Firehouse Subs announced the addition of its first vice president of Information Technology, Rob Jakoby, to its headquarters team; he will report to CFO Vince Burchianti. Jakoby brings more than 15 years of restaurant industry experience in information technology to Firehouse Subs.
Future technology including kiosks, growth in online ordering, social interaction with guests, and meeting consumer needs is what prompted the creation of Jakoby’s role. That and a total build out of 2,500 restaurants in the United States in the works.
"The addition of this role is critical and has been the future of our business for some time," says Vince Burchianti, CFO of Firehouse of America LLC.
In his new role, Jakoby plans, coordinates, directs and designs all operation activities of the IT department, as well as provides direction and support for IT solutions that enhance business operations. This includes first and foremost assessing the current technology infrastructure and security parameters for the brand, as well as determining the feasibility of advancements like kiosk ordering in house, and daily supervision of mobile pay, in house financials and reporting, inventory controls, software management, and Business Intelligence.
Prior to his role at Firehouse Subs, Jakoby worked with brands to include Smashburger, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries Inc., Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., and more. At Red Robin, Jakoby led the brand and ultimately set a standard in the industry for the use and importance of "business intelligence." This led to higher profitability by reacting to information in a faster, easier to read, and storytelling format. As chief intelligence officer at OTG Management, Jakoby was instrumental in mining the data and increasing profitability of the retail outlets and restaurants, including the launch of airport kiosks at JFK.
