking on challenges and delivering results  

Coaching-Style -- enjoys interacting with people and coaching the team to achieve their best  

Collaboration-driven – enjoys working with cross-functional teams, creating solutions in close partnership with business executives and product managers

Work-Hard, Play-Hard

Hybrid work schedule and year-round flex day Friday Note: Remote/hybrid expectations will be discussed during the kickoff meeting with your Talent Advisor & HRBP.  

Onsite childcare through Bright Horizons  

Onsite dining center and game room (yes, there is a Taco Bell inside the building)  

Onsite dry cleaning, laundry services, carwash,  

Onsite gym with fitness classes and personal trainer sessions  

Up to 4 weeks of vacation per year plus holidays and time off for volunteering  

Tuition reimbursement and education benefits  

Generous parental leave for all new parents and adoption assistance program  

401(k) with a 6% matching contribution from Yum! Brands with immediate vesting  

Comprehensive medical & dental including prescription drug benefits and 100% preventive care  

Discounts, free food, swag and… honestly, too many good benefits to name  

Salary Range: $160,400 - $188,800 annually + bonus eligibility + equity (if applicable) + benefits

At Taco Bell, we Live Más and invite you to do the same. Take a seat at our table. Bring your voice. Bring you, just as you are, a Cultural Rebel. We want you to be your best self!  

Taco Bell is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to equity, inclusion, and belonging for all dimensions of diversity.  We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other protected characteristic.  

Taco Bell is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities or special needs.  

The Yum! Brands story is simple. We have the four distinctive, relevant and easy global brands – KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill -- born from the hopes and dreams, ambitions and grit of passionate entrepreneurs. And we want more of this to create our future!

As the world’s largest restaurant company we have a clear and compelling mission: to build the world’s most love, trusted and fastest-growing restaurant brands. The key and not-so-secret ingredient in our recipe for growth is our unrivaled talent and culture, which fuels our results.

We’re looking for talented, motivated, visionary and team-oriented leaders to join us as we elevate and personalize the customer experience across our 48,000 restaurants, operating in 145 countries and territories around the world!

We put pizza, chicken and tacos in the hands of customers through customized ordering, unique delivery approaches, app experiences, and click and collect services and consumer data analytics creating unique customer dining experiences – and we are only getting started.

Employees may work for a single brand and potentially grow to support all company-owned brands depending on their role. Regardless of where they work, as a company opening an average of 8 restaurants a day worldwide, the growth opportunities are endless. Taco Bell has been named of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in the World by Fast Company; Pizza Hut delivers more pizzas than any other pizza company in the world and KFC’s still use its 75-year-old finger lickin’ good recipe including secret herbs and spices to hand-bread its chicken every day.

Yum! and its brands have offices in Chicago, IL, Louisville KY, Irvine, CA, Plano, TX and other markets around the world. We don’t just say we are a great place to work – our commitments to the world and our employees show it. Yum! has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and ranked among the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine in addition to being named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. Our employees work in an environment where the value of “believe in all people” is lived every day, enjoying benefits including but not limited to: 4 weeks’ vacation PLUS holidays, sick leave and 2 paid days to volunteer at the cause of their choice and a dollar-for-dollar matching gift program; generous parental leave; competitive benefits including medical, dental, vision and life insurance as well as a 6% 401k match – all encompassed in Yum!’s world-famous recognition culture.