The Bar Restaurant jobs in Crawley

Operating Partner / General Manager

£50k / plus bonus /plus share options

All Day Dining | Cocktail Bar | Community | Wimbledon Village

This isn’t just a General Manager role.

It’s an opportunity to help build something people genuinely want to belong to.

We’re a new independently owned, all day dining destination, cocktail bar and social community built around exceptional hospitality, wellness, entertainment and meaningful human connection.

Located in the heart of Wimbledon Village, one of South West London’s most vibrant and sought after neighbourhoods, we’ve already begun building a loyal following. This is a rare opportunity to join us at an exciting stage of our journey, helping shape the culture, standards and long term success of a business with ambitious plans for growth.

This is a business with heart. We care as much about our people and our community as we do about exceptional food, drinks and commercial success.

We’re creating a venue that becomes part of people’s everyday lives, a place where guests become regulars, regulars become members and members become a thriving community.

We’re looking for an exceptional hospitality leader with the commercial instinct, leadership skills and entrepreneurial mindset to become a genuine Operating Partner in the business.

About the Role

As Operating Partner and General Manager, you’ll lead every aspect of our operation, taking ownership of our flagship venue while working alongside the founder and culinary team to deliver an exceptional guest experience from morning coffee and fresh juices through to evening cocktails, small plates, wellness events, entertainment and community gatherings.

This is far more than an operational management role. We’re looking for someone who wants to build something exceptional. Someone who takes pride in creating memorable experiences, developing people and building a business that becomes part of the local community.

You’ll create a culture where guests feel recognised, welcomed and excited to return, while building a team that shares the same passion for outstanding hospitality.

Working closely with the founder, you’ll have genuine influence over how the business evolves, making decisions that shape our future as we continue to grow.

Customer service isn’t simply important here, it’s the foundation of everything we do.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Leading, inspiring and developing the entire venue team.
• Delivering exceptional guest experiences and uncompromising hospitality standards.
• Recruiting, coaching and retaining an engaged, high performing team.
• Driving operational excellence across every service.
• Managing labour, rotas, stock, ordering, budgets and financial performance.
• Taking ownership of the venue’s P&L and identifying opportunities to grow revenue while protecting profitability.
• Working collaboratively with our culinary leadership team to continually evolve our offer.
• Growing and nurturing our membership community.
• Becoming a recognised face within Wimbledon Village, building meaningful relationships with guests, neighbouring businesses, local organisations and community partners.
• Planning and delivering memorable events that encourage guests to return time and again.
• Maintaining exceptional standards across food, drinks, service and presentation.
• Acting with the mindset of an owner in every decision you make.

Who We’re Looking For

You’ll already be an accomplished hospitality leader with a minimum of ten years’ experience in a General Manager role within premium hospitality.

You’ll have a proven track record of successfully leading high quality venues, all day dining concepts, premium bars or boutique hospitality businesses while consistently delivering exceptional guest experiences and strong commercial performance.

You’ll bring:

• Outstanding leadership and people development skills.
• The ability to recruit, coach and retain exceptional teams.
• Strong commercial awareness and complete confidence with numbers, including labour management, P&L performance, forecasting, stock control and driving profitability.
• Excellent organisational and operational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• A genuine passion for hospitality and creating memorable guest experiences.
• A naturally energetic, approachable and professional leadership style.
• The confidence to make decisions, solve problems and lead from the front.
• A love of building community, creating memorable events and being visible within the business and the local area.
• Confidence using social media to showcase the venue, celebrate the team, engage with the local community and help build our brand. You don’t need to be an influencer, but you’ll be comfortable appearing in content and understand the value of social media in building awareness and community.
• A growth mindset with a genuine commitment to continuous personal and professional development. You’ll always be looking for ways to improve yourself, your team and the business.

You’ll ideally live within or close to Wimbledon Village or the surrounding South West London area. This role is built around becoming part of the local community, building lasting relationships with guests and neighbouring businesses. We also believe great hospitality starts with a healthy work life balance, so we’d rather see our leadership team spending time in the community than hours commuting each day.

Our existing team all live locally, and we believe that’s one of the reasons we’ve created such a positive culture and strong connection with our guests. We’re looking for someone who wants to become part of that community, not simply commute in to manage a venue.

Experience using Lightspeed POS, SevenRooms, Xero and Canva would be an advantage. Most importantly, you’ll be confident learning new systems, using technology to improve operational performance and making data driven commercial decisions.

Above all, you’ll possess a founder owners mindset.

This isn’t a role for someone who simply wants to manage shifts. We’re looking for someone who treats the business as if it were their own, takes pride in every detail and wants to help build an exceptional hospitality brand with ambitious plans for growth.

You’ll see opportunities where others see challenges, embrace change, take ownership of every detail and care deeply about every guest, every team member and every experience.

Community performance and communication are your Superpowers.

Hospitality is about people, and this concept is built on genuine connection.

You’ll naturally become a recognised face in Wimbledon Village, building relationships with guests, members, neighbouring businesses and local partners to create a venue people genuinely feel part of.

You’ll enjoy being the face of the business, whether that’s welcoming guests on the floor, hosting events, building local relationships or appearing in social media content that brings our brand to life.

You’ll understand how exceptional food, drinks, wellness, entertainment and memorable experiences combine to create loyalty that goes far beyond a traditional restaurant or bar.

You won’t simply manage a venue.

You’ll build a destination.

Technology & Systems

You’ll be comfortable using technology to help run an efficient, high performing business.

Experience with the following platforms would be an advantage:

• Lightspeed POS
• SevenRooms
• Xero
• Canva

You’ll be confident learning new systems, using data to make informed commercial decisions and embracing technology to improve both the guest experience and operational performance.

What We Offer

• Highly competitive salary.
• Performance related bonus.
• Equity and shareholding opportunity for the right person.
• A genuine Operating Partnership with the founder.
• The opportunity to help shape the future of an exciting hospitality business with ambitious plans for growth.
• Freedom to influence the culture, standards and direction of the business.
• A creative, ambitious environment built around hospitality, excellence and community.
• Ongoing investment in your personal and professional development.

We’re not building another hospitality venue.

We’re creating a place where people choose to spend their time, build friendships and become part of something bigger.

If you’re ready to build a business, not just manage one, and want to create one of Wimbledon’s most exciting hospitality destinations, we’d love to hear from you.

Pay: £50,000.00-£60,000.00 per year

Location:

• London SW19 5EE (required)

Work Location: In person