Restaurant Advisory & Operations Manager

About the Role

RDMS is an accounting, advisory, and operations support firm serving independent restaurant groups and founder-led hospitality businesses. The owners of RDMS also own / operate restaurants, including a specific flagship restaurant where this role will provide operational oversight.

RDMS is hiring a Restaurant Advisory & Operations Manager to work directly with a Managing Partner across these two connected areas of the business:

• Oversight of a flagship restaurant operated by the partners.
• Client operations and advisory support for RDMS restaurant and hospitality clients.

This is a hybrid leadership role for someone with real restaurant operating experience, strong financial literacy, sound judgment, and the ability to keep people, vendors, priorities, and operating results aligned.

On the restaurant side, this role sits between RDMS ownership and restaurant leadership. The restaurant has an experienced GM, Chef, HR vendor, facilities vendor, and accounting support (via RDMS) in place. This role does not replace them. The GM and Chef remain responsible for day-to-day execution, but they report through this role for oversight, accountability, and support.

This is not a 40-hour-per-week restaurant GM role. The restaurant responsibility is a defined part of the week, expected to include approximately 1–2 scheduled days per week on site. That time will be segmented intentionally so the restaurant work is focused and not distracted by unrelated RDMS client work.

On the RDMS side, this role supports the Managing Partner with client communication, follow-through, operational roadblocks, meeting action items, vendor/client coordination, and advisory-related work. This role does not manage a fixed client portfolio and is not an accounting production role.

Over time, the role may grow into client implementations, client P&L review meetings, restaurant advisory work, client consulting, and helping develop a broader department under the Managing Partner.

This role is designed for a seasoned operator who wants to take their hard-earned operational experience and apply it to the business and financial side of the hospitality industry. This position will provide immersive training in RDMS’s restaurant finance, reporting, technology, and advisory systems. You will keep one foot in the game by providing oversight to a fully managed flagship restaurant, while using the rest of your week to dive deep into the financial and operational mechanics that keep hospitality businesses profitable.

More About RDMS Clients

Our clients are often entrepreneurial operators who move quickly, wear multiple hats, and may not always have the same internal structure as larger corporate organizations.

Our work combines accounting, communication, systems, operating discipline, and practical follow-through.

Restaurant Oversight Responsibility

A major part of this role is providing big-picture oversight for a flagship restaurant operated by the partners.

The restaurant has a highly experienced and tenured General Manager, a Chef, HR vendor support, facilities vendor support, and other established resources. The restaurant is also an RDMS client for financial services. This role does not replace those people or vendors. Instead, this role makes sure those functions are working, aligned, supported, followed up on, and moving in the right direction.

This role is responsible for making sure the GM, Chef, vendors, and operating priorities remain aligned with ownership expectations, financial goals, and the overall quality standards of the restaurant.

The Chef remains responsible for kitchen execution, food quality, food cost controls, kitchen staffing, ordering discipline, prep standards, and back-of-house performance.

The GM remains responsible for day-to-day restaurant operations, service execution, guest experience, wine program, floor leadership, front-of-house staffing, communication, and normal operating routines.

This role makes sure those functions are working, supported, followed up on, and moving in the right direction.

Restaurant oversight includes helping the GM stay ahead of administrative responsibilities, assisting with sales forecasting, monitoring financial performance, tracking budget expectations, keeping HR and facilities matters moving through the appropriate vendors, and identifying issues before they become ownership-level problems.

RDMS Client Operations Responsibility

The second major part of this role is supporting the Managing Partner with RDMS client operations by helping accounting departments resolve client, vendor, or communication roadblocks that are preventing work from moving forward.

There is no specific assigned client portfolio in this role. Instead, this role supports the Managing Partner, Director of Accounting, and Department Supervisors across clients and departments when communication, operational friction, vendor issues, or unclear ownership are preventing progress.

Examples include:

• A client is not responding to requests from the AP, payroll, or accounting team.
• A vendor or third party is holding up progress.
• A meeting creates action items that need to be tracked across departments.
• Internal teams need help getting information, answers, approvals, or decisions from a client.
• A client-facing issue is stuck and needs ownership, communication, and follow-through.

The goal is not to become a permanent middleman between clients and accounting teams. The goal is to help get issues unstuck, strengthen communication and process, and return ownership to the correct department once the issue is resolved.

Primary Responsibilities

Restaurant Operating Oversight

• Provide oversight for a flagship restaurant operated by the partners.
• Support and hold accountable the GM and Chef without replacing their day-to-day responsibilities.
• Help ensure restaurant leadership is aligned with ownership expectations.
• Monitor sales, labor, food cost, margins, budgets, and operating results.
• Assist with sales forecasting and budget tracking, including for facility maintenance.
• Help the GM stay ahead of administrative responsibilities and operating priorities.
• Make sure HR-related matters are moving through the appropriate HR vendor.
• Make sure facilities-related matters are moving through the appropriate facilities vendor.
• Identify operating risks, communication gaps, or follow-through issues before they become larger problems. This may include cultural, operational, financial, vendor, or facilities issues.
• Spend approximately 1–2 scheduled days per week on site at the restaurant.
• Report to RDMS ownership on overall restaurant performance, leadership alignment, and operational priorities.

Managing Partner Support, Client Operations, and Issue Resolution

• Work directly with the Managing Partner on client-facing operational issues.
• Attend selected client meetings and prepare recaps, action items, and follow-up communication.
• Track action items to completion for client satisfaction and internal accountability.
• Help move client requests, internal follow-up, and deliverables to completion.
• Communicate clearly with clients, vendors, restaurant leaders, and internal teams.
• Follow up until an issue is resolved, reassigned, or escalated.
• Help clarify expectations, deadlines, ownership, and next steps.
• Make sure issues do not get lost between clients, vendors, departments, or leadership when the role is asked to help resolve a roadblock.
• Identify what is blocking progress and recommend practical next steps for matters this role is asked to support.
• Bring developed recommendations to the Managing Partner when approval or guidance is needed.
• Drive approved actions through completion.
• Support process improvements when repeated client or vendor issues are creating delays.

Growth Opportunities

This role currently sits within a department held by a Managing Partner. As the department develops, the right person may have opportunities to help define processes, expand capacity, and eventually manage future staff added to the department in various capacities.

Future growth opportunities may include:

• Leading new client implementations from kickoff through steady-state service.
• Learning how RDMS analyzes and presents financial information to restaurant operators.
• Participating in and eventually leading client financial review and P&L meetings.
• Supporting or leading restaurant advisory and consulting projects.
• Helping build a structured client advisory department under the Managing Partner.

The goal is not to turn this role into an accounting position. The goal is to create a growth path for someone who can combine restaurant operating experience, financial literacy, communication, ownership, and advisory judgment.

What This Role Does Not Do

This role does not:

• Perform bookkeeping or accounting production work.
• Prepare financial statements.
• Own accounting quality control.
• Make final technical accounting decisions.
• Manage accounting staff.
• Replace the Director of Accounting Operations or Accounting Supervisors.
• Serve as the full-time General Manager of the restaurant.
• Serve as the Executive Chef.
• Replace HR, facilities, accounting, or other professional vendors.
• Become the permanent communication layer between every client and every department.

Accounting execution, accounting staff development, capacity planning, and accounting quality remain with the accounting leadership team.

Day-to-day restaurant execution remains with the GM and Chef.

This role owns big-picture operating oversight, follow-through, communication, financial awareness, and alignment with ownership expectations.

Reporting Structure

This position reports directly to Tom Rutledge, Managing Partner.

The role works closely with restaurant management, restaurant vendors, RDMS Accounting Supervisors, the RDMS Director of Accounting Operations, RDMS Partners, RDMS clients, and third parties when needed.

Required Experience and Skills

Restaurant and Hospitality Operations Experience

Restaurant, hospitality, or multi-unit operations experience is required.

Strong candidates may come from backgrounds such as:

• Director of Operations
• Multi-unit restaurant management
• Restaurant group operations
• Hospitality operations leadership

You must understand the realities of operating restaurants: staffing, service, kitchen execution, labor, food cost, guest expectations, vendor issues, maintenance, administration, and the constant need for follow-through.

Business Number Literacy

You do not need to be an accountant. We will teach you how we do finance.

You should understand how a business is managed using financial information, including:

• P&Ls
• Food cost
• Labor cost
• Sales forecasting
• Operating to budgets
• Scheduling
• Controllable costs

If you have never managed a hospitality business, department, location, or operating area using numbers, this role will likely be difficult.

Operational Judgment

You should have experience managing people, priorities, projects, departments, locations, vendors, or client-facing work.

You should be able to see when something is assigned but not actually handled, when a leader needs support, when a vendor needs follow-up, when a financial trend needs attention, and when ownership needs to be informed.

Communication Skills

This role requires strong written and verbal communication.

You must be able to:

• Communicate clearly with busy restaurant operators.
• Communicate clearly with ownership.
• Follow up without being pushy or passive.
• Handle unclear situations calmly.
• Build trust with clients, vendors, managers, and internal teams.
• Explain what is needed, by when, and why.
• Keep issues moving without creating unnecessary conflict.
• Give leadership support while still holding people accountable.

Systems and Vendor Awareness

It is helpful if you understand common restaurant systems and vendors, such as POS systems, online ordering platforms, inventory systems, event systems, payroll systems, scheduling systems, HR vendors, and facilities vendors.

You do not need to be an expert in every system. You do need to be comfortable learning how systems, vendors, people, and financial results connect to daily operations.

Good Fit

You may be a strong fit if you:

• Have real, multi-unit restaurant operating experience.
• Can support experienced managers while still holding them accountable.
• Are good at getting stuck issues finished.
• Can work with incomplete information and still identify the next step.
• Are comfortable talking to owners, GMs, chefs, clients, vendors, operators, and internal teams.
• Understand that strong operations require both people and process.
• Know how to follow up until something is actually done.
• Can review numbers and connect them to what is happening operationally.
• Can build trust without taking over everyone else’s job.
• Are comfortable splitting your week between restaurant oversight and RDMS client operations work.

Poor Fit

This role is probably not a good fit if you:

• Want a traditional 40-hour-per-week restaurant GM role.
• Want a purely remote client service role with no restaurant oversight.
• Need every task to have a perfectly defined process before you can act.
• Avoid follow-up when people do not respond.
• Prefer accounting production work over communication, coordination, and operating oversight.
• Want to manage a fixed client portfolio.
• Want to manage accounting staff.
• Create dependency instead of helping teams and leaders resolve issues.
• Are uncomfortable holding experienced restaurant leaders accountable.
• Are not located in the Bay Area.

Benefits

Pay: $100,000.00 - $125,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• Multi-Unit Restaurant Management: 7 years (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• San Francisco, CA 94111 (Required)

Work Location: In person