Assistant General Manager

Barfection; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Barfection is seeking an Assistant General Manager to launch a world-first immersive entertainment and hospitality concept in the UK. You’ll lead from the front, building a 25–30 strong team and shaping operational foundations for a new venue.

This hands-on role requires energy, charisma and a clear commercial focus, with responsibility for recruitment, service standards, stock control and KPI-driven delivery, reporting to the General Manager.

Qualifications

• Experience managing a busy, high‑volume hospitality or leisure operation.
• Previous experience launching a new venue or new opening.
• Strong people management and leadership skills.
• Proven experience with recruitment, onboarding, training and team development.
• Solid knowledge of labour management and commercial KPIs.
• Strong stock control and inventory management experience.
• Understanding of hospitality booking platforms, CRM and rota/labour systems.

Responsibilities

• Support the General Manager with the successful launch and day‑to‑day running of the venue.
• Lead from the front and be highly visible during service.
• Recruit, onboard, coach and develop a high‑performing team of approximately 25–30 employees.
• Establish and maintain operational processes, procedures and service standards.
• Create an engaging team culture built around accountability, teamwork and guest experiences.
• Manage and motivate the team during peak trading periods.
• Support labour planning, rotas and cost control.
• Own stock management and ensure strong controls are maintained.
• Monitor operational KPIs and use performance data to drive improvements.
• Collaborate across guest experience, front‑of‑house and wider operational functions.
• Support booking and sales operations where required.
• Ensure excellent service standards, compliance and presentation.
• Work with GM to increase revenue and build the brand.

Skills

Hospitality management

People management

Recruitment

Stock control

KPIs

Operational systems

Tools

Booking platforms

CRM systems

Labour scheduling systems

Job description

Assistant General Manager – Immersive Entertainment & Hospitality

Salary: £36,000–£40,000 DOE
Location: UK
Start Date: September 2026

Are you an experienced hospitality leader looking for the opportunity to help launch something completely different?

We’re working with an exciting world-first competitive socialising and immersive entertainment concept, combining cutting-edge technology, high-energy games and exceptional hospitality to create a genuinely unique guest experience.

As part of the opening team, we’re looking for an Assistant General Manager who is ready to get hands‑on, build a team and help shape the operational foundations of an exciting new business.

This is not a role for someone who wants to sit behind a desk. We’re looking for an energetic, highly visible leader who loves hospitality, thrives in a fast-paced environment and genuinely enjoys getting involved in the guest experience.

The Opportunity

As Assistant General Manager, you’ll work closely with the General Manager to launch and establish the venue, helping to create the culture, standards and processes that will support its long‑term success.

You’ll play a key role across the operation, from recruitment and training through to service delivery, stock management, labour control and guest experience.

The concept itself is unlike anything else in the market, with immersive games and technology at its heart. The games have been developed by an experienced technical team with previous experience delivering large‑scale entertainment, including projects connected to MrBeast Games.

You’ll be joining at the ground level, with the opportunity to make a genuine impact rather than simply inheriting an established operation.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Supporting the General Manager with the successful launch and day‑to‑day running of the venue.
• Leading from the front and being highly visible and hands‑on during service.
• Recruiting, onboarding, coaching and developing a high‑performing team of approximately 25–30 employees.
• Establishing and maintaining operational processes, procedures and service standards.
• Creating an engaging team culture built around accountability, teamwork and exceptional guest experiences.
• Managing and motivating the team during high‑volume evenings, weekends and peak trading periods.
• Supporting labour planning, rotas and cost control.
• Taking ownership of stock management and ensuring strong controls are maintained.
• Monitoring operational KPIs and using performance data to drive improvements.
• Working across guest experience, front‑of‑house and wider operational functions.
• Supporting the booking and sales operation where required.
• Ensuring excellent standards of service, compliance and presentation.
• Working closely with the GM to identify opportunities to increase revenue, improve performance and build the brand.
• Helping establish the processes and standards that can be replicated as the business grows.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone with 3–5+ years of hospitality management experience, ideally with previous Assistant General Manager, Deputy Manager or General Manager experience.

You’ll ideally have:

• Experience managing a busy, high‑volume hospitality or leisure operation.
• Previous experience working on a new opening or launching a venue from the ground up.
• Strong people‑management and leadership skills.
• Proven experience with recruitment, onboarding, training and team development.
• Solid knowledge of labour management and commercial KPIs.
• Strong stock control and inventory management experience.
• Good understanding of hospitality operational systems, booking platforms, CRM and rota/labour systems.
• A strong commercial mindset and the ability to understand and deliver against KPIs.
• Experience in a bar, hospitality or entertainment environment would be highly beneficial.
• Additional technical skills such as cocktail or coffee experience would be advantageous, depending on the operational setup.
• The confidence and personality to engage with guests and get involved in the games and entertainment yourself.
• The flexibility to work evenings, weekends and peak trading periods.
• The ability to thrive in an environment where processes are being built and refined as the business grows.

Most importantly, you’ll be energetic, charismatic, proactive and hands‑on. You should be someone who naturally gets involved, motivates the people around you and is comfortable leading from the front.

Why Join?

This is a rare opportunity to join an opening team for a completely new entertainment and hospitality concept.

You’ll have the chance to:

• Be part of a genuinely innovative, world‑first concept.
• Help build a venue from the ground up and influence how the operation works.
• Work alongside an experienced leadership and technical team.
• Be part of an exciting blend of hospitality, competitive socialising, immersive entertainment and technology.
• Take ownership of recruitment, culture, standards and operational development.
• Build experience that will be highly valuable as the business expands.
• Progress towards a General Manager position as the company grows.
• Join a business with ambitious plans to open multiple venues across the UK.

For the right person, this could be much more than an AGM role — it’s an opportunity to help build the foundations of a growing brand and potentially grow with it into a General Manager position.

The Ideal Candidate

You might currently be an Assistant General Manager or experienced General Manager within hospitality, leisure, entertainment or competitive socialising.

You’ll be commercially aware but people‑focused, operationally strong but full of personality, and comfortable working in an environment where no two days are quite the same.

If you’ve successfully opened a new venue before, know how to build and lead a team, understand your KPIs and love creating memorable guest experiences, we’d love to hear from you.

Salary: £36,000–£40,000 DOE
Start date: September 2026
Interview process: 2 stages