Restaurant General Manager

Aparium Hotel Group; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Aparium Hotel Group in Des Moines is seeking a General Manager to lead Mulberry Street Tavern, the restaurant anchor of Surety Hotel. You will own the concept end to end—from vision and standards to numbers and people—and spend most of your time on the floor, at the door, and with guests to build relationships and elevate service.

You will lead with a hands-on approach, drive the beverage program, partner with the kitchen, and ensure the operation runs smoothly across breakfast, lunch, and

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of hospitality management experience in restaurants.
• Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management or equivalent work experience.
• Professional proficiency in English (reading, writing, and verbal).

Responsibilities

• Own the restaurant by developing and executing the operating plan across breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• Define service standards and ensure adherence through every daypart and cover.
• Mentor and coach the team to build technical food, beverage, and hospitality skills.
• Oversee the beverage program, including wine and cocktails, with team education.
• Collaborate with the kitchen on menu architecture and margin protection.
• Lead pre-shift meetings and ensure opening/closing procedures are followed.
• Drive guest experience and maximize the room while managing costs.
• Partner with hotel leadership to plan events that express Aparium's hospitality.

Skills

Hospitality leadership

English proficiency

Operations management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management or equivalent

Job description

Reports to: General Manager, position is exempt

THE ROLE

The General Manager is the primary leader of food and beverage for the restaurant. You will own the concept end to end - the vision, the standards, the numbers, and the team are all yours. Every Aparium leader is expected to get their hands dirty: to find what needs fixing and fix it. We are a company in hyper-growth, so the ability to serve as a soldier matters as much as the ability to lead as a general. You will spend the majority of your time on the floor, at the door and the table, running service and building the personal relationships that make a great restaurant feel like one.

WHO WE ARE

Located in the historic Hippee Building in downtown Des Moines, Surety Hotel celebrates the city’s past while helping shape its future.Mulberry Street Tavern is the Food & Beverage anchor of Surety Hotel and one of the most ambitious dining rooms in the market. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it moves from a polished morning service to a destination evening experience, holding an elevated standard across every daypart.Housed in a beautifully restored, 1913 Beaux-Arts landmark and now part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, Surety blends independent character with world-class hospitality. Inspired by the meaning of a surety bond, we make a promise as well; unmatched service, incredible design, and a superior level of hospitality rooted in connection and community. With 137 guest rooms and suites, vibrant gathering spaces, and onsite dining at Mulberry Street Tavern, Surety is both a destination for travelers and a point of pride for the City of Certainties.

WHO YOU ARE

Your past experiences have led you to understand that there is an art + science to the what and how of a hospitality operations professional's responsibilities; not all remedies can be outlined in a training manual or found in a recipe book. You are energized by the frenetic pace of a bustling dining room, gain deep satisfaction from conducting a well-run shift, and you will jump in when the going gets tough. Your team respects you for that. You have developed relationships with guests and service industry colleagues alike, as they often contact you for reservations, and you are known for making them and their friends feel valued. You understand that what we do is not rocket science, but there are a lot of moving parts; you have a clear understanding of how a successful operation should be running and how that connects to staffing, scheduling, training, ordering, sidework, shift logs, preshifts, and all the other systems and tools your team employs.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Own the restaurant. Develop and execute the operating plan that delivers the concept across breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a consistent elevated standard.
• Set and protect the service standard. Define the sequence of service, train to it, and hold the floor to it through every daypart and every cover.
• Lead by example. Spend your time in service, mentoring and coaching the team and giving them everything you know about food, beverage, and hospitality to build real technical skill.
• Own the beverage program. Curate the wine list and the cocktail and spirits offering, and educate the team so every member can speak to it with authority.
• Build the systems. Establish and maintain the staffing, scheduling, ordering, inventory, side-work, and shift-log discipline that lets an elevated room run cleanly every night.
• Own the P&L. Set goals and KPIs, lead inventory and cost controls, and manage labor and expense to deliver the financial result the restaurant is built to produce.
• Partner with the kitchen. Work with the Executive Chef on menu architecture and item performance to sharpen the offering and protect margin.
• Run a tight floor. Lead organized, intentional pre-shift meetings, and verify that opening and closing procedures are completed correctly, every shift.
• Drive the experience. Act as the front-of-house ambassador, engage in every aspect of service so experiences exceed expectations, maximize the room, and keep the restaurant at the top of its market and its review channels.
• Collaborate across the hotel. Work with the Hotel General Manager and the Lifestyle and Sales teams to plan and execute the events and activations that express Aparium's translocal hospitality.

HOW YOU LEAD

• Build rapport quickly, reading the room and adapting how you communicate to a wide range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Approach discovery as a collaborator, valuing the input and experience of others to surface the deeper issues worth solving.
• Make decisions with integrity, holding confidence where it is owed and knowing the difference between transparency and discretion.
• Stay analytical without ever needing to be the smartest person in the room; seek the facts and hold a point of view without ego.
• Lead with business acumen, ensuring the actions you take support the restaurant's operational goals and budget.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Minimum of five (5) years of hospitality management, specifically in restaurants
• Minimum of two (2) years serving as a Restaurant General Manager
• Bachelor’s degree in related field of Hospitality Management or equivalent work experience
• Ability to work varied shifts that will include, evenings, weekends and holidays
• Adaptable interpersonal skills to communication and address all employee levels of the hotel
• Professional proficiency of the English language in reading, writing and verbal communication

As an 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 employees. We do not discriminate, and we 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.