Restaurant Manager Job Description

As a restaurant manager, you are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of your establishment. From ordering food to hiring staff and renovating menus, this job is designed to be enjoyable while also requiring selfless dedication.

A job description for a restaurant manager explains the tasks and responsibilities of the position. Restaurant managers schedule employees, assure high-quality cuisine, give courteous service, and keep food and labor expenses under control. A restaurant manager job description template makes it simple to tailor restaurant manager responsibilities to your particular establishment.

Consider software that publishes positions and monitors applications if you’re trying to recruit a restaurant manager. For enterprises with just one location, such as restaurants, Homebase provides a free solution. It expedites the hiring of a restaurant manager and ensures that they are onboarded after they accept your employment offer.

Features of the Restaurant Manager Job Description

A restaurant manager’s job description should contain particular details about your foodservice operation as well as the tasks that must be completed. It will usually have portions that are typical of any employee job description, with particular tasks centered on people, food and labor expenses, safety, and customer service, to mention a few.

Dining Room

It’s frequently useful to explain your company and what makes it distinctive, especially when recruiting. You could want to add details like the sort of cuisine you serve, the level of customer service you provide, or how the company was formed. This information aids candidates in better understanding your company and new managers in supporting your business approach.

Here’s an illustration:

Every year, our pizza restaurant receives the highest rating for its delicious cuisine and enjoyable environment. We endeavor to utilize only the best ingredients and stand by the mantra “the client always comes first.” We treat our staff as if they were family, assuring that if they’re having a good day, so will our customers.

Job Duties of a Restaurant Manager

This portion of the restaurant manager job description explains what is expected of your new recruit or candidate in the position. It alludes to a restaurant manager’s many obligations, which range from keeping staff happy to ensure that food is served to the table.

Restaurant managers are in charge of a variety of human relationships, including those with the staff they recruit, the suppliers they purchase from, and the customers they serve. They’re also the ones who deal with issues like running out of food, a clogged register, or the need to hire a plumber.

Here are the duties to consider including and customizing Dining Room manager job description:

Customer service: Interact with the general public in a manner that encourages them to tell their friends about our restaurant. This includes greeting them warmly, inquiring about their eating experience, and really caring about their worries. Internal customers (workers) and suppliers (vendors) must both get excellent customer service.
Leadership & Supervision: Must set the tone in terms of employee safety, customer service, food quality, organization, and follow-through. Works to inspire employees to do their best through onboarding, training, coaching, and supportive feedback.
Cost control: Manages food ordering, supplies, maintenance, and labor expenses to keep the restaurant profitable and on track to meet yearly revenue and profit targets.
Food safety: Follows food safety regulations and ensures that others do as well by keeping track of first-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory and physically checking food preparation and delivery.
Accounting: Ensures sufficient cash in registers and point-of-sale (POS) systems, generate daily reports, updates food and labor cost data and makes daily bank deposits by a certain time.

Education

A college education may not be required unless, for instance, they’ll also serve as the culinary expert, creating new menu items, or as a marketing expert, using social media to grow your business. Because managing a restaurant requires that you know and have done almost all the functions within the business, you may not want to restrict your candidates to college graduates.

Experience

The most sought-after types of experience to search for are people management and food service expertise. You want someone who appreciates the value of excellent customer service and who is appreciated by both diners and employees. Someone who has worked their way up through the ranks of a restaurant you appreciate might be your best bet.

Consider the following basic description of restaurant experience needs (customized for your business):

A minimum of five to ten years of expertise in the food and beverage business, as well as a comparable amount of years managing employee, vendor, and customer relationships, is necessary. Experience managing a family dining restaurant is desired. It’s a benefit if you can communicate in two languages.

Personality Qualities

Just as people-management experience is essential, so are other Personality Qualities. Most of what a manager does is lead people. Managers get work done through others—the kitchen staff, the wait staff, the bar staff, and the hosts or hostesses. Therefore, relationship and leadership skills are crucial.

Consider a statement like the one below:

The restaurant manager will be personable, pleasant, and receptive to suggestions from customers, suppliers, and employees. They’ll put a premium on customer service and quality, and they’ll use their leadership talents to inspire and encourage both current and new staff. Excellent listening skills, attention to detail, sound decision-making ability, organizational skills, and coaching talents are all required.

Minimum Required Skills & Abilities

To protect yourself from possible legal action or discrimination, it’s best to describe the kinds of physical skills you need in your Dining Room manager job role. Some examples are provided below, along with a general statement about the nature of the business environment.

To explain physical work needs, consider using a statement and a list like this:

Our Dining Room is busy, fast-paced, and may require long hours. The minimum required skills include:

To deal with workers, suppliers, and customers, you must be able to read and speak English.
The ability to stand and walk for up to 12 hours a day to assist customers and workers with all restaurant tasks, from assisting with delivery truck unloading to serving customers during rush hour.
Lifting boxes weighing up to 50 pounds, including frozen food cases, wine, and other heavy things such as chairs and tables.
The capacity to handle temperature extremes and variations throughout the day—both hot (in the kitchen or on the terrace) and cold (in the walk-in freezer).

The examples described in the restaurant manager job description template are meant to be customized for your business. They should provide examples and specifics on your Dining Room management job duties—allowing the job description to cement the understanding you and your manager have about your expectations.

Restaurant Manager Job Description Templates in Action

A restaurant manager job description template is ideal for any business that prepares and serves food to customers. It is a tool for communication that can jump-start your hiring process by getting clear on what you want a manager to do. It clarifies expectations—even if the person managing your Dining Room is a family member—by spelling out the specific duties required.

The following are some examples of companies that might benefit from employing a restaurant manager job description template:

A modest restaurant is on the lookout for its first manager: Before advertising the position on a job board, business owners benefit from beginning with a template that helps them think through exactly what they want their new restaurant manager to perform.
A flourishing business: You could need more than one manager if you’re opening a new site, expanding your current company, or covering a different shift. For example, the restaurant manager’s job description may be tailored for day and nighttime shifts.
An established restaurant that wants to define the duties of the restaurant manager: Some organizations begin without a clear job description, only to discover that employees interpret the work in a variety of ways. A job description for a restaurant manager brings everyone on the same page.
Businesses in the foodservice industry that wish to promote an employee: Your bartender may like to advance in his or her career. The job description will assist you in communicating what is expected of you.
Restaurant-like companies: A catering firm, for example, may discover that the responsibilities outlined in the restaurant manager job description template are similar to what they want their catering manager to perform.
Smaller foodservice establishments: Even a snow-cone stand or a food truck may need management. Employee misconceptions will be reduced if you document what is necessary to run your food and beverage company in a job description.

The restaurant manager job description template helps you in recruiting and managing restaurant managers by outlining the responsibilities of the position. Some restaurants may use a different job title, such as “cafeteria manager,” “food truck manager,” or “cafe manager,” and the restaurant manager job description template may be used for such positions as well.

You may wish to utilize software that publishes positions online and records restaurant manager applications if you’re trying to recruit restaurant management. For companies with just one physical location, Homebase provides a free everlasting edition. It publishes job openings and keeps track of candidates and interviews until the appropriate individual is found. It may then schedule all of your staff by shift and keep track of their hours worked.

Costs of a Job Description for a Restaurant Manager

Here are the costs you might pay to finalize yOur Dining Room manager job description:

Consulting: If you outsource your HR needs, you might pay a few hundred dollars to have yOur Dining Room manager job description modified for your business and location. Some legal services will review your documents for as low as $39 each.
Storage: As part of your recruiting paperwork, you’ll want to maintain your job descriptions for at least two years—most organizations now utilize an online HR or payroll provider (most offer online file storage). A secured file cabinet, on the other hand, may cost less than $100.

A job description is inexpensive to create and maintain. Some people consider it more of a cost-cutting tool than an expenditure. Because a job description for a restaurant manager will assist you in making a better hiring decision. As a consequence, you’re more likely to choose a restaurant manager who can execute the job successfully right away. It may also help you avoid making an expensive hiring error.

Providers of Restaurant Manager Job Description Templates

You’ll find experts in HR, payroll, and restaurants that provide job description templates for restaurant managers and their staff. Also, you can often “borrow” samples from neighboring restaurants or online job boards. Then, tailor them to yOur Dining Room.

Here are some wonderful resources for restaurant manager job descriptions and other resources.

1. Time & Attendance Providers

Because many timekeeping software manufacturers cater to the requirements of restaurant shift schedulers, they may include job description templates you may use to get started. When I Work and Homebase, two of the most popular scheduling and attendance software programs, both include templates as well as free job posting and application monitoring to assist you in filling available jobs for restaurant managers and employees.

2. Vendors of HR Software

Many of the best HR software platforms for small businesses offer job description templates. Zenefits is an example of an affordable HR system for small businesses that includes an HR library full of prebuilt templates plus job offer letters and an employee handbook. All can be customized for yOur Dining Room.

3. Job Boards on the Internet

Subscribers to free job boards like Indeed and commercial job advertising services like ZipRecruiter get access to hundreds of downloadable templates. You may download and alter a restaurant manager job description template to meet your specific company requirements after you’ve found the one you like. This list of free job posting sites is a good place to start.

4. Industry-specific websites

Online industry groups, like the National Restaurant Association, are designed to support restaurant owners and their operations. You’ll find restaurant-specific job descriptions like food and beverage manager, kitchen manager, and dining room manager. Furthermore, an industry website connects you with like-minded business owners. More experienced restaurateurs may help you refine exactly what to include in yOur Dining Room manager job description.

Restaurant Manager Job Description Template Pros & Cons

Starting from a template nearly always saves time as you don’t have to think of what to include in yOur Dining Room manager job description from scratch. However, each restaurant operation is different. For instance, a fine dining establishment that serves cocktails is managed much differently than a barbeque sandwich shop in a strip mall. Thus, you’ll need to do some customization.

The Benefits

The benefit of beginning with a template is as follows:

It saves time: Using a template eliminates the need to think about how to structure your job description. You must instead download and modify it. That’ll save you some time.
It has a better chance of becoming complete: When you attempt to think of all the things a manager might do, it’s easy to overlook something. A template may help you think about all areas of the duties of restaurant management, such as personnel training, food safety, and bank deposits.
Its goal is to assist you to avoid disagreements with your current restaurant manager on what is required in a restaurant management job by using a template.

Cons

On the other hand, there are a few drawbacks to consider:

It’s not your style: You may notice that when you utilize a template, it doesn’t quite match how you would write it. You could wish to incorporate your logo or include a part that describes your company’s culture, work style, or promotional possibilities, for example.
It may not be legal: If you’re ever sued for discrimination or wrongful termination, the job description may be requested by the court. If you use a template from the internet, there’s a chance it won’t stand up as a defense for your company. It’s never a bad idea to have your template examined by an HR or labor law specialist in your state and industry.
It is necessary to update it: You’ll want to maintain your job description updated, just like any other employment document—for example, an offer letter template and an employee handbook—or it will lose its significance over time. To keep it updated, a yearly update is usually sufficient.

Alternatives to Using a Job Description for a Restaurant Manager

A job description is one of the most popular HR tools for describing the work that needs to be done in your company as well as the skills and expertise that job seekers must have. You may, however, want to utilize a more official contract or use a whole other recruiting strategy.

Here are Alternatives to Using a Job Description for a Restaurant Manager.

Contract of Employment

You may choose to develop a full-blown Contract of Employment with yOur Dining Room manager instead of a job description. This document will often be longer and more detailed with the information included like a nondisclosure statement, bonus opportunity, or guaranteed severance payout. Similar to a restaurant manager job description template, you’ll likely have to modify your Contract of Employment template to suit your business and any requests of the person you’re hiring.

Agreement with a Contractor

Using an Agreement with a Contractor makes sense in addition to or instead of a restaurant manager job description when you’re hiring an independent contractor to manage your Dining Room instead of hiring an employee. Hiring a contractor may make sense if you’re trying to turn around a poorly managed operation or you want to “try before you buy,” by seeing how the manager does over a limited timeframe, such as one year.

Templates for Other Job Descriptions

Instead of a restaurant manager job description template, perhaps your business needs to divide the work being done into more distinct roles, such as banquet manager or kitchen manager. Job description templates with those titles may be a better fit for the exact work you want your Dining Room manager to do. For example, if you do all the hiring, bookkeeping, and cooking and want someone to oversee the servers, a restaurant shift manager or assistant job description might be a better fit.

Conclusion

A great restaurant manager is crucial to the success of yOur Dining Room operation, whether it’s a family restaurant or a quick-serve establishment. Having a solid restaurant manager job description template is the tool you’ll need to find and manage that critical staff member.