Zoo Restaurant jobs

General Manager – Maternity Cover

Location: Imperial War Museum North, Manchester

Salary: Up to £45,000 per annum FTE

Contract: 11-month maternity cover, Full-Time, 5 out of 7 days per week

What can we offer you:

• A collaborative and inclusive culture, where your ideas are valued, and creativity is encouraged.
• 25 days annual leave (excluding bank holidays).
• Free staff meals whilst at work.
• Access to Compass Group company perks & benefits.
• Perks for Work discounts and promotions.
• Access to training, mentoring and development, with support from our wider Restaurant Associates and Compass Group UK networks.
• On-site F&B discounts.
• No shortage of delicious food.

About the Role:

We’re seeking a proactive and people-focused General Manager to lead the catering, events and hospitality operations at Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead visitor experiences within one of the UK’s most iconic cultural institutions, welcoming guests from across the country and around the world.

As General Manager, you will lead the onsite catering, events and hospitality operation, working closely with the Operations Manager to oversee both the retail and events food and beverage services.

You will be responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the busy café operation alongside a varied conference and events diary. You will deliver exceptional service standards through strong onsite leadership and team engagement, while continually identifying opportunities to improve operational efficiency, commercial performance and the overall visitor experience.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leading, training and developing a motivated, skilled team of operational and culinary colleagues.
• Managing all aspects of labour planning, cost control and forecasting.
• Identifying and driving commercial opportunities to maximise food and beverage revenue.
• Maintaining strong client and stakeholder relationships and ensuring expectations are consistently exceeded.
• Overseeing operational delivery across all food, beverage, events and hospitality services.
• Ensuring compliance with company policies, health and safety standards and financial targets.
• Supporting and delivering the venue’s growth and development strategy in partnership with the client.
• Ensuring consistent delivery of high service standards through active floor leadership and team engagement.
• Building strong working relationships with museum and venue stakeholders, responding positively to feedback and ensuring client and visitor satisfaction.
• Supporting the team through the maternity cover period, maintaining continuity and delivering a consistently high-performing operation.

About You:

• 2+ years’ experience as a General Manager, or 4+ years’ experience as a Deputy General Manager or Operations Manager within hospitality, ideally in visitor attractions, cultural venues or multi-outlet operations.
• Proven experience supporting the running of busy environments with high footfall and varied service styles.
• Strong financial awareness and understanding of budgets, cost control and labour management.
• Excellent leadership skills, with experience motivating teams and supporting training and development.
• Confident communication and stakeholder engagement abilities, with the ability to build effective relationships at all levels.
• A passion for food, service and delivering memorable visitor experiences.
• Ability to adapt in a fast-paced environment, balancing day-to-day operational delivery with longer-term projects and commercial objectives.
• A hands-on, visible leadership style and the ability to inspire teams to deliver consistently high standards.
• Experience within a museum, visitor attraction, events or cultural venue environment would be advantageous.

About Us:

Restaurant Associates is a leading premium hospitality provider with an ethos drawn from our history of fine and high-quality dining in London and New York.

Within our venues team, we provide catering and hospitality services to some of the most iconic visitor attractions and destinations in the UK including the Imperial War Museum London, Glyndebourne Opera House, Knebworth House, Design Museum, Whipsnade Zoo and many more. Within these amazing venues we operate a host of bespoke cafés and restaurants, as well as delivering private events ranging from small meetings to large-scale ground events of up to 1000 people. You can find a full list of our venues on our website.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive, diverse, fun, and dynamic place to work with opportunities to collaborate with a wide range of teams plus a commitment to putting our people first. Restaurant Associates is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds. As a business, we are committed to sustainability led practices and are proud to have achieved 3 stars with the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Programme.

Compass Group UK&I is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive - because diversity is our strength!

Job Reference: com/1108/70664001/52826018/SU #RA Venues