General Manager - Airport Lounge

About the role

The General Manager is responsible for every aspect of operations at The Club lounge located inside the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The dedicated space managed is for guests to relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy an elevated food and beverage experience along with impeccable guest service before their flight. The General Manager develops new and emerging team leaders for sustained growth and effective day-to-day operations ensuring career progression and development while supporting workplace diversity initiatives.

Responsible for the overall management of core services of lounge operations including Guest Check-In, Appearance Care, Concierge Services, Guest Service, and Food Delivery. Providing daily leadership and long-term strategic direction to ensure quality of product and overall service resulting in an enhanced guest experience and profitability. The chosen candidate will establish and maintain a strong level of collaborative team leadership ensuring cohesiveness and representing as a strong liaison with Airport Dimensions and all partnered relationships with the lounge. They will manage a strategic plan for Airport Dimensions that establishes a rapport, promotes partnership, and fulfills the overall company’s needs and expectations.

Leads and facilitates business practices to uphold Company mission and values and ensure all regulations and compliance measures are always in place for a safe environment for employees and guests. This includes maintaining and implementing sanitary and food safety conditions as well as training to adhere to auditing procedures and statutory regulations. The General Manager through collaborative hands-on leadership will be a strong liaison focused on detailed articulate communication providing continuous guidance and mentorship to all lounge team members, client relationships, ownership, and partnered relationships. This position requires a dynamic and energetic individual focused on elevating the guest experience with a hands-on approach and very active in daily service operations. Experience managing food and beverage outlets at a hotel, private club, restaurant, or another hospitality venue is desired. This is a seven-day operation; candidates must be available to work weekends and holidays when needed.

Competencies

• Hospitality Focus: Focus on guest satisfaction and providing memorable first-in-class experiences. Generous, friendly, and warm-spirited.
• Brand Ambassador: Represents The Club brand within the lounge and the airport. Promotes brand values and vision, maintains positive relationships with Airport Dimensions, and elevates The Club brand image with all key stakeholders, guests, and team members.
• Guest Experience: Maintains a friendly, cheerful, and courteous demeanor ensuring the highest level of guest experience. Anticipates and meets guest needs, delivers best-in-class products and services with a commitment to continuous improvement. Handles difficult guests calmly and professionally, reviews complaints and takes action to remedy, treating the guest as valuable.
• Conflict Management: Encourages creative tensions and differences of opinions. Helps avoid and/or resolve interpersonal conflicts through collaboration for win-win outcomes. Manages and resolves conflicts constructively.
• Decision Making: Makes good decisions or leads good decision-making processes. Understands when to decide, when to consult subordinates or peers, when to bring a collaborative approach, and when to step back.
• Communication and Influence: Verbal and written communication skills to convey complex information to audiences with limited subject knowledge. Requires intermediate negotiation, influence, cooperation, tact, clear articulation, correct grammar, cultural context, and diplomacy.
• Team Building: Inspires, motivates, and guides others to foster team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. Clearly communicates and reinforces goals of team unity, cooperation, and excellence.
• Integrity / Honesty: Behaves in an honest, fair, and ethical manner through all words and actions. Models high standards of ethics.
• Developing Others: Motivates and inspires others to perform and contribute by providing ongoing feedback and opportunities to learn through formal and informal instruction.
• Passion for Hospitality: Passion for training team in all areas of hospitality using training programs and structures provided by Airport Dimensions and Hyde Park Hospitality.
• Strategic Thinking: Formulates priorities and objectives and implements plans consistent with long-term organizational goals.
• Technical Credibility: Full use and application of standards, principles, theories, concepts, and techniques in area of expertise. Focuses primarily on own specialty with exposure to related disciplines.
• Analytical Thinking: Systematically gathers information from various sources, analyzes information, identifies implications of data, and draws appropriate conclusions. Generates viable alternative solutions and evaluates consequences.
• Continual Learning: Assesses and recognizes own strengths and weaknesses and pursues self-development.

Responsibilities

• Provides ongoing collaborative hands-on leadership for all aspects of the lounge including unionized team members, third-party partnerships, client relationships, and ownership.
• Full ownership of all guest requests, service failures, and remedies.
• Consistently delivers exceptional guest experiences.
• Maintains excellent relationships with guests, clients, and other departments.
• Responds to and resolves all guest complaints, ratings, and reviews within Airport Dimensions specified time frames.
• Conducts HR functions including recruiting, hiring, progressive counseling, and terminations.
• Oversees scheduling, payroll, and team training.
• Motivates, coaches, mentors, and develops frontline (hourly) and management staff.
• Ensures full compliance with lounge operating controls, SOPs, policies, training programs, required certifications, procedures, and service standards.
• Strong understanding of P&L statements with full responsibility for the P&L; ability to foresee potential budget variances and react with impactful strategies.
• Manages ongoing profitability of the lounge, ensuring cost effectiveness and guest satisfaction targets are exceeded.
• Initiates and develops improvement action plans and carries out cost savings.
• Achieves company and client financial targets and goals.
• Upholds and elevates high standards regarding health, safety, and cleanliness.
• Ensures Hyde Park Hospitality standards are met including compliance with company food and safety programs.
• Reports and tracks maintenance issues within the lounge.
• Closely monitors lounge reports daily and makes decisions accordingly.
• Prepares monthly reporting for ownership and other stakeholders.
• Ensures all decisions are made in the best interest of the lounge and partnerships.
• Serves as senior most person assigned to the location.
• Establishes a safe work environment by performing safety audits and inspections, conducting safety-related training, and maintaining ongoing communications with employees.
• Complies with and ensures team follows all TSA and local airport authority regulations.
• Maintains all required employee records including discipline records to comply with Hyde Park Hospitality progressive discipline standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Management experience in fine dining, hotel, or other upscale hospitality venue of at least five years.
• At least 5 years’ experience in the hospitality industry with significant food and beverage and guest relations experience, ideally including airport locations; with one to two years as a General Manager or Assistant General Manager in a large operation.
• Bachelor’s degree related to business or hospitality, or equivalent experience required.
• Ability to follow all safety, health, and liquor rules and regulations.
• Proven leadership and experience managing effective client and partner relationships.
• Specific physical characteristics and abilities required: above-average agility and dexterity; long periods of walking, standing, bending, or carrying moderately heavy items.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities creating and growing a successful team.
• Demonstrated ability to grasp a large complex business at a base level and use this understanding to set overall strategy and drive business improvement.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, demonstrate professional communication skills, and exhibit passion for high-level guest service.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with a range of audiences including front-line employees, clients, and corporate management.
• Experience in financials, preparation, and oversight.
• Excellent communication and computer skills, including knowledge of MS Office.
• Ability to maintain a presentable and polished appearance in keeping with service standards in a best-in-class environment.
• Maintains current state-approved alcohol certifications and food handlers/food safety manager certifications as required.
• Must be able to pass and obtain security background check and clearance to work in airport environment.

Pay

Salary Range: $75,000.00–$85,000.00 Annually. FLSA Status: Exempt.

Schedule

This is a seven-day operation; candidates must be available to work weekends and holidays when needed. Location: On-site.

Benefits

• Medical Insurance (Health, Dental, Vision)
• Cell Phone Stipend
• Disability Insurance
• Vacation and PTO
• 401K Plan with generous Company Matching
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee Corporate Discounts for nationally recognized products and services (childcare, electronics, entertainment, hotels, home, groceries, restaurants, auto, travel, and pets)

About the company

Hyde Park Hospitality (HPH) is