Co-General Manager | Sol & Stone Modern American Kitchen

We’re looking for a builder, a partner, and a hands-on restaurant operator.

Sol & Stone Modern American Kitchen is seeking an experienced Co-General Manager to share leadership of the restaurant and help build the systems, standards, accountability, and culture needed for long-term success.

This is not an Assistant General Manager position, nor is it a traditional GM role where one person inherits a fully established operation. As Co-General Manager, you will work in partnership with the restaurant’s other General Manager and restaurant ownership, sharing responsibility for the performance and day-to-day leadership of the business.

Just as importantly, this is not a plug-and-play operation. Sol & Stone is continuing to strengthen its operational foundation. We need a Co-GM who brings an opening-restaurant mentality: someone comfortable assessing what exists, identifying what is missing, creating structure, establishing standards, developing people, and turning expectations into consistent execution.

What Shared Leadership Looks Like

As Co-General Manager, you will partner with the other GM to lead the overall restaurant operation while establishing clear areas of ownership and accountability.

Together, the Co-GMs will share responsibility for:

• Day-to-day restaurant operations and FOH leadership
• Staffing, scheduling, interviewing, and hiring
• Training, coaching, and employee development
• Guest experience and service recovery
• Inventory and controllable expenses
• Labor and operational cost management
• Safety, sanitation, and compliance
• Marketing initiatives, reviews, promotions, and community outreach
• Communication with regional leadership and ownership
• Developing and implementing systems, procedures, and operating standards

This role requires someone who can both lead independently and operate successfully as part of a leadership partnership.

That means:

• Taking ownership without competing for ownership
• Communicating consistently so employees receive one clear leadership message
• Dividing responsibilities while remaining jointly accountable for restaurant results
• Working through differences professionally and supporting agreed-upon decisions
• Stepping into operational gaps rather than assuming they belong to someone else
• Building systems that both Co-GMs and the broader leadership team can consistently execute

You’ll Help Build the Operation

We’re particularly interested in candidates who have opened a restaurant, helped launch a new location, stabilized an under-structured operation, or built systems and standards where they didn’t previously exist.

The successful Co-GM will help:

• Identify and prioritize operational and SOP gaps
• Standardize opening, closing, manager handoffs, pre-shifts, side work, cleaning, and sanitation
• Strengthen guest service and guest recovery
• Recruit, onboard, train, coach, and develop restaurant employees
• Establish clear leadership responsibilities and accountability
• Build consistent management communication
• Monitor labor, sales, inventory, controllable costs, cash handling, and operational performance
• Strengthen POS controls involving discounts, comps, voids, refunds, deposits, employee discounts, and chargebacks
• Create reliable daily closeout and weekly operating-review routines
• Maintain safety, sanitation, certification, and facility standards
• Help create an operation that performs consistently regardless of which Co-GM is in the building

Your First 90 Days

Our successful candidate must be ready and willing to commit to a defined 30-60-90 Day Plan.

This plan is not simply an onboarding document. It establishes the expectations and priorities for the role.

Days 1-30 | Learn, Assess & Stabilize

Learn the business, establish your leadership presence, understand the team, assess existing systems and SOPs, evaluate the guest experience and operational controls, and identify the restaurant’s highest-priority needs.

The goal is to understand the operation before trying to change everything.

Days 31-60 | Implement, Train & Establish Accountability

Move from assessment to execution.

Implement priority SOPs, standardize essential operating routines, strengthen training and onboarding, establish accountability, improve controls, and build a consistent rhythm of management communication and follow-through.

Days 61-90 | Optimize, Measure & Build for Sustainability

Audit what has been implemented, address inconsistencies, evaluate operating and financial performance, continue developing the leadership team, and strengthen systems so the restaurant can operate consistently without depending on one individual to make everything happen.

By Day 90, we expect to see visible operational progress, not simply a completed checklist.

Who We’re Looking For

You’re likely to thrive in this position if you:

• Have demonstrated restaurant management experience in a fast-paced restaurant or bar environment
• Bring an opening, turnaround, or build-the-operation mentality
• See unclear structure as an opportunity to create clarity
• Can identify an operational problem and build a practical process to solve it
• Understand labor, scheduling, inventory, POS controls, cash handling, and restaurant financial performance
• Are comfortable establishing expectations and holding people accountable
• Can develop managers and employees rather than personally becoming the solution to every problem
• Are genuinely comfortable sharing leadership, responsibility, and accountability with another GM
• Can communicate directly and professionally when two leaders have different perspectives
• Lead from the restaurant floor and are willing to jump in when the operation needs you
• Possess strong organizational, time-management, multitasking, customer-service, and problem-solving skills
• Have the flexibility required to lead in a restaurant environment
• Hold or are able to maintain required Illinois Food Handler and BASSET certifications

If you are looking for a completely established operation where every procedure and responsibility has already been defined, this may not be the right opportunity.

If you are energized by the opportunity to build structure, develop people, create consistency, and partner with another strong operator to make a restaurant better, we’d like to meet you.
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