Operational Excellence Manager

About This Role

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Operational Excellence Manager to lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of operational standards and systems across our restaurant brands.

This role is responsible for ensuring that every restaurant operates with clear standards, consistent execution, measurable performance, and an excellent guest and team experience.

The ideal candidate has strong experience in multi-site F&B or retail operations, SOP development, operational audits, new store opening frameworks, labour modelling, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of SOPs across all brands and restaurant formats.
• Own and maintain the group’s SOP library, ensuring all standards are updated, practical, and auditable.
• Design and manage the operational audit program, including internal store audits and mystery visits.
• Develop audit tools, scoring systems, checklists, and reporting frameworks to measure operational compliance.
• Own the new store readiness framework in coordination with PMO, Real Estate, Operations, and other related departments.
• Develop and maintain labour models for different restaurant formats in coordination with FP&A and HR.
• Identify operational gaps and lead continuous improvement initiatives across restaurants.
• Capture best practices from high-performing stores and scale them across the group.
• Partner with the Training Manager to ensure SOPs are translated into effective training content and practical learning materials.
• Prepare and submit a monthly operational excellence report to the COO, highlighting performance, risks, gaps, and improvement actions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in operations, operational excellence, process improvement, or multi-site restaurant/retail operations.
• Strong experience developing SOPs, operational frameworks, audit programs, and performance standards at group level.
• Experience in F&B, hospitality, retail, or multi-site service operations is essential.

Key Skills & Competencies

• SOP design and documentation.
• Operational audit program management.
• New store opening readiness frameworks.
• Labour modelling and scheduling optimization.
• Continuous improvement methodologies, including Lean and basic Six Sigma principles.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to translate operational standards into practical execution.
• Ability to work with senior leadership and influence teams across departments.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• The ideal candidate is structured, detail-oriented, and highly operational. They understand restaurant realities on the floor but can also design scalable systems at group level. They are comfortable working with Operations, Training, HR, Finance, PMO, and senior leadership to turn standards into consistent execution across multiple locations.