At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and inspire teams to deliver exceptional food experiences across multiple locations.
- Company: Join a global leader in food travel with a passion for great service.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, discounts, wellbeing support, and career development opportunities.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team with a focus on sustainability and community.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on customer journeys while developing your leadership skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in managing multi-unit operations and strong leadership abilities required.
The predicted salary is between 45000 - 45000 £ per year.
If you're passionate about food and travel, you've come to the right place. We are the Global food travel experts, and we have something delicious for everyone. Whether you're flying, taking a train, or just passing by, we have the best food and drink options for you.
As Lead General Manager, you'll be rewarded with a competitive salary of £45,000 p.a. and enjoy:
- Discounted meal on shift
- Colleague discount - up to 50%
- Friends & Family discount up to 20% (T&C apply)
- Access to digital GPs, 24/7 helpline for you & family
- Wellbeing support through Retail Trust and family friendly leave
- Variety of networks to support you, Neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ and many more
- Life assurance
- Apprenticeships and ongoing development opportunities
- Share incentive plan (SIP)
Role Summary
It takes a lot of great people to run one of our units, and it takes an Inspirational Leader to ensure our units deliver exceptional customer service and operational excellence. You’ll face lots of interesting challenges as you lead your team and business to be the “best part of our customers journey” every day.
Your Key Accountabilities
The Lead General Manager is accountable for leading and managing the full site operation, overseeing multiple units within a location. They are responsible for driving commercial performance, operational excellence and compliance standards across the site. This role ensures a seamless and efficient operation while fostering a high-performing, people-focused culture that delivers results in line with business goals.
Main Responsibilities
People Management & Talent Development
- Lead, coach, and develop Managers and their teams to build capability and engagement across the site.
- Oversee scheduling and workforce planning to meet operational demands and optimise labour spend.
- Support recruitment, onboarding and retention efforts across all site units.
- Take full ownership of the site’s P&L, identifying opportunities to improve revenue, reduce costs and maximise profitability.
- Monitor and manage labour, waste, and stock control in line with targets.
- Analyse performance data to inform decisions and take corrective action where needed.
Standards, Compliance & Audits
- Ensure full compliance with all Food Safety, Health & Safety, and operational policies and procedures.
- Lead internal and external audits across the site, driving continuous improvement and embedding best practices.
- Ensure all units maintain required documentation and are always audit-ready.
Business Performance & Strategic Input
- Work closely with Operations managers and support functions to contribute to the wider regional strategy.
- Identify and implement local initiatives to improve customer satisfaction, team engagement and commercial performance.
- Act as the key point of contact for site-wide communications and operational updates.
- Sustainability awareness to include environmental and social responsibility.
Key Skills and Experience
- Proven experience managing multi-unit operations, ideally within a high-volume retail, hospitality or food service environment.
- Strong leadership and people development skills, with a track record of building high-performing teams.
- Solid understanding of P&L management, labour control and commercial decision-making.
- Experience in Food Safety and Health & Safety compliance, including managing audits.
- Excellent organisational, communication and problem-solving skills.
- Adaptability, resilience and a hands‑on approach to managing through others.
- Experience using operational systems like WFM, Lynx.
- Ability to respond to unexpected challenges such as staff shortages, customer complaints, supply chain issues.
- Experience of communicating with external and internal stakeholders.
SSP are proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer that seek to recruit and retain the most talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds, skills and perspectives.
Lead General Manager - East Midlands employer: SSP Deutschland GmbH
At SSP, we pride ourselves on being a leading employer in the food travel sector, offering a vibrant work culture that values diversity and inclusion. As a Lead General Manager in the East Midlands, you'll benefit from competitive pay, extensive employee support programmes, and opportunities for professional growth through apprenticeships and development initiatives. Join us to lead a passionate team dedicated to delivering exceptional customer experiences while enjoying perks like discounted meals and wellbeing resources.
