Role: General Manager
Reports To: Managing Partner
Direct Reports: PDT Asst. MGR, Hourly Team Members
Key Relationships: Bookkeepers, Crif Dogs Manager, Apres Cru Partners and Team
POSITION SUMMARY: The General Manager at PDT is responsible for leading the daily operations of the PDT and Crif Dogs and ensuring budgeted targets are hit for both revenue and costs. They are also the leader of the team, directing and ensuring the member experience, guest experience are in line with the standards, vision and goals of PDT. The General Manager actively leads by example, inspires, and teaches skills that will elevate the guest experience, their teams, their restaurant, and ultimately PDT as a company
The General Manager must have a full understanding of each area of the business. As such you will be responsible for the weekly reporting of sales, labor, food and beverage COGS, marketing initiatives and overall guest engagement in the restaurant.
The General Manager will also need to build a strong team. They will be responsible for sourcing, interviewing, onboarding, training hourly team members and growing great talent from within.
About PDT
PDT, is an award-winning speak-easy cocktail bar in New York City’s East Village. The bar opened on the other side of the phone booth of Crif Dogs in 2007, six years after Crif Dogs established itself as the iconic downtown hot dog shop. The two businesses thrive together, and the highbrow lowbrow dynamic has developed a loyal following of regulars while providing intriguing appeal to domestic and international tourists. Over the years, PDT has won every major award, including World’s Best Bar by World’s 50 Best and by Tales of the Cocktail, James Beard Award for Best Cocktail Program, and PDT Managing Partner Jeff Bell, was named American Bartender of the Year in 2017. The PDT Cocktail Book is one of the best-selling books of its kind and is found at the top cocktail bars globally.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following and may change or be adjusted at any time:
Leadership:
Bring to life the PDT/Crif values. Engage and inspire the management and line staff.
- Work with the Managing Partner to develop and execute strategies to achieve operational goals at the restaurant level.
- Serve as the ambassador of PDT/Crif to their team, the community.
- Is a leader for the entire team and unites both FOH and BOH towards a common goal of continually raising the bar.
- Conduct weekly manager meetings and daily preshifts
- Leads with an “If you see something, say something” approach to providing feedback to all team members.
- Actively participate in service and the day-to-day operations.
- Delegate key areas of responsibility to managers and lead team members and hold them accountable for following through.
- Handles all staff responsibilities in partnership with the HR team (includes: training and development, employee relations, disciplinary action, documentation, terminations, etc.)
Guest Engagement:
Ensure we are actively engaging with guests, before, during and after their experience.
- Is acutely aware of the atmosphere of the bar and restaurant and works to constantly monitor and adjust it throughout the day.
- Work with the Managing PArtner on PR and marketing to activate company wide and bespoke strategic initiatives.
- Ensure the restaurant team is delivering on our service standards and 100% table touches are non-negotiable at every service.
- Work the floor during guest hours to create hospitality legends and cultivate regulars.
- Ensure consistent execution of Food, Beverage, Service, and Hospitality that aligns with the PDT values.
- Actively listens and engages on all social media channels. Responds to guest comments, both written and verbal, with the ability to creatively solve problems and develop robust solutions that result in fans for life.
- Leads the restaurant team to deliver a great guest experience in order to build lifelong repeat guests.
- Is responsible for handling all repairs and maintenance of the restaurant
- Ensures the entire space looks, smells, and feels on brand (lighting, temperature, bathrooms, cleanliness, and seating arrangements)
Business Acumen and Compliance:
Operate smarter, play offense with sales, build trust with guests and investors.
- Research local sales building opportunities specific to the neighborhood, i.e., lunch to-go sales, delivery, and special events to help grow the business.
- Work with the Managing Partner to implement, monitor, and fine tune clear strategic initiatives to ensure that top and bottom line targets are achieved.
- Focus on a proactive approach to managing prime costs, with an eye on the daily, weekly, monthly and annual projections, and budgets.
- Deliver correct staffing levels, schedules, and systems that allow the restaurant to achieve excellence in operations while taking care of the bottom line.
- Submit weekly costed schedules and accurate inventories, that deliver a great PDT experience while remaining fiscally responsible to budgeted targets.
- Forecast and monitor weekly sales and labor numbers and adjust in the moment to ensure hospitality and financial targets are achieved.
- Communicate targets, goals, and data to the management team in order to achieve financial targets in real time.
- Lead daily and weekly walk through’s to ensure facilities are up to our standard.
- Ensure that HR practices are consistent with PDT/Crif’s values and compliant with all local, state and federal laws.
- Lead a best-in-class approach to cleanliness, safety, sanitation, and food safety.
- Exhibit a mastery of all PDT/Crif Dog’s operational systems. Including the ability to train and delegate to direct reports.
- Ensures Bookkeepers have accurate payroll, inventory, and supporting information to provide timely reporting.
- Provide monthly commentary on Financial performance actual vs. budget with actionable tactics going forward.
Employee Development:
Identify/hire great people and develop them into great PDT leaders.
- Create a talent pipeline of lead FOH and BOH team members.
- Interview and approve the hiring of all hourly team members.
- Ensure that operational and training standards are consistently followed and executed by the entire restaurant team.
- Lead the behavior that creates a safe and enriching workplace for all employees.
- Conduct talent reviews and performance evaluations on a timely basis; recommend promotions or corrective actions where appropriate.
- Provide feedback and hold all salary and hourly team members accountable to
PDT values, goals, and standards.
- Ensure new company initiatives are supported and communicated clearly to all managers and team members.
- Lead and foster a restaurant culture that promotes employee development and coaching on a daily basis.
- Hold monthly one-on-one meetings with all salary employees in order to present clear goals and objectives for each manager to work on.
Additional Skills and Responsibilities:
- Exude excellence in hospitality for all employees and guests.
- Possess excellent strategic planning skills, with an emphasis on delivering, executing and assessing action plans.
- Proactively communicates to ownership, Director of Operations.
- Excellent time management, organizational, strategic thinker and multi-tasker
- Ability to adapt and lead change.
- Analytical and organizational skills, as well the ability to define and effectively solve and deal with a variety of changing situations under stress.
- Must possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to resolve conflicting interests with the goal of obtaining cooperation.
- Passion for exceptional hospitality, food, and beverages.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
- Self-driven, results-oriented, and possesses a solid track-record of leading high-caliber, upscale restaurants.
- Flexible work schedules, including nights and weekends
- May be required to lift, carry, push, or pull heavy objects up to 50 lbs.
- Kneel, bend, or stoop, ascend or descend stairs; be on feet for extended amounts of time
Prefered Experience:
- 3 years in a senior leadership level overseeing a full-service restaurant and ownership of P&L.
- NYC Food Protection Certificate
- Proven Track record overseeing $5 million+ in revenue.
- Bachelor’s Degree preferred.
- Strong foundation of beverage knowledge and barmanship
- Well versed in restaurant industry specific labor laws.
- Proficient in a variety of technology systems, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), Payroll, POS, and COGS Systems.
- Strong communication and organizational skills are essential, as well as the ability to effectively train, coach, evaluate, and discipline employees.
PDT provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.