Front of House Manager in Woodbridge

First Military Recruitment are currently seeking a Front of House Manager on behalf of one of our clients. To support dining room efficiency and provide additional management for the Catering Team, ensuring the highest standards in food, dietary and allergen safety as a critical part of the guest experience. Our client encourages applications from ex-military personnel; however, all candidates will be given due consideration.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Regularly walk the floor to ensure front of house areas meet high cleanliness and hygiene standards.
• Understand menus and allergen implications and liaise with Head Chefs and the Catering Manager on dietary issues.
• Monitor due diligence records, advise on corrective actions for failures, and train the front of house team on food safety and HACCP procedures.
• Conduct risk assessments in the dining room, maintain a safe working environment and ensure all equipment is properly maintained.
• Manage front of house operations during meal services, ensuring a well-presented, stocked and maintained dining environment while providing excellent customer service and addressing service failings for ongoing improvement.
• Act as the first point of contact for guests, capturing feedback, responding to queries and complaints and working closely with the kitchen team for efficient service and minimal waste.
• Provide assistance to the team during busy periods, continuously assess ways of working, escalate issues appropriately and assist colleagues with queries in the dining room.
• Provide line management, training and on-the-job coaching to ensure front of house colleagues deliver high quality guest experiences, delegating tasks effectively and managing performance.
• Manage cross-departmental working relationships, set expectations, allocate resources and monitor workplace performance, providing colleagues with regular 1:1 feedback and using coaching and mentoring to support development and career progression.
• Lead cross-functional meetings and oversee staffing, recruitment, workforce planning, attrition, holidays and performance updates for the team.
• Manage purchasing within the approved supply chain, conduct ordering and receipting of goods.
• Consider environmental concerns in departmental operations, including waste management and broader environmental issues across the centre.
• Ensure information flow between departments, implement action plans across catering operations and serve as a positive role model across the centre.
• Continuously improve skills and knowledge in catering and management, participate in centre management and deputise for the Catering Manager as needed.
• Contribute at a senior level to the daily operations of a residential activity centre, attending and contributing to meetings, handling staff queries, emergencies, conducting on-call duties and aiding across departments and other centres as needed.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Proven experience of coaching and mentoring.
• Management of employee relation and welfare issues, at an appropriate level of severity.
• Experience of creating and delivering effective training.
• IT literate in a range of MS Office applications (Word, Excel).
• Ability to manage, mentor and develop individuals and teams to fulfil their potential.
• Looks for new or innovative approaches to solve the issue.
• Knowledge of catering.
• Dietary and allergen knowledge.
• Knowledge of mass catering operation best practice.
• Provides positive and constructive feedback and uses coaching to improve performance.
• Adopts a positive attitude to change and looks to improve the way we work by challenging the status quo.
• Enhanced DBS check.

Desirable:

• Level 3, or above, Leadership and Management qualification.
• Level 3, or above, Education and Training qualification.
• First Aid Training / First Aid Trainer.
• Full UK Drivers licence.