Restaurant General Manager

Restaurant General Manager at Potbelly Sandwich Works.

Potbelly Sandwich Shops, where Good Vibes and Great Careers are a way of life. Come Build the Potbelly Nation with us.

We continue to wake up every day with one goal:
Make people happy through good vibes and delicious craveable food. Put those awesome ingredients together, and there’s no telling what we’ll cook up next!

Job Title: General Manager

Department/Function: Operations

Location: Field, in Shop

Reports to: District Manager

Details: Full-Time, Non-Exempt

Travel Requirements: Rarely

• People
  • Select and hire great employees who represent Potbelly Values.
  • Train and develop all employees to the next level.
  • Assess staff abilities. Create and implement effective development plans.
  • Create and enforce a plan to reduce turnover.
  • Delegate tasks to team and provide follow‑up. Hold team accountable.
  • Build relationships among team members. Provide effective and open communication during team meetings. Recognize positive contributions.
  • Provide timely and thorough performance appraisals based on defined goals and objectives for the shop.
  • Educate team on and enforce all appropriate personnel policies, labor laws, and security and safety procedures.
  • Administer all in‑shop employee benefits and payroll procedures.
• Customers
  • Delight customers with Great Food and Good Vibes.
  • Effectively handle customer complaints/issues.
  • Measure customer satisfaction and execute plan to improve both satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Maintain a clean and inviting shop. Ensure cleanliness, maintenance and security standards are met.
  • Ensure product quality, safety and sanitation standards are met.
  • Provide fast, friendly and accurate service.
  • Continuously improve customer feedback program scores.
• Sales
  • Increase comp sales and deliver budgeted sales each period.
  • Create marketing plan. Lead local shop marketing to increase sales.
  • GM ideally lives in the neighborhood and is involved in the community, school and local business, social and not‑for‑profit activities.
  • Create shop plan to continuously improve the business.
• Profits
  • Control cost of goods, variances and inventories within the shop.
  • Staff and schedule appropriately to control labor costs.
  • Ensure proper cash handling and deposit procedures are followed.
  • Ensure appropriate inventory and ordering systems are in place.
  • Must have financial literacy;
    Ability to understand and learn from financial reports.
  • Ability to increase flow‑through.
• Essential Physical Functions
  • Must have the ability/stamina to work a minimum of 45 hours per week.
  • Ability to stand/walk for 9‑10 hours per day.
  • Must be able to exert well‑paced and frequent mobility for periods of up to five hours.
  • Ability to lift up to 10 pounds frequently and up to 50 pounds occasionally.
  • Will frequently reach, feel, bend, stoop, carry, finely manipulate and key in data.
  • Must be able to work in both warm and cool environments, indoors (95%) and outdoors (5%).
  • Must be able to tolerate higher levels of noise from music, customer and employee traffic.
  • Must be able to tolerate potential allergens: peanut products, egg, dairy, gluten, soy, seafood and shellfish.

• Knows, lives and can teach Potbelly Values.
• Adopts the Potbelly Values as their personal values.
• Has excellent communication skills, including active listening and the ability to ask great questions.
• Has a sustained record of leading teams to success.
• Possesses an extremely strong work ethic.
• Is educated and an active learner.
• Takes initiative to solve problems and to get things done correctly and on time.
• Has the ability to grow other leaders.
• Exhibits humility and self‑confidence.
• Knows how and successfully grows sales/business profitably.
• Minimum of at least 2 years experience as a General Manager in restaurant or retail environment with P&L responsibility;
  Restaurant Industry, preferred.
• High School degree;
  Bachelor’s degree, preferred.
• Strong business acumen. Ability to see “Big Picture.”
• Ability to manage a fast‑paced, high‑volume, clean, customer‑focused restaurant.
• Must have open availability.
• As a requirement of the position, all Shift Leaders and Managers must be trained and pass a Food Safety Certification course (varies by state).
• Ability to comprehend and communicate in English via verbal and written communication.
• Must spend 80‑90% of time on the shop floor in the Front of the House.
• Must have financial literacy. Ability to understand financial reports.
• Exceptional customer service skills.
• Strong time‑management skills. Ability to multi‑task, prioritize and organize.
• Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to select, develop, inspire and manage strong teams.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to delegate, follow‑up and hold team accountable.
• Ability to create and execute effective plans to build the business.
• Must have the ability to set budgets and maintain food and beverage cost.
• Ability to follow expectations and guidelines set by Potbelly.
• Microsoft Office skills.