Lead Bartender

Aparium Hotel Group; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Aparium Hotel Group’s The Apparatus Room in Detroit is seeking a Lead Bartender to lead beverage service, craft cocktails, and train team members. You will deliver memorable guest experiences, maintain rigorous product knowledge, and uphold safety and hospitality standards.

The role requires at least two years bartending in hotel or fine dining, TIPS certification, and fluent English. You’ll work nights, weekends, and holidays in a team environment across F&B, barbacks, servers, and chefs.

Qualifications

• Two years of bartending experience in a hotel restaurant or bar.
• TIPS alcohol service certification and liquor card, or ability to obtain within 30 days of hire.
• Must meet local age requirements to serve alcohol.
• Fluency in English both verbally and non‑verbally.

Responsibilities

• Uphold People, Place and Character by representing the hotel with pride.
• Collaborate with co‑workers and leaders, proactively fixing issues.
• Be a storyteller of the hotel’s history and local collaborations.
• Participate in daily line‑ups and meetings to share ideas and feedback.
• Assist in all aspects of the F&B guest experience, ensuring service is friendly and timely.

Skills

Bartending

Customer service

English

Job description

Lead Bartender Position Profile

Reports to: Apparatus Room General Manager; position is non‑exempt.

Who We Are

Hotels done differently. It’s not just a slogan or catchphrase, it is who we are in everything we do. We believe in the power of People, Place and Character; ensuring our properties are a place where individuals are valued and celebrated as a tribute to the neighborhoods and the people of the communities in which we operate; elevating our associates’ pride in who they are, where they live and who we serve.

The Detroit Foundation Hotel has transformed the historic Detroit Fire Department Headquarters into a 100‑room independent hotel that adds another piece to the ongoing Detroit renaissance puzzle. The hotel draws on the Motor‑City’s unparalleled past while proactively moving the city to its next incarnation as a national cultural, business and artistic touch‑point. Featuring an inviting ground‑floor restaurant, The Apparatus Room, the hotel partners with local distillers, brewers, farmers and other edible sundry purveyors to deliver an authentic Detroit experience.

The hotel is managed by Aparium, which was founded in 2011, driven by the belief that all hospitality experiences should be fueled by the poetics of their surroundings. Aparium was born with an intense focus on unearthing the amazing moments unique to every city. Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. It is a sophisticated hotel brand known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets.

Who You Are

Your past experiences have led you to understand that there is an art and science to creating the perfect concoction. You spend your days or nights working behind the bar tirelessly crafting perfectly balanced drinks, making wine recommendations, and naturally building relationships with guests. In your off time you read up on spirits, the history of cocktails, and cruise the Instagram accounts of the best bars in the world or find new drink recipes. It is also quite possible you have been practicing shakers in front of a mirror. You pride yourself on cultivating your regular guest base and love that you are the face they want to see, whether they are happy and want to celebrate or just need to see a familiar friendly face after a rough day. You are welcomed and embody gracious hospitality at all times.

The Role

The Lead Bartender reports to the F&B Managers and works in a team environment with other F&B professionals, including barbacks, bartenders, servers, dishwashers, cooks, and chefs. It is critical that the person in this position possess a background in advanced bartending techniques, has a natural ability to manage time, and a second‑to‑none knowledge of beverages and cocktails.

As a bartender, you will be responsible for creating memorable guest experiences, the timely and friendly delivery of food and drinks, and in‑depth menu knowledge to ensure safe service to guests with allergies and restrictions. Ongoing beverage tasting and training will allow you to expand your knowledge of beer, wine, and spirits and you will also be responsible for creating and hosting classes. You will collaborate on seasonal menus.

All of our service team members are expected to be reliable and responsible. You will arrive changed, polished and mentally ready to work on time. We put an emphasis on treating all of our team members just like we treat our guests—giving a smile, a helping hand, and a willingness to jump in to assist in any situation.

You will actively develop trusting and transparent relationships with your peers on the service team and other associates of the hotel. As a team member within Aparium Hotel Group you will work with a phenomenal group of peers who insist that you are collaborative, humble, experienced, and open‑minded—no egos are allowed.

What You Will Do

• Uphold and model the company’s principles of People, Place and Character by being proud of who you are, where you come from and who we serve at our hotel.
• Be collaborative with your co‑workers and leaders and use your intuition to fix things when you know they are not right or could be better.
• Be a storyteller of the history of the hotel and share our translocal hospitality efforts about our local collaborators and partners.
• Participate in daily line‑ups and quarterly all‑staff meetings to further develop ideas and objectives with the service team while simultaneously providing constructive feedback and strategizing to overcome and correct any previously missed opportunities.
• Assist in all aspects of the F&B guest’s experience from beginning to end by extending a friendly greeting, ensuring bar products and supplies are well‑stocked, and executing requests in a friendly and timely manner, ascertaining satisfaction throughout and adjusting as necessary.
• Work in an organized and clean fashion, with the utmost respect for your guests, peers, equipment, and workspace to create lasting impressions and strong relationships.
• Use steps of service to provide professional service and exceed guest expectations, ensuring alcohol is served safely, responsibly, and legally and utilizing recipes and jiggers to assist in creating consistent cocktails, juices, syrups, and bases; and creating lasting impressions on all guests.
• Be accountable for working knowledge of the menus, menu ingredients and what is unavailable for the day; and to serve alcohol safely, responsibly, and legally; and accurately account for all monetary transactions during your shift.
• Share your extensive knowledge of the beverage world with your guests, using your product knowledge to enhance guest experiences with add‑ons and demonstrate basic culinary terms and strive to know more through constant study of your craft.
• Observe conditions of all physical facilities and relay any challenges to the Food and beverage leadership team to make corrections and improvements as needed.
• Communicate effectively with the F&B and Culinary teams to ensure all guests get their food as ordered in a timely fashion.
• Assist in other areas of the F&B Department as needed, including but not limited to Banquets, Bar, In‑Room Dining, and Restaurants.
• Aparium Hotel Group does not discriminate based on disability, veteran status or any other basis protected under federal, state, or local laws.
• The hotel and company are a smoke‑free, drug‑free facility, and equal opportunity employer.

What You Will Need

• Passion for the People, Place and Character of our community, love of restaurants and guest service also required.
• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience as a bartender in either a free‑standing or hotel restaurant or bar.
• TIPS alcohol service certification and liquor card, or ability to obtain such within 30 days of hire.
• Must meet local age requirements in order to serve alcohol.
• Available to work a flexible schedule to include nights, weekends and holidays.
• Fluency in English both verbally and non‑verbally.

Additional Requirements

• Continuous standing and walking and negotiating wet tile floor and steps.
• Fine motor coordination is needed to pour beverages, decorate cocktails and fold napkins.
• Standing and walking is continuous for 4‑5 hours at a time.
• Lifting and carrying 30 lb. tray, crate or box is occasional.
• Negotiating varied floor surfaces is continuous.
• Carrying over shoulder is occasional.
• Hand and elbow movements for polishing glassware, silver, setting up tables, shaking, pouring and mixing drinks.
• Excellent sight and balance needed for negotiating varied floor surfaces.
• Handling lighted candles, and handling hot fluids (coffee and tea).
• Ability to lift, balance and carry up to 25 lbs. to transport beverage goods inventory, equipment, etc.
• Ability to lift, balance and carry (with assistance) up to 100 lbs. to transport beverage inventory, equipment, etc.
• Must be able to work in extreme temperatures like freezers (−10 °F) and kitchens (+110 °F).

Equal Opportunity Employer

Aparium Hospitality Services celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment, and a sense of belonging for all associates. We do not discriminate and believe every individual should be proud of who they are, where they come from, and take pride in who we serve. Aparium is an E‑Verify employer.