Operations Manager — Multi-Site Leadership, Independent Premium London Café Group
From £60,000 per year + bonus/KPI Incentives TBC (Circa £10,000 per year after probation period)
This is a business that already runs well — three established locations open daytime only, a strong following and brand presence supported by a small and highly experienced leadership team. What it needs now is someone who is hands-on, understands how an upmarket cafe restaurant operates with the career experience that brings with it an attention to detail and leadership to ensure the business and teams deliver an exceptional guest experience. If that's you — if you'd rather be on the floor solving the day to day challenges and supporting the senior leadership underpinned by great structure and process — this is worth a conversation.
The Opportunity:
You'll be the person the General Managers call when something's gone wrong, and the person who can step into the floor and support service without missing a beat. You will have intimate knowledge of the businesses with full responsibility and accountability for the multi-site PnL, the blueprint SOPs that support the operations and the senior cafe GMs leading full business and management reviews week to week. You will have the autonomy to move between the various locations supporting the challenges and driving growth in preparation for the new-opening plans ahead.
The Business:
A small, founder-led group of premium daytime café and brunch restaurants in London — design-led spaces, a health-conscious, ingredient-focused menu, and a loyal following built site by site rather than bought with marketing spend. Three sites are trading well today, with a fourth — larger than anything the group has opened before — in the pipeline for the year ahead. The founders are still hands-on and close to the business; this isn't a corporate structure, it's a growing independent that wants someone who can help it scale without losing what makes it work. Not a structure of hierarchy but rather a group led by a one-team mentality.
What You'll Do:
- Be the operational backbone across every site — able to assess the state of a restaurant on walking in, and run a shift yourself if the situation calls for it
- Support the General Managers directly — coaching, performance reviews, and genuinely developing them, not just holding them to targets
- Own the commercial numbers that matter — gross profit, labour cost, covers and meal-time duration, average spend — and turn what the data tells you into action on the floor
- Be the buffer that frees up your GMs — absorbing the operational and technical problems (till systems, supplier issues, whatever it is) so they can stay focused on their teams and their guests
- Play a genuine role in the group's growth — recruitment, new site openings, stakeholder relationships, and being comfortable presenting to investors as the business expands
About You:
- Either an experienced multi-site Operations Manager who has already run several locations for a comparable premium, independent food-and-beverage business — or a standout General Manager from a larger, complex, multi-facetted and well-respected restaurant group; ready to step up into your first multi-site role and bring fresh, systems-minded thinking with you
- Genuinely hands-on — you'd rather solve the problem on the floor than manage it from a spreadsheet
- Commercially fluent — comfortable owning GP, labour cost and the operational metrics that actually move a restaurant's performance
- A natural mentor — GMs trust you, come to you, and get better under you
- Ready for a business that's growing, and excited by the idea of shaping how it scales rather than inheriting a finished structure
What's on Offer:
- From £60,000 per year + bonus/KPI Incentives TBC (Circa £10,000 per year after probation period)
- A genuine seat at the table in a founder-led business, with real influence over how it grows
- The chance to shape a senior operations role from the ground up, in a business that's actively investing in its next chapter
Speak Soon
Adam
This role may also be known as: Head of Operations, Area Manager, Multi-Site Manager, Regional Operations Manager, Group Operations Manager, Operations Lead, Café Operations Manager, Restaurant Operations Manager…
INDMGT
Please connect with us on Linkedin or drop us a quick note below and we will get back to you. If you are established and proven in your current role we would love to speak to you so that we can support your career progression now or in the future.
LONDON