Bar & Restaurant Manager

Dakota Manchester Airport; Manchester; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A premier hospitality establishment in Manchester is looking for a Bar & Restaurant Manager to oversee food and beverage operations. This senior role involves ensuring exceptional service standards and leading a dedicated team. Candidates should have extensive experience in a similar environment and be flexible with working hours. The position offers a permanent contract with competitive pay, plus valuable benefits including discounts and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Special discounts on stays and dining

Employee Assistance Program

Family-friendly flexible working options

Meals on duty

In-house training opportunities

Qualifications

• At least three years’ experience as a Restaurant Manager or above in a similar calibre of full-service restaurant.
• At least one year’s experience in a leadership position overseeing beverage in a cocktail bar environment.
• Fully flexible in working shifts including evenings and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Oversee service standards across all food and beverage areas.
• Drive the commercial running of F&B operations including managing payroll.
• Develop and train F&B team members for high service levels.

Skills

Leadership

Attention to detail

Customer service

Beverage knowledge

Job description

We’re preparing to open our largest hotel yet, Dakota Manchester Airport, launching in early summer 2026. This brand-new property will feature our signature Bar & Grill and deliver the exceptional guest experience Dakota is known for.

We are seeking a food and beverage professional with a passion of wines and great service for the exciting opportunity of Bar & Restaurant Manager. This senior role will oversee quality and service standards through all of our F&B operations.

CONTRACT AND PAY RATE

The role carries a permanent contract of 45 hours per week working fully flexible shifts, working any 5 days out of 7 including working weekends. It comes with a competitive salary and a target-based bonus, with a planned start date of 1st May 2026.

PRIMARY ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Hotel Manager, the role of Bar & Grill Manager is responsible for overseeing the levels of service delivered across all food and beverage areas as well as being a hands‑on operational leader driving excellence within our Bar & Grill team. This role provides room for growth into the role of Food & Beverage Manager. The primary responsibilities of the role include:

• Our F&B operation is the ‘heart and soul’ of our operation. You will be the custodian of this, running and overseeing services across F&B, ensuring the highest levels of service to all guests, delivering on‑the‑job coaching to our team, always having a hands‑on approach to service and hosting, driving standards at all times.
• As a senior manager within the business, work closely with colleagues within the management team, especially our Head Chef. Work with Reception to increase resident to diner ratios and to provide guests with the full Dakota experience.
• Drive the commercial running of F&B operation including managing payroll by overseeing the development of the rota and approving them, managing the bookings diary, sequence of service, as well as driving a culture of sales through service. Maintain and have a full understanding of supplier contracts, overseeing the accurate completion of stock takes and effective orders.
• Be the direct line manager for the Assistant Restaurant Manager and Assistant Bar Manager as well as the F&B seniors. Always be working to develop their knowledge and enthuse the entire team with all your passion for food and beverage.
• Work closely with HR to support the journey of all F&B team members by being involved in the interview process, ongoing training, holding appraisals, and conducting frequent one‑to‑one meetings. Implement training plans and deliver on‑the‑job training to drive the smoothest, most polished levels of guest service throughout the F&B operation.

BENEFITS

• Special discounts on stays and dining at any Dakota
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program which includes free private mental health support and counselling sessions, video GP consultations and private prescription services, as well as access to daily rewards to be cashed out for shopping vouchers
• Support from our inhouse Mental Health Champions
• Additional holiday day on the first anniversary of your employment
• Family-friendly flexible working options
• Meals on duty and uniforming
• Bonuses to recommend a friend to join our team and every time you are mentioned on Trip Advisor
• Accredited, certified compliance training given on employment
• Access to a suite of external, certified resources via our Learning Management System
• Supportive continuous professional development culture with an annual appraisal and objectives, or a Personal Development Plan
• Opportunities to undertake both internal and external training courses, including potential for in-house Apprenticeships

Full terms on our benefits can be found in our Handbook.

ABOUT DAKOTA HOTELS

Dakota is a growing UK-based lifestyle brand, known for our stylish hotels, bustling brasserie Grills and upscale cocktail Bars. Dakota’s story started with two boutique hotels on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in South Queensferry, and Glasgow, in Eurocentral. We have now expanded into prime city centre locations in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle with Manchester Airport coming soon and more in our pipeline.

Dakota is synonymous for delivering attentive and genuine guest service. We attract hard‑working individuals who are passionate about working to the highest standards and have been voted within The Caterer’s Top 15 Best Employers in Hospitality for the last six years in a row. We were also featured within the Top 10 employers in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work in the UK for the last two years, where our inclusive culture was spotlighted.

As recent winners of The Cateys ‘People Team of the Year’, we have award‑winning internal training programmes within Dakota Academy fostering continuous development and ongoing training. As a result, over 75% of our leaders have been promoted internally and, for five consecutive years, a member of our team has won a prestigious Acorn Award awarded by The Caterer to the ‘Top 30 under 30’ in the industry, demonstrating our success in developing talent.

Eurocentral | Edinburgh | Glasgow | Leeds | Manchester | Newcastle | Manchester Airport (coming soon)

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

The successful applicant will have/be:

• At least three years’ experience as a Restaurant Manager or above in a similar calibre of full‑service restaurant [required]
• At least one year’s experience in a leadership position overseeing beverage in a cocktail bar environment [required]
• Experience working in a hotel environment including being a Duty Manager [preferable]
• Holding valid personal license [preferable]
• Fully flexible in working shifts including evenings and weekends [required]
• An enthusiastic individual who will promote our culture of positivity.
• Be task oriented with a great pride for the work they do and attention to detail.
• Successful candidates must demonstrate having researched our brand and a genuine desire to be part of our team.

APPLY

Please send us your up‑to‑date CV.

For more information on our luxury hotel, visit our Careers page to learn about current opportunities and find your #DreamRolesAtDakota – we’d love to hear from you!