Retail Technology Innovation Manager

RaceTrac Company Overview

Job Description:

Location: Hybrid (3-days in office) in Atlanta, GA

The Retail Innovation Software Manager is responsible for managing the development and support of innovative retail technology solutions that improve store operations, enhance the guest experience, and drive operational efficiency. This role leads a team of software developers focused on delivering store technology applications, integrations, enhancements, and innovation initiatives that support business objectives.

The role also provides technical leadership and architectural guidance, ensuring solutions are scalable, resilient, and aligned with enterprise standards. The manager remains hands-on in the development lifecycle, contributing to solution design, code quality, and production support.

Additionally, this role drives rapid experimentation and innovation by leading the development of proof-of-concept solutions and accelerating their transition into production pilots to validate business value and operational viability.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Software Development & Delivery

• Manage the development, implementation, enhancement, and support of retail technology applications and store systems.

• Lead software development efforts for retail innovation initiatives, operational improvements, and system integrations.

• Work closely with business stakeholders and technical teams to deliver solutions that align with operational needs and company standards.

• Ensure applications are stable, scalable, secure, and supportable within the retail environment.

• Assist with prioritization and execution of projects, enhancements, defect resolution, and support activities, balancing competing priorities across delivery and support.

• Monitor system performance and work with teams to identify and resolve recurring issues or improvement opportunities.

Technical Leadership & Innovation

• Provide architectural guidance and technical leadership across retail technology solutions, ensuring designs are scalable, resilient, and aligned with enterprise standards.

• Lead the evaluation, design, and delivery of proof-of-concept (POC) solutions to explore new technologies, approaches, and innovation opportunities within store systems.

• Drive rapid prototyping and pilot execution by remaining hands-on in solution design and development, accelerating the transition of POC solutions into production-ready pilots to validate business value and operational viability.

• Stay current with emerging technologies, industry trends, and retail innovation practices, and introduce new tools, frameworks, and capabilities to improve team effectiveness and system performance.

• Promote engineering best practices, including code quality, design standards, and continuous improvement, while actively contributing to code reviews, troubleshooting, and complex technical problem-solving.

Team Leadership & Management

• Directly manage a team of software developers and technical resources supporting retail innovation and store technology applications.

• Provide coaching, guidance, performance feedback, and career development support to team members.

Retail Innovation & Business Partnership

• Support evaluation and implementation of new retail technologies and innovation initiatives.

• Collaborate with Store Operations and business partners to understand operational challenges and identify technology improvement opportunities.

• Participate in pilot programs and proof-of-concept initiatives for emerging store technologies and retail applications.

• Maintain awareness of retail technology trends and provide input on opportunities to improve store systems and operational efficiency.

• Partner with cross-functional IT teams to ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, infrastructure, and security standards.

Operational Support & Continuous Improvement

• Support stable operation of store technology systems with a focus on minimizing impact to stores and guests.

• Assist in maintaining lab environments that reflect production store technology configurations for testing and validation purposes.

• Contribute to process improvements related to software delivery, operational support, deployments, and issue management.

• Ensure compliance with company policies, change management procedures, and security standards.

• Support documentation efforts including operatio