Tono | HR Manager

HR Manager — Multi-Unit Restaurant Operations

Full-Time | Multi-Brand | Multi-Location

Location:

St. Paul, MN (In Office | WFH Fridays)

Reports to:

VP, People Excellence

Role Summary

Join a growing restaurant group that includes Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, Frank & Andrea, Slice Craft, and Gambino's — built on the belief that great hospitality starts with how we treat our own people. We're hiring an HR Manager who gets that: someone who can be in the field with GMs and team members one day and buttoned-up on wage & hour compliance the next.

This isn't a back-office role. You'll help build the HR function for a company that's actively growing across Minnesota and Wisconsin, with real ownership over how we support our teams and real say in how things get built — not just maintained.

You'll be equal parts people-first partner and compliance backbone: someone who cares as much about a GM having a good week as about getting a wage notice out the door on time. If you like fast pace, real ambiguity, and being trusted to figure things out rather than follow a script, this is your kind of role.

Core Responsibilities

Out in the Field, With the Teams

• Serve as the go-to HR partner for multi-unit and store leadership across all five brands
• Conduct regular field visits — this is a role that lives in restaurants, not just behind a screen
• Support the full employee lifecycle across every MN and WI location, from onboarding to offboarding
• Build and improve HR processes as we grow, rather than inheriting something already fixed in place

People & Employee Relations

• Lead employee relations matters and workplace investigations with care and discretion
• Coach managers through performance conversations and terminations
• Serve as the escalation point for sensitive employee issues — the person people trust to handle it right
• Support administration of our performance review process across team member, GM, and corporate tiers
• Keep documentation clean, consistent, and audit-ready across brands

Wage & Hour and Tip Compliance

• Own compliance execution for tip pooling, gratuity, and service charge policies across brands — including Minnesota's ban on tip credits and FLSA-based exclusion rules for management roles
• Deliver statutory wage notices on time, every time (Minnesota Wage Theft Prevention Act, plus the Wisconsin-equivalent for our Madison location)
• Manage workers' comp reporting under both Minnesota and Wisconsin rules — two different clocks, two different processes, and you'll know the difference cold
• Stay ahead of regulatory changes in both states so nothing catches us by surprise

Systems & Data

• Keep our HRIS (ADP, moving to UKG), scheduling (7shifts), timekeeping (Toast), and applicant tracking (Fountain) data clean and accurate
• Catch and correct discrepancies across systems — active/inactive mismatches, duplicate records, name variants — before they become bigger problems
• Improve reporting so leadership always has real visibility into the people side of the business

Ideal Background

• 5+ years as an HR generalist or HR manager, ideally in restaurants, hospitality, or retail
• Multi-location, multi-state experience — you've done this across more than one set of rules before
• Comfortable in a growth environment where things aren't fully built yet — you'd rather build the process than wait for one

Capabilities That Matter Here

• Strong employment law instincts, especially around wage & hour and tips
• The ability to hold two states' rules in your head at once without mixing them up
• Field credibility — GMs trust you because you show up, not just because you have a title
• A problem-solver's mindset and high follow-through
• Genuine care for people, balanced with real business judgment