Southampton Above Bar jobs in Southampton

Role Overview

Stoneham Golf Club is entering an exciting new chapter. Following a full clubhouse refurbishment and the decision to bring catering in-house for the first time, the club is creating a new Food & Beverage Manager role to lead the entire F&B operation. This is a Head of Department position, responsible for shaping and delivering a food and beverage offering that matches the quality of the golf course and serves the membership brilliantly.

The role carries full accountability for both commercial performance and member experience. The successful candidate will own the F&B profit and loss, drive revenue growth, manage gross profit and labour costs to agreed targets, and ensure the clubhouse operates as a reliable profit contributor rather than a subsidised amenity. With current F&B revenue of approximately £480,000 and a clear pathway to £650,000, there is significant scope for a commercially minded operator to make a measurable impact.

This is not a high-street restaurant role. Stoneham GC is a traditional private members’ golf club with a strong membership who are passionate about their golf club. The F&B Manager will need to understand and respect that culture while building a professional, systemised operation that delivers consistency, accountability and growth. The right person will combine commercial acumen with genuine hospitality instincts, and will be comfortable operating within a governance structure that includes the General Manager and club ownership.

2. Position Details

Job Title

Food & Beverage Manager

Location

Stoneham Golf Club, Southampton, Southampton

Reports To

General Manager

Responsible For

Head Chef, Deputy F&B Manager, Front of House team, functions and events F&B staff

Working Pattern

Full-time, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays as required by a seven-day golf club operation - 40 Hours

Salary

Competitive, commensurate with experience

3. Key Objectives (First 12–24 Months)

The Food & Beverage Manager will be expected to deliver against the following objectives during the first twelve to twenty-four months:

• Revenue growth: Grow total F&B revenue from approximately £480,000 towards £650,000, using the refurbished clubhouse and improved offer to drive member usage, visitor spend and function trade.
• Gross profit improvement: Improve and then maintain bar and food gross profit percentages at agreed budget levels through menu engineering, product mix, pricing discipline and waste control.
• Protect existing profitability: Protect and enhance existing bar profitability and ensure catering and food delivers a positive contribution, not a loss.
• Labour management: Keep F&B labour within agreed weekly and annual budgets, ensuring the creation of this role adds demonstrable value rather than simply adding cost.
• KPI framework: Establish simple, visible key performance indicators (sales, GP%, wage percentage, average spend per head, function profitability) and review them weekly with clear actions.
• Standards and consistency: Embed consistent service, cleanliness and compliance standards in line with expectations for a quality, privately owned members’ club.
• In-house transition: Successfully manage the transition from external franchise caterer to a fully in-house F&B model, ensuring continuity of service throughout the changeover period.
• Team development: Build, train and retain a capable F&B team that can deliver reliable standards seven days a week.

4. Main Responsibilities

a) Commercial Management

• Full ownership of F&B profit and loss lines: sales, cost of sales, gross profit, wages and direct costs.
• Regular reporting to the General Manager and ownership on performance against budget, with variance analysis and corrective actions.
• Setting and monitoring KPIs including average spend per head, GP%, wage percentage, sales by area (bar, restaurant, terrace, functions, on-course) and daypart analysis.
• Menu engineering and pricing in collaboration with the Head Chef to achieve target food GP while respecting member expectations and golf-flow patterns (pre-round, post-round, casual dining, functions).
• Protecting and improving bar GP through product mix optimisation, supplier negotiation, promotions that drive profitable sales, and tight control of discounts and giveaways.
• Proactive use of the refurbished clubhouse spaces (bar, lounge, patio) to create trade-driving initiatives including theme nights, society packages, member events and external functions that are operationally realistic and financially sound.
• Identifying and developing new revenue streams, including catering packages, draw nights, and enhanced food-alongside-bar offers to increase dwell time and average spend.

b) Operational Leadership

• Overall responsibility for day-to-day operations across all F&B areas.
• Line management of the Head Chef and Bar staff to ensure one joined-up plan rather than siloed operations.
• Creation of efficient rotas that match staffing to forecast demand (golf diary, events calendar, seasonal patterns) while controlling wage costs.
• Ensuring robust opening and closing procedures, cash handling, cashing-up and till controls.
• Ownership of stock control processes: ordering, deliveries, stock rotation, stock counts, variance analysis and corrective action.
• Maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness, maintenance and presentation across all F&B areas.
• Managing supplier relationships and procurement to achieve best value without compromising quality or consistency.
• Establishing and maintaining clear opening hours and availability standards so that members can rely on the F&B offer being consistent and accessible.

c) People Management

• Leading, motivating and developing the F&B team; setting clear expectations, standards and accountability at every level.
• Working closely with the Head Chef on kitchen structure, communication and service timings to deliver smooth service, especially at busy golf times and during events.
• Coaching and supporting the Bar staff so that bar standards, margin control and retail discipline are consistently strong.
• Recruiting, onboarding and training F&B staff (permanent and casual), with a focus on service style, sales behaviours and basic numbers awareness.
• Managing performance through regular one-to-ones, appraisals and development conversations, dealing with any issues promptly and fairly.
• Building a culture where the team understands the commercial realities of the operation and takes ownership of their contribution to it.

d) Member, Guest and Event Experience

• Being a visible, approachable presence in the clubhouse, particularly at busy service times and during events.
• Ensuring that the offer (menus, portioning, speed of service, presentation) is appropriate for a golf club environment – efficient for golfers, attractive for members, and suitable for guests and societies.
• Working with the General Manager and office team on member events, societies, corporate days, wakes and other functions, ensuring packages are clearly costed and profitable.
• Handling feedback and complaints professionally, closing the loop with members and using insights to continuously improve the operation.
• Championing the social culture of the club through F&B-led initiatives that encourage members to use the clubhouse more frequently and stay longer.

e) Compliance and Standards

• Ensuring full compliance with all food safety, health and safety, allergen and licensing regulations.
• Maintaining up-to-date records, checks and training logs across all F&B areas.
• Ensuring adherence to the premises licence and any club policies including dress code, hours of operation and behavioural standards.
• Implementing and maintaining standard operating procedures for key areas: cellar management, line cleaning, temperature checks, allergen handling, cleaning schedules and accident/incident reporting.

5. Skills, Experience and Profile

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following:

Essential

• Proven experience in a similar F&B management role within a golf club, members’ club, hotel or quality bar and restaurant environment with both wet and food trade.
• Strong commercial mindset: confident with profit and loss management, GP%, wage percentage, and using numbers to drive decisions rather than simply reporting them.
• Demonstrable track record of growing sales while maintaining or improving margin and labour performance.
• Hands-on, sleeves-rolled-up operator who is equally capable of planning, analysis and reporting.
• Strong people leadership skills; able to manage and align kitchen, bar and front-of-house teams under one coherent plan.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, comfortable operating in a members’ club environment alongside committees and ownership.
• High personal standards of presentation, organisation and reliability.
• Proficiency with EPOS systems, stock management tools and basic spreadsheet reporting.

Desirable

• Understanding of golf club culture, golf diaries and how golf patterns affect F&B trade and staffing.
• Experience of managing a transition from outsourced to in-house catering.
• Personal Licence holder.
• Level 3 Food Safety qualification (or willingness to obtain).
• Experience of event and function management within a club or hotel setting.

6. Reporting and Governance

This is a Head of Department role reporting directly to the General Manager. The Food & Beverage Manager is the senior leader for all F&B activity within the club and carries full accountability for delivering the agreed F&B budget across sales, gross profit, wages and overall contribution.

The role holder will present results and commentary to and will work closely with the General Manager on annual budgets, pricing decisions, capital expenditure within F&B areas, and the strategic use of the refurbished clubhouse to support the club’s overall goals.

The Food & Beverage Manager sits above the Head Chef and Bar staff in the operational hierarchy, ensuring that kitchen and bar operations are coordinated as one integrated department rather than two separate functions. The role also works collaboratively with the club office and administration team on event bookings, member communications and diary management.

Pay: £35,000.00-£43,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person