Managing Director

Managing Director – Growing Restaurant Business London with travel

The foundations are there – a strong brand, a product people genuinely love and an experienced team. What they need now is a Managing Director who can take everything that already works and bring greater focus, structure and commercial direction around it.

They’re looking for a restaurant operator at heart, but someone who has progressed beyond purely Operations. You’ll understand the whole business – people, finance, marketing, commercial performance and, importantly, the restaurants themselves.

You’ll lead the team, work closely with the founders and take ownership of the overall performance of the business. There’s plenty to build on, but also an opportunity to challenge how things are done, strengthen the leadership structure and make sure the business is genuinely ready for its next phase.

Commercially, you’ll need to be strong. You’ll know your numbers, understand what drives restaurant profitability and be comfortable making decisions around sales, labour, costs, investment and growth.

But this business doesn’t want to lose its personality in the process.

They need someone who understands that great restaurant businesses are built from the restaurants upwards. Someone who is visible, who knows what is happening on the floor, who talks to teams and guests and who cares about the details of the product and experience.

You’ll probably have:

• Led at MD, COO, Operations Director or similar level within restaurants.
• Managed and developed a senior leadership team.
• Had broad responsibility across Operations, People, Finance and Marketing.
• Owned significant P&L and commercial performance.
• Led a business through growth, change or a period of evolution.
• Worked successfully alongside founders, owners or investors.

There’s no desire to bring in unnecessary corporate layers or change things for the sake of it. They want someone who can understand the business first, identify where it can be better and then bring people with them.

A great role for a commercially strong, people-led restaurant leader who wants genuine influence over what a business becomes next.