General Manager - KOL

At KOL, part of the MJMK group, we focus on celebrating the best of British ingredients through the bold, bright flavours of Mexican cooking. Led by Chef Patron Santiago Lastra, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2022 and has proudly remained on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for three years running. We care deeply about where our food comes from and the people behind it – from the producers we work with to the team in our kitchen. Respect, collaboration, and high standards are at the core of everything we do.

If you're ambitious, curious, and want to work in a focused, thoughtful environment that values craft and culture, we’d love to hear from you.

As KOL continues its success, we’re looking for a General Manager to join the team, who will have full responsibility for their restaurant, the team within the restaurant and its commercial success.

As a General Manager at KOL, we can offer you:

• 50% staff discount across all MJMK Restaurants.
• Opportunity to develop your career with MJMK Restaurants.
• Mental health and well-being assistance with Hospitality Action who can offer free advice and counselling if you’re struggling at work or at home.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay, after your first year with us.
• An enhanced pension plan after you’ve worked with us for 5 years.

Candidate Requirements:

• Minimum 3-5 years in a previous General Manager role – please note, that unfortunately we will not be considering first time GM candidates or those with less than 3 years experience in a GM role.
• Experience operating high revenue sites, averaging £100k+ net per week.
• Obsessed with guest experience and delivering best in class hospitality to each and every guest. We are looking for a hands-on, floor-based GM, leading the team from the front.
• Excels and loves people management, adept at handling personal matters with empathy and professionalism. The ideal candidate is comfortable with difficult conversations, balancing compassion and discipline, while earning the respect of the team and establishing a positive culture.
• Proficient at managing a team of heads of department with the restaurant and delegating, overseeing, and following up on their responsibilities. You will be an excellent judge of ability and required areas of improvement and work to develop your HODs to ensure the restaurant runs like a well-oiled machine, especially when you are not present.
• Expert in recruitment, team development and progression. Comfortable with training across all parts of the restaurant.
• Exceptional attention to detail. Able to spot issues before they arise across all areas of the restaurant, especially as those relate to guest experience and people/team.
• Relentless dedication to quality and consistency of every touch point in the restaurant. Constantly driving improvement across all areas of the restaurant, and its people. Strategic thinker able to identify areas of improvement and propose solutions on a regular basis.
• Comfortable managing, training, developing and overseeing every area of the restaurant – dining room, kitchen, bar, reception/reservations/events.
• Expert on managing P&L: 1) driving revenue through covers, SPH, reservations, events and local neighbour & business engagement. 2) managing costs through excellent labour, GP and all other controllable cost management.
• Diligent in keeping your site looking and operating immaculately when it comes to property, facilities, maintenance and cleanliness.

We’d love to hear from you if you’re an experienced General Manager and you’re up for a new challenge and the opportunity to work alongside Santiago Lastra.