Venue Manager

Frida's Field; Byron Bay; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

12% super

Annual bonus

Competitive salary

Job summary

Frida’s Field, a restaurant and event space in Nashua, Byron Bay hinterland, seeks an experienced Venue Manager who loves food, beverage and hospitality. The role is full-time at 38 hours/week, with 3 service days and 2 admin days, offering a competitive AUD 90–100k salary plus 12% super and an annual bonus.

The candidate will lead FOH, manage weddings, events and beverage programs, and maintain exceptional guest experiences.

Qualifications

• Hands-on venue management experience in hospitality.
• Passion for weddings & events, beverage lists and customer service.
• Ability to administer rostering, payroll and team development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the FOH team across service and events.
• Oversee front-of-house operations, seating plans and dietary needs.
• Manage bookings, client communications and event coordination.
• Develop and manage beverage program and wine list for services and events.
• Coordinate with kitchen and events teams to ensure smooth service delivery.
• Lead FOH for private events including weddings and corporate experiences.

Skills

Venue management

FOH leadership

Events coordination

Beverage knowledge

Customer service

Payroll & rostering

Tools

NowBookIt

Job description

Frida’s Field is a restaurant and event space located on a beautiful eco-farm in Nashua in the Byron Bay hinterland, just 10 minutes from Bangalow and 25 minutes from central Byron Bay. We have been awarded a Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Hat Award 3 times including in the 2026 awards.

We are looking for an experienced Venue Manager with a genuine love of food, beverage and hospitality. We are offering a competitive salary of $90-100k per year plus 12% super and an annual performance-based bonus (negotiable depending on experience).

This is a multifaceted and hands-on role suited to someone with experience in and passion for restaurant management, weddings & events, beverage list management, customer service and administration.

The role is full time (38 hours per week over 5 days). 3 days per week are running service and 2 days per week are for administration, rostering, ordering, preparation and planning. The role offers great work-life balance; most work hours are during the day, except when hosting a wedding or special event.

We are open for 3 lunch services per week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - these are bookings-only, set-menu shared feasts, with just one sitting per day starting at 12pm and running until around 3pm. Service is similar to an event where all customers receive the same meal simultaneously, but it incorporates restaurant-style service standards with detailed menu tasting notes and taking beverage orders on the floor. The venue manager is required to be hands-on - interacting with customers, managing the FOH team, managing the pass, ensuring the venue is presentable etc.

Weddings and events are an essential aspect of the business and previous experience in this area is very highly regarded. We host around 15-25 weddings per year; and around 15 corporate events, private parties, and Frida's-run special events. Wedding couples are required to hire a wedding planner to support them in organising their wedding; and the Frida's Field venue manager works closely with them to ensure weddings run smoothly and are well executed. For other events, the venue manager either works directly with the customer or with an event planner (depending on the size and nature of the event).

Excellent beverage knowledge is a must for this role as is previous experience managing a restaurant beverage list, developing beverage pairings to match food menus, and managing wedding & events drinks packages.

A key part of the role is serving as the main point of contact for all customer enquiries at Frida's Field - including restaurant, weddings, and special events. The venue manager must be adept at managing customer relationships via email, telephone and face‑to‑face interactions.

Leading, recruiting and managing a great FOH team is also a major part of the role; including the ability to handle scaling the team up to run large events and down to run small lunch services. As a bookings-only venue, we always know how many guests are coming through the door and we adapt our staff rostering accordingly. A network of locally‑based hospitality connections is key.

This role suits someone who is excited to hold a key leadership role in a small, family‑run business and work closely with the other key leader in the business – our Head Chef Ally Waddell - a hardworking, passionate and super friendly professional who genuinely loves cooking and sourcing local produce. Our venue manager should be a great communicator, self‑motivated, well‑organised, and happy to work independently as well as collaboratively in a small, hard‑working team.

Main responsibilities

Team Management

• manage the FOH team


• train & recruit FOH team members to provide excellent customer service & ensure all team members can communicate our food & drink offering effectively


• weekly team rostering via Deputy


• ensure team timesheets and tips are correctly managed


• manage the weekly payroll


• ensure staffing costs are kept within our financial targets


• Liaise with BOH team to ensure smooth service delivery, efficiency in meeting customer needs and continual improvement

Front of House Management

• develop the daily seating plan & ensure any special dietary requirements are met


• carry out restaurant opening & closing procedures including daily set up, pack down, cleaning, and closing the till


• manage the pass to ensure food is delivered to customers in a timely and effective manner and that all special dietary requirements are met smoothly


• iaise with BOH staff to ensure smooth service delivery, efficiency in meeting customer needs and continual improvement

Customer Relations Management

• manage the restaurant booking system (NowBookIt)


• answer all customer queries in a timely and professional manner via email & phone


• ongoing customer relationship management with customers who have booked private events with us - ensuring needs are met and events run smoothly and all venue terms & conditions are complied with (including food & beverage catering management, event quoting and invoicing, event scheduling in conjunction with external event planners when relevant, payment collection, etc)


• provide venue tours to potential wedding couples & corporate customers on an ad‑hoc basis

Beverage Management

• develop and actively manage a profitable beverage list for restaurant services & private events (including cocktails)


• design beverage pairings for each new food menu (changes every 6 weeks)


• staff training to provide good customer service & meet/excel sales targets

Venue Management

• stock take, ordering and associated administration for all FOH, event, office, cleaning and farm shop supplies


• carry out restaurant/event opening & closing procedures including set up, pack down, cleaning


• ensure compliance with all health & safety, RSA, first aid, and employment regulations

FOH management for Events

• manage all FOH activities for private events such as weddings, corporate experiences and private parties


• manage set up and pack down of events


• liaise with BOH team to ensure event catering runs smoothly


• managing communications with customers and external suppliers to ensure all private events run smoothly (especially external event planners)


• help develop and implement a calendar of Frida’s Field in‑house special events that help to keep the Frida’s Field brand appealing and drive profitability. Work with rest of team to implement.


• identify and implement opportunities for business growth and continual improvement


• liaise with business owners to provide regular feedback on business performance & identify growth opportunities


• regular performance analysis & reporting

Key attributes

• A positive attitude with a strong work ethic and a passion for providing outstanding customer service


• Strong food and wine knowledge & passion


• Outstanding leadership and ability to pull together an excellent FOH team


• Excellent customer service and communication skills face‑to‑face, over email, and over the phone


• Self‑motivated, independent, responsible


• Happy to spend time working independently as well as in a small team


• Ability to multitask and prioritize tasks given


• Great attention to detail


• Ability to keep calm throughout fast‑paced and busy services


• Ability to problem‑solve when under pressure


• Commitment to quality, consistency, and presentation


• Knowledge and adherence to all OH&S, First Aid, RSA and employment regulation requirements

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