Pre-Opening Assistant Restaurant Manager – Luxury Hotel

Delano; Greater London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Delano London is seeking an Assistant Restaurant Manager to join the pre-opening team for Lana Lusa, the all-day dining concept. You will report to the Restaurant Manager and ensure a warm, intuitive Delano guest journey from breakfast to dinner, while building a high-performing opening team.

You will lead shifts, coordinate sections, coach staff, and collaborate with Culinary to ensure service flow, allergies and timely communication.

Qualifications

• You have strong restaurant supervisory or assistant management experience within a luxury hotel, premium restaurant or high-quality lifestyle operation.
• Previous pre-opening experience would be a real plus and you are comfortable helping build a team and operation from the ground up.
• You are a natural host with excellent floor presence and a strong understanding of the guest journey.
• You are confident leading a team through busy services and can balance structure, pace and attention to detail.
• You have good commercial awareness and understand labour, average spend, productivity and operational controls.
• You communicate clearly with Culinary and other hotel teams and solve problems calmly and quickly.
• You are comfortable with POS, reservations and rota systems.
• You are flexible to work breakfast, evenings, weekends and key hospitality moments.

Responsibilities

• Support the Restaurant Manager in the day-to-day operation of Lana Lusa across breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• Lead shifts from the floor, coordinating sections, pacing and team deployment while keeping the guest experience at the centre of every decision.
• Act as a confident host and ensure the Lana Lusa guest journey feels personal, polished and unmistakably Delano.
• Coach and develop the team in real time, reinforcing service standards, menu knowledge, confidence and genuine hospitality.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and training of the opening team and help turn SOPs and training plans into practical service behaviours.
• Work closely with Culinary on service flow, menu knowledge, allergies, pacing and communication between front and back of house.
• Manage reservations, walk-ins, table allocation and guest requests in partnership with the reception team.
• Support rotas, daily briefings, opening and closing procedures, cash handling and operational administration.
• Monitor average spend, labour productivity, guest feedback and other operating indicators, identifying opportunities to improve performance.
• Coordinate with Rose Bar, Room Service and Private Dining to create a seamless experience across the hotel.
• Handle complaints and service recovery confidently and escalate appropriately when required.
• Support VIP dining, events and hotel activations and step across outlets when needed as part of the wider Food & Beverage team.

Skills

Restaurant supervision

Assistant management

Pre-opening experience

Guest journey

Team leadership

POS systems

Reservations systems

Rota management

Commercial awareness

Floor presence

Tools

POS systems

Reservations system

Rota software

Job description

Delano London is seeking an Assistant Restaurant Manager to join the pre-opening team for Lana Lusa, the all-day dining concept. You will report to the Restaurant Manager and ensure a warm, intuitive Delano guest journey from breakfast to dinner, while building a high-performing opening team.

You will lead shifts, coordinate sections, coach staff, and collaborate with Culinary to ensure service flow, allergies and timely communication.