Restaurant Manager

Scope & Span of Accountability

Operates as an in-restaurant leader of leaders, ensuring the restaurant is prepared before peaks; standards are upheld throughout service, and handovers set up the next team for success.

Alternates between leading the floor and picking up critical stations to protect speed, quality, and atmosphere.

Key Focus Areas & Responsibilities

• People — Lead, Coach, and Build Belonging

• Lead in the Nando’s Way: Model Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity, and Family; grow culture through daily behaviors and decisions.
• Communicate Brilliantly: set clear expectations, run motivating briefs/meetings, give timely feedback, flex style to the person and the moment.
• Recruit, Onboard & Develop: support interviewing, onboarding, and station signoffs; coach on SOPs; build cross training plans; strengthen the buddy system; grow future Shift Leads.
• Manage People Processes: ensure fairness and consistency; support ER basics; ensure required documentation is complete and filed correctly.
• Wellbeing & Safety: monitor energy and breaks; deescalate conflict; keep the environment psychologically and physically safe.

• Brand — Protect the Nando’s Experience

• Deliver Consistent Standards: Conduct travel paths; uphold critical touchpoints (atmosphere, quality, speed) across all channels.
• Hospitality & Recovery: role model warm welcomes/fond farewells; table touches/checkbacks; resolve issues with empathy and judgment; escalate per process.
• Channel Management: keep eating primacy while maintaining takeaway and delivery standards; coach accuracy to reduce missing items.

• Commercial — Sales, Labor, and Profit

• Drive Sustainable Sales: connect the team to daily/weekly targets; apply simple, approved local tactics in line with guidance.
• Use Insights to Decide: read and react to forecast; align deployment and breaks to flow; coach leaders to use dashboards and act on trends.
• Optimize Profit: manage portion control and waste (“cook less, more often”); protect speed/quality; handle daily financial processes to standard.

• Operations — Food Safety, Stock, Cleanliness

• Food Safety & Compliance: enforce hygiene; complete daily/weekly logs (temperatures, labels, hot holds); manage allergy orders; escalate food safety complaints appropriately.
• Stock & Production: Set production to forecast; accept deliveries accurately; rotate stock; maintain portions; reduce waste with coaching and daily checks.
• Cleaning & Maintenance: lead daily/weekly cleaning schedules; ensure appropriate PPE; log and escalate maintenance issues; adjust service flow when issues arise.

• Changing Lives — Community, Planet, Opportunity

• Create Belonging: judgment free team environment; celebrate strengths; build confidence; live “Family.”
• Planetary Goals: reinforce recycling/energy routines; ensure oil recycling and waste processes are followed on shift.
• Community Actions: follow local partnership processes (e.g., food donation programs) and share wins to inspire participation.

What You Bring (Knowledge, Skills & Experience)

• 2-3 years of restaurant management experience (fast casual, QSR, or full service)
• Demonstrated ability to lead full shifts, including deployment, breaks, and peak-time operations
• Proven experience delivering KPIs (sales, labor, food quality, audits, speed of service)
• Documented experience managing inventory, ordering, prep, and food safety routines
• Proven ability to resolve guest issues and support team conflict resolution
• Experience maintaining compliance with food safety, health department, and brand standards
• Track record of developing team members into new roles or certifications

Education / Certifications

• High school diploma or equivalent
• Serv Safe Manager (or market equivalent)
• Allergen Certification
• Alcohol service certifications where required

Physical Requirements

• Able to independently lift up to 50lbs for an extended period of time
• Must be able to walk and/or stand for 8-10 hours per day
• Hand-eye coordination
• Reaching, bending, twisting, stooping
• Pushing and Pulling
• Lifting overhead
• Must be able to climb stairs in restaurants that have multiple levels

Risk & Compliance Exposure

• Daily/weekly audit readiness
• food safety, H&S basics, license postings/incident documentation
• Protects brand and legal posture on shift and across the week

Time Horizon

• Daily → weekly (turning the plan into consistent execution and KPI delivery)

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Owns the restaurant’s audit cadence (daily/weekly routines) and compliance posture: food safety, H&S basics, licensing visibility, incident documentation
• Support ER processes and escalate high-risk issues promptly