Senior Operations Manager

Mars Recruitment; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars Recruitment in Sydney, Australia, seeks a senior operations leader to drive a $250 million hospitality portfolio across multiple restaurants. You will lead 9 Area Managers, set priorities, and ensure sales, profit and guest experience meet the brand standards.

Reporting to the COO, you will translate growth plans into daily performance, coach leaders, manage budgets, and ensure high service quality. Travel across the market including nights and weekends is required.

Qualifications

• Senior operations leadership with multi-site experience.
• Strong financial acumen interpreting P&L data.
• Strategic thinker with practical problem solving.

Responsibilities

• Own the market budget and plan; accountable for revenue, same-store growth, profit, labour and product costs.
• Spot opportunities for new sites, refurbishments, marketing activity and local growth; present to the COO.
• Coach and develop Area Managers; translate priorities into actionable field directions.
• Lift service quality, order accuracy and guest satisfaction across all restaurants.
• Ensure safety inspections are maintained and escalated issues resolved promptly.
• Lead performance conversations and build succession plans for future leaders.

Skills

Senior operations leadership

P&L financial acumen

Coaching multi-site teams

Strategic thinker

Stakeholder communication

Education

Tertiary qualification in business/marketing/finance

MBA (well regarded)

Job description

A leading operator of a world-famous hospitality brand is seeking a senior operations leader to take charge of a HUGE market. Roles like this do not come up often!

Reporting to the COO you'll be the person who turns the group's growth plans into daily performance across a $250 million portfolio. Your team is 9 Area Managers, and your job is to make them better. You'll set clear priorities, hold the field to account for sales and profit, and make sure every restaurant delivers a consistently excellent guest experience while working to the company's operating standards.

Key responsibilities

• Own the market budget and plan, and be accountable for revenue, same-store growth, profit contribution, and labour and product costs
• Spot opportunities for new sites, refurbishments, marketing activity and local growth, and bring well-argued recommendations to the COO
• Keep a close eye on competitors and the wider market, and adjust the plan quickly when conditions change
• Translate group and franchisor priorities into clear, practical direction for the field
• Lift service quality, order accuracy and guest satisfaction scores across every restaurant
• Make sure escalated complaints are resolved properly and quickly, and use the trends to drive improvement
• Keep local council and food safety inspections to a high standard, and close out any actions promptly
• Coach, challenge and develop your Area Managers, and measure them against clear performance goals
• Build a strong bench of future restaurant and area leaders, with development plans and succession pathways that work
• Lead honest performance conversations and act early when results or behaviours fall short

About you

• A senior operations or commercial leader with a proven record of delivering sales, profit and people results across many sites
• Experience leading other multi-site leaders, with the credibility to coach experienced operators
• Strong financial acumen, comfortable interpreting P&L data and making decisions from it
• A strategic thinker who can also solve practical problems at pace
• A collaborative communicator who builds trust with executives, franchisor teams and restaurant crews alike
• A tertiary qualification in business, marketing or finance is preferred, and an MBA would be well regarded
• Hands-on field leadership with significant time travelling across the market, wearing the company uniform on site visits, and working across the trading week, including nights, weekends and public holidays