Restaurant Manager

Description

Summary: The Restaurant Manager drives operational excellence, guest satisfaction, and team alignment by leading with strategic vision, fostering hospitality, and overseeing all operations. Highlights: 1. Lead operations, ensuring exceptional guest experiences and brand standards. 2. Inspire, support, and align a diverse team with strong leadership. 3. Drive success through structured processes, quality, and genuine hospitality. **Javá Restaurant Manager** **Vida Plena** is an innovative hospitality group founded in Lisbon in 2018, dedicated to making our guests and team feel truly at home. We pride ourselves on delivering warm, blissful experiences, fostering a diverse and inclusive atmosphere, serving top\-quality fresh food, and providing exceptional service. **The Role** As a **Restaurant Manager**, you drive the venue's success by ensuring operational excellence, guest satisfaction, and team alignment. You lead by example — balancing strategic vision with day\-to\-day execution, creating a culture where quality, efficiency, and genuine hospitality thrive. With a calm and structured approach, you oversee all aspects of operations, guiding your team toward consistency, care, and lasting impact. **Your Key Responsibilities** * Ensure a consistently strong guest experience, maintaining high service standards and creating a welcoming, attentive, and memorable atmosphere. * Guarantee the execution of Javá brand standards, operational policies, service rituals, and the attitude that reflects the venue's vibrant spirit and pace. * Lead with strong operational presence on key days, peak shifts, and events, staying close to service flow, guest needs, team performance, and real\-time priorities. * Oversee both floor and bar operations, ensuring service quality, product consistency, ambience, communication, and team coordination are aligned throughout each shift. * Manage team scheduling from planning to publication, ensuring shifts are well organized, communicated, and aligned with business levels, key moments, and events. * Control absences in the HRIS and review team clock\-in and clock\-out records before designated payroll dates, ensuring accuracy, fairness, and timely follow\-up. * Lead team management processes, including onboarding and induction of new joiners, performance management and reviews, vacation planning, team organization, and active input on contract renewals. * Recruit, train, coach, and motivate the team, providing regular feedback and fostering a positive, accountable, and growth\-oriented work environment. * Ensure the restaurant complies with health, safety, and sanitation standards by monitoring HACCP protocols, enforcing hygiene practices, and maintaining operational discipline. * Ensure proper opening and closing procedures, including venue readiness, team briefings, floor and bar setup, stock checks, equipment checks, handovers, and end\-of\-day documentation. **What We Expect From You** * Experience: At least 3 years in a similar role, with proven leadership and management experience in high\-quality, guest\-focused operations. * Strong experience managing both restaurant floor and bar service. * Confident leading busy services, events, and high\-pressure operational moments with calm, structure, and presence. * Strong understanding of FOH and BOH coordination, team management, scheduling, HRIS routines, payroll\-related processes, and daily operational controls. * Inspiring, supportive, and decisive leadership style, able to motivate, guide, and align a diverse team. * Strong sense of brand standards, service consistency, and guest experience. * Natural alignment with Javá's vibrant spirit, rhythm, and hospitality culture. * Clear and charismatic communicator who connects easily with staff, guests, HQ, and the Leadership Team. * Strong planning, organizational, and problem\-solving skills. * Solid understanding of HACCP, health and safety, sanitation, and operational standards. * Fluent in English; Portuguese or other local language skills are a plus. * Reliable, guest\-centric, and hands\-on, leading with confidence, care, and consistency. **What You'll Love About Working Here** At Vida Plena, you're not just taking a position; you're joining a community that values joy, respect, and a collective pursuit of excellence. If you're prepared to bring your expertise, passion, and innovation to our team, we're excited to welcome you into our fold. A flavor of your first 100 days at Vida Plena At Vida Plena, leadership is about presence — being there for the team, anticipating needs, and guiding with clarity and purpose. In your first 100 days, you'll focus on aligning people, process, and performance to build a foundation for lasting success. * **Immerse** — Understand Vida Plena's operational structure, Javá's brand standards, guest philosophy, floor and bar rhythm, and how excellence and empathy shape every decision. * **Lead** — Build trust with your team, establish clear communication, and set expectations that reflect Vida Plena values and Javá's vibrant spirit. * **Be Present** — Ensure strong visibility during key days, peak shifts, and events, using those moments to coach the team, support service flow, and understand operational opportunities. * **Structure** — Review scheduling, HRIS routines, timekeeping, vacation planning, performance touchpoints, and contract renewal processes to create clarity and consistency. * **Optimize** — Review operational systems, stock control, costs, budgets, and service processes to identify opportunities for efficiency and growth. * **Elevate** — Monitor guest feedback, Google reviews, service standards, and team training needs, then turn insights into practical action with HQ and the Leadership Team. * **Empower** — Support your team through training, feedback, recognition, and fair performance management, ensuring alignment across all roles. * **Con****nect** — Build great relationships with your teammates, encouraging trust, open communication, and a friendly, supportive environment.