Area Manager/Operations Manager in London

We’re looking for a hospitality leader to join our London Operations team. A rare opportunity for the right person to make a real impact! This person should naturally be a peoples’ person, always leads with warmth and purpose, and brings clarity with each decision they make.

Our cafés are big operations, structurally complex in nature, and not to mention busy! We typically serve circa 10,000 covers per site each week in our central London locations. For such demanding yet truly rewarding environments for guests and team alike, we need to be sure our cafes are in the safest pair of hands.

We’re looking for someone who has the innate ability to lead, motivate and nurture our Senior Managers and their teams. It’s imperative you bring your operational know-how, drive, and people leadership to help us do every day better than the last, while strengthening our cafés as we continue to grow.

About the Role: You’ll look after multiple cafés across London (typically 3 or 4 sites), supporting our General Managers to be the very best they can be. Given the scale, complexity and growing nature of Dishoom, this opportunity is just a starting point. There is huge scope for this role to grow in responsibilities and the impact you can have on the business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coach, support and guide our General Managers to create first-class, big-hearted experiences for every guest who visits, and team member who joins us.
• Partner with our General Managers to achieve commercial success in optimising cover volume, guest experience, and cost controls.
• Drive performance across key KPIs including guest and team feedback, food and drink standards and commercial objectives.
• You’ll be in the cafes supporting teams, reviewing performance, and spotting any opportunity to deepen what we do.
• Be the eyes and ears across our London cafes- ensuring they are running brilliantly and true to the experience we want, feeding back to relevant internal stakeholders where needed.
• Build a big-hearted and first-class culture. Set clear goals and help your teams to achieve them.
• Team happiness is key - ensuring our team are thriving, engaged and have clear pathways for growth.

About you:

• See both the big picture and the smallest details - guiding our teams to ensure we consistently deliver to the standards we expect.
• Possesses solid commercial insight and business acumen, applying a structured and thoughtful approach to all aspects of cost and control management.
• Have a genuine love for creating memorable moments for both guests and team members.
• Lead with confidence and care - making smart decisions, staying calm under pressure, and always keeping team and guests at the heart of what you do.
• Thrive in a fast-growing business, relishing variety and the chance to make a lasting impact as we continue to expand.
• Find joy in helping others shine - building teams that feel proud, connected, and cared for.
• Above all, you lead with warmth and purpose, living our value of Seva - the act of selfless service - in everything you do.

Preferred Experience:

• Proven experience leading big site operations across multiple locations as an Area Manager or Operations Director within a values-led hospitality business.
• A strong track record of developing high-performing leaders and teams.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver business strategies and improve performance across key metrics.

How we’ll support you:

At Dishoom, we care about supporting you and your well-being (inside and outside of work). With this, we tend to think about our team’s well-being in four different ways:

• Financial: Private Healthcare for you and your family. Enhanced family leave and pay, plus specific Dishoom-walla benefits for those growing little families. £200 monthly to spend when dining in Dishoom each month. Beyond that, enjoy 50% off during the day and 25% off in the evening for you and up to five guests. Access to our savings support and financial health planning tool. Free weekly wage advances and emergency cash if ever needed.
• Mental & Physical: All Babus (Managers) are fully trained in mental health support & First Aid. Dedicated support from our confidential advice helpline - available to you or someone in your household – 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. On demand GP appointments, free counselling sessions and life coaching through our wellness app. Free fitness sessions every month (including yoga and spin classes). Calling all cricket fans, we have our very own Dishoom Premier League (an in-house cricket tournament) where you get to compete with your team at Lord’s.
• Socials: We’re a growing company and love nothing more than bringing our teams (and families) together to celebrate everyone’s hard work across the year. You’ll be invited to our Family Mela (summer festival), our huge Christmas celebration, and a once-in-a-lifetime educational trip to Bombay, giving you the chance to experience the culture, flavours and stories that shape all that we do!

Salary: Salary to be discussed. We’re more interested in finding the right person than ticking every box. Maybe your skills are brilliant, but don’t tick every single box or perhaps the salary might need a little tweak. If this role feels like a great fit for you (or almost does!), we’d love to hear from you.

At Dishoom- everyone is welcome. We are committed to having an inclusive and diverse workplace and strongly encourage people from all backgrounds, identities and experience to apply for roles with us.