Company Description
Since 1940, Dairy Queen® has been one of the world’s best known and loved brands. Based in Minneapolis, MN, International Dairy Queen Inc., (IDQ), is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation. As a leading franchisor, there are more than 7,000 independently owned and operated restaurants in the U.S., Canada and more than 20 countries around the world. IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) which is led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire.
Here at IDQ, we create extraordinary Fan experiences every day and we do this through our commitment to hiring and retaining only the best in class talent. We firmly believe that our employees are the catalyst to the success of the company where their initiative, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurial spirit are recognized and rewarded. We're looking for motivated, passionate and dedicated individuals with an inherent need and ambition to go after bigger challenges.
Job Description
This position may be filled in either the United States or Canada
We have an exciting opportunity available for a Vice President, Digital Commerce & Loyalty, U.S. and Canada based out of our corporate headquarters in either Bloomington, MN or Burlington, ON. The Vice President, Digital Commerce & Loyalty is charged with accelerating Dairy Queen’s digital commerce, loyalty, and gift card ecosystem across the U.S. and Canada. This role has accountability for driving digital revenue growth, increasing customer lifetime value, and improving franchisee profitability through best‑in‑class digital experiences and programs.
Serving as the enterprise leader for digital revenue, loyalty strategy, personalization, and gift cards, this role oversees the end‑to‑end digital experience across first-party and third‑party delivery channels (e.g., DoorDash), which today generates more than $500MM in annual systemwide digital sales, with a goal of generating over $1B by 2030. The Vice President owns performance across the mobile app, web, and third‑party marketplaces (e.g., DoorDash) and leads loyalty and CRM programs encompassing approximately 3.5MM active members and $400MM in annual customer value.
The role also provides strategic oversight of Dairy Queen’s Gift Card business—a growing commercial platform approaching $100MM in annual sales—ensuring seamless integration across digital, loyalty, promotional, and in‑store touchpoints to drive incremental revenue and deepen guest engagement.
This position carries P&L ownership for both International Dairy Queen and the U.S and Canadian franchisees across digital commerce, loyalty, and gift card initiatives, with direct accountability for revenue growth, margin impact, and return on investment. The Vice President defines and executes the digital roadmap in close partnership with key cross-functional partners (Technology, Marketing, Analytics & Insights, Operations, Finance), and works directly with franchisees to ensure flawless customer and crew experiences and most importantly incremental, profitable transaction growth.
The role leads a high‑performing and growing organization of approximately 9–11 team members, supported by an extended ecosystem of internal and external partners. Balancing strategic vision with strong operational rigor, the Vice President acts as a growth driver and change leader as digital continues to become an increasingly important expectations of customers and the #1 growth opportunity for DQ.
Key Accountabilities Include:
Digital Commerce and Revenue Growth
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Own the digital commerce strategy and roadmap to $1B in sales by 2030 across the U.S. and Canada, with full accountability for driving growth across online ordering, mobile app, web, and third‑party delivery platforms.
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Lead initiatives to accelerate digital sales performance, including conversion, visit frequency, and average check, through continuous optimization of the digital ordering, checkout, and fulfillment experience.
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Establish and manage clear performance targets and KPIs tied to revenue growth, margin impact, ROI, and franchisee value creation.
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Identify, prioritize, and execute high‑impact growth opportunities that deliver incremental revenue and sustained customer retention through digital channels.
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Partner cross‑functionally with Technology, Operations, Marketing, Data, and Finance to ensure digital initiatives are operationally viable, scalable, and executable across both markets.
Loyalty, CRM, and Customer Value Platforms
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Define and evolve a best‑in‑class loyalty and CRM strategy designed to increase engagement, visit frequency, and customer lifetime value at scale across the U.S. and Canada.
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Own the end‑to‑end loyalty experience, including the program value proposition, offer and earn/burn strategy, personalization approach, and seamless integration across digital and in‑store touchpoints.
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Oversee owned digital communications channels, including email, push, SMS, and in‑app messaging, to support national brand campaigns and drive personalized, data‑driven customer engagement.
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Establish clear success metrics, learning agendas, and financial performance measures to continuously optimize loyalty economics, ROI, and long‑term value creation.
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Provide strategic oversight of the Dairy Queen Gift Card business across the U.S. and Canada, ensuring tight integration with digital commerce, loyalty, and promotional efforts to drive customer acquisition, retention, and incremental spend, while partnering cross‑functionally to enable scalable execution and financial discipline.
Digital Product, Experience, and Platform Leadership
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Own the commercial performance of the digital product ecosystem, including the mobile app, web, loyalty and gift card platforms, and supporting MarTech capabilities, with accountability for revenue growth, conversion, and customer lifetime value.
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Partner closely with Technology and Analytics & Insights teams to shape platform roadmaps and prioritize features based on revenue upside, margin impact, ROI, and franchisee profitability.
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Drive best‑in‑class UX/UI across all digital touchpoints, leveraging customer insights, usability testing, and data‑driven design to reduce friction, improve engagement, and increase conversion.
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Ensure all digital experiences deliver measurable financial performance, balancing speed to market with long‑term platform health, scalability, and cost efficiency.
Data‑Driven Optimization and Innovation
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Foster a disciplined test‑and‑learn culture by leveraging experimentation methodologies (A/B testing, control groups, holdouts) to rapidly validate ideas, quantify commercial impact, and inform investment decisions.
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Partner closely with Analytics and Insights to build a comprehensive, 360‑degree view of the customer that enables advanced personalization, targeting, and measurable improvements in conversion, frequency, and lifetime value.
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Lead the evaluation and application of emerging technologies, including AI‑driven personalization, automation, and predictive analytics, to enhance customer experience while driving incremental revenue, efficiency, and scalable commercial performance.
Cross‑Functional Leadership and Franchisee Partnership
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Serve as a senior enterprise leader across the U.S. and Canada, partnering closely with the Marketing Leadership Team, Operations, Technology, Data, Finance, and external partners to drive aligned, enterprise‑level execution.
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Translate digital strategy into clear priorities and actionable execution plans, ensuring focus on initiatives that deliver the greatest commercial and operational impact.
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Act as a strong steward of franchisee interests, ensuring digital commerce, loyalty, and gift card initiatives deliver measurable in‑store value, operational clarity, and profitable transaction growth.
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Build alignment and remove barriers to execution by influencing internal and external stakeholders, driving trade‑off decisions, and accelerating decision‑making across the system.
People Leadership and Organizational Development
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Lead, develop, and inspire a high‑performing digital commerce, loyalty, and gift card organization through clear strategic direction, active coaching, and meaningful development opportunities.
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Build future‑ready capabilities by attracting top talent and continuously evolving skills across digital, data, product, and customer experience disciplines.
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Establish clear performance expectations and accountability, aligning goals, incentives, and recognition to revenue growth, ROI, and enterprise business outcomes.
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Foster a collaborative, innovative, and results‑oriented culture that balances disciplined execution with continuous improvement and growth mindset.
The Canadian national base salary range for this position is CAD $210,000-$300,000. This position is also eligible for a bonus. The base salary range displayed reflects the targeted hiring range for the same positions across all Canadian locations. Individual pay is determined by job-related skills, work location, and education or experience.
Qualifications
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Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
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Significant progressive leadership experience in digital commerce, loyalty, CRM, or customer experience, ideally within retail, restaurant, or franchise‑based environments. Minimum 12+ years of relevant experience, required
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Proven track record of driving digital revenue growth and customer engagement across complex, multi‑market businesses.
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Strong understanding of digital platforms, MarTech, CRM, personalization technologies, and digital payment or stored‑value programs.
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Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders in a matrixed organization.
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Experience building and leading high‑performing teams in fast‑paced, transformation‑oriented environments.
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Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex concepts into clear, actionable insights.
Additional Information
Work Environment:
Most positions located out of our corporate office in Burlington, Ontario will work a hybrid work schedule where you will work 3 collaboration days a week. Additional in office time may be required to support team/project needs.
Inclusion & Belonging
We are committed to creating a culture of inclusion and belonging for all who touch DQ. We believe in and commit to fostering a community where employees bring their authentic selves to work, and where we recruit, engage, and retain employees, franchise owners, and suppliers based on qualifications and merit. We strive to maintain an environment where everyone feels welcome.
