Restaurant General Manager

PRIMARY FUNCTION: Restaurant General Manager

DEPARTMENT: Food & Beverage

REPORTS TO: Director of Food & Beverage

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Major areas of responsibility include, but are not limited to:

• Lead the pre-opening and opening of a new restaurant concept, including operational planning, team build-out, training execution, and successful launch in alignment with The Dewberry brand standards.
• Manage, direct, and organize all aspects of the restaurant operation—both pre- and post-opening—ensuring the highest standards of food and beverage quality, service excellence, operational discipline, and guest satisfaction.
• Partner with the Director of Food & Beverage, Culinary leadership, and internal stakeholders on pre-opening timelines, readiness milestones, and go-live execution.
• Ensure food standards are consistently upheld in partnership with culinary leadership. While culinary execution is led by the Executive Chef, the Restaurant General Manager is responsible for enforcing food quality, sanitation, and consistency standards and holding Sous Chefs and kitchen teams accountable when senior culinary leadership is not present.
• Always serve as an ambassador of the restaurant and The Dewberry. Promote and market the restaurant through opening initiatives, special events, community engagement, networking, and public-facing representation.
• Lead, coach, and manage the outlet leadership team, including hiring and development of opening leadership roles, challenging them to grow professionally while ensuring accountability to standards, financial goals, and service expectations.
• Interview, select, onboard, train, evaluate, and discipline restaurant colleagues and leaders in partnership with People & Culture, with particular focus on pre-opening recruitment, training cadence, and cultural alignment.
• Develop and execute comprehensive opening training programs, including service standards, food and beverage knowledge, systems training, and leadership expectations to ensure operational readiness at opening.
• Write and manage weekly staff schedules, aligning labor deployment with forecasted business levels while ensuring service coverage and adherence to budgeted labor targets.
• Maintain responsibility for labor planning, proactively identifying overtime risk, staffing gaps, and scheduling inefficiencies, particularly during the opening and stabilization period.
• Conduct and lead pre-shift meetings and service briefings; ensure clear, consistent communication of operational priorities, menu changes, guest feedback, and service expectations.
• Maintain daily operational and management notes to establish continuity, accountability, and service standards across leadership teams.
• Interact with guests throughout service periods, maintaining a visible leadership presence to ensure satisfaction, address concerns, and support service recovery efforts—particularly during the opening phase.
• Maximize restaurant profitability by implementing effective controls across all COGS, labor, operating supplies, and controllable expenses, while actively monitoring financial performance from opening through stabilization.
• Maintain full profit and loss accountability for the restaurant, including participation in budget planning, forecasting, and financial reviews with the Director of Food & Beverage and Finance.
• Review and evaluate operational and financial performance of the restaurant. Identify opportunities for improvement and implementing corrective action plans as needed.
• Ensure consistency in service standards, pricing integrity, restaurant image, and physical presentation of the space, particularly as standards are established during opening.
• Enforce uniform, grooming, and professional appearance standards for all service team members.
• Uphold all brand standards of both the restaurant and the hotel, ensuring every guest interaction reflects The Dewberry’s service philosophy and reputation from opening day forward.
• Maintain effective communication between Front of House, Culinary, People & Culture, Finance, Marketing, and Engineering partners to ensure seamless pre-opening coordination and ongoing operations.
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, health and safety standards, and internal policies and procedures.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• High school diploma or GED required, additionaleducation in hospitality, business, or related field preferred.
• Minimum of5–8years of progressive leadership experience in fine dining and/or luxury hospitality restaurant operations.
• Prior opening or significant relaunch experience is highly preferred, including hiring, training, and operational ramp-up.
• Demonstrated success managing complex restaurant operations with full P&L responsibility.
• Strong business acumen with experience in budgeting, forecasting, labor management, and cost control.
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop management teams and service professionals.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills with the ability to interact professionally and diplomatically with guests, colleagues, and leadership skills.
• Comfort operating and overseeing restaurant systems including POS, reservations platforms, payroll/timekeeping, and standard business software.
• Ability to manage high-pressure service environments with sound judgment, discretion, and professionalism.
• Must be available to work nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours based on business needs, particularly during opening.

BENEFITS OF JOINING THE DEWBERRY TEAM:

• 401K with Company Match (4%)*
• Education Reimbursement*
• Paid Maternity Leave*
• Complimentary Downtown Parking
• Complimentary Dry Cleaning
• Complimentary Daily Lunch Buffet
• Best-in-class health & supplemental insurance*
• Optional Supplemental Coverages*
• Financial Advising with Roadside Capital
• Competitive Pay
• Advancement & Growth Opportunities
• Full-Time and Part-Time Positions
• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Indicates eligibility requirement

WHO WE ARE:

We are a tight-knit group of passionate individuals who are unrelenting when it comes to offering a flawless experience at The Dewberry while maintaining our unique brand standards. Every Teammate plays a key role in contributing to the success of the whole hotel.

ABOUT THE DEWBERRY:

As a 2022 Condé Nast Traveler Gold List award recipient for Best Hotel in the World, The Dewberry is located in the heart of downtown Charleston, bordering Marion Square, just steps from the shopping and dining on King Street, Museum Mile and The Gaillard Center.

Offering 153 thoughtfully appointed rooms, world-class service and unparalleled views, The Dewberry occupies the former L. Mendel Rivers (circa 1964) federal building and pays homage to Charleston’s century architectural splendor. The hotel is the result of owner John Dewberry’s vision of “Southern ReimaginedTM,,” which he developed over the course of an eight-year renovation and preservation of the building. The hotel features several event spaces along with the nationally celebrated cocktail program at the brass bar in The Living Room, the whimsical cocktail lounge Citrus Club, treatments at our urban oasis, The Spa, the curated boutique The Shop as well as The Fifth Avenue Club by Saks Fifth Avenue.

The Dewberry is known among teammates, guests, and the community as a leader in the field of hospitality. As a brand, The Dewberry teammates, experience, and brand are authentic, humble, and innovative operators driven to anticipate needs and exceed expectations.