Restaurant General Manager

Potbelly Sandwich Works; Falls Church (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Potbelly Sandwich Works in Falls Church, VA seeks a General Manager to lead daily operations, coach teams, and ensure top-notch service and product quality. This role requires strong leadership, financial literacy, and a passion for customer experience.

The General Manager will manage staffing, scheduling, and cost controls while driving sales growth and community involvement within a franchise setting. Franchise ownership terms apply.

Qualifications

• Minimum of at least 2 years as a General Manager in a restaurant or retail environment with P&L responsibility.
• Open availability is required.
• Food safety certification (ServSafe or equivalent) is required.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to see the big picture.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Hire and develop store staff and manage turnover.
• Lead operations to ensure product quality and customer service.
• Control labor costs and expenses while maximizing sales.
• Develop and execute local marketing and community engagement plans.
• Ensure compliance with food safety standards and company policies.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Time management

Sales growth

Staff development

Open availability

Education

High School diploma

Bachelor’s degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

POS systems

Job description

General Description

The GM is the leader of the Potbelly shop! He or she should bring his or her Positive Energy each and every day to Build and Inspire our teams and to make Potbelly a fun place for our customers, too.

Job Title: General Manager

Department/Function: Operations

Location: Field, in Shop

Reports to: District Manager

Details: Full-Time, Exempt

Travel Requirements: Rarely

He or she should have the ability to see “Big Picture” of running the business. Be able to coach and develop people, to execute outstanding product quality and exceptional customer service, and to build sales and control costs for each shift.

Essential Function

He or she should also be able to multi-task and follow Potbelly standard operating policies and procedures with essential areas of focus including:

In addition to following standard Potbelly operating policies and procedures, main areas of focus include (but are not

People

• Select and hire great employees who represent Potbelly Values.
• Train and develop all employees to the next level.
• Assess staff abilities. Create and implement effective development plans.
• Create and enforce a plan to reduce turnover.
• Delegate tasks to team and provide follow-up. Hold team accountable.
• Build relationships among team members. Provide effective and open communication on goals during team meetings. Recognize positive contributions.
• Provide timely and thorough performance appraisals based on defined goals and objectives for the shop.
• Educate team on and enforce all appropriate personnel policies, labor laws, and security and safety procedures.
• Administer all in-shop employee benefits and payroll procedures.

Customers

• Make customers really happy.
• Effectively handle customer complaints/issues.
• Measure customer satisfaction and execute plan to improve both satisfaction and loyalty.
• Maintain a clean and inviting shop. Ensure cleanliness, maintenance and security standards are met.
• Ensure product quality, safety and sanitation standards are met.
• Provide fast, friendly and accurate service.
• Continuously improve customer feedback program scores.

Sales

• Increase comp sales and deliver budgeted sales each period.
• Create marketing plan. Lead local shop marketing to increase sales. GM ideally lives in the neighborhood and is involved in the community, the school and local business, social and not-for-profit activities.
• Create shop plan to continuously improve the business.

Profits

• Control cost of goods, variances and inventories within the shop.
• Staff and schedule appropriately to control labor costs.
• Ensure proper cash handling and deposit procedures are followed.
• Ensure appropriate inventory and ordering systems are in place.
• Must have financial literacy; Ability to understand and learn from financial reports.
• Ability to increase flow-through.

Experience, Education And Behaviors

• Knows, lives and can teach The Potbelly Advantage.
• Adopts the Potbelly Values as their personal values.
• Has excellent communication skills, including active listening and the ability to ask great questions.
• Has a sustained record of leading teams to success.
• Possess an extremely strong work ethic.
• Is educated and is an active learner.
• Has the initiative to solve problems and to get things done correctly and on time.
• Has the ability to grow other leaders.
• Has humility and self-confidence.
• Knows how and successfully grows our sales/business profitably.
• Minimum of at least 2 years as a General Manager in a restaurant or retail environment with P&L. responsibility. Experience in the Restaurant Industry, preferred.
• High School degree; Bachelor’s degree, preferred.
• Strong business acumen. Ability to see “Big Picture.”
• Ability to manage a fast-paced, high-volume, clean, customer-focused restaurant.
• Must have Open availability.
• As a requirement of the position, all Shift Leaders and Managers must be trained and pass a Food Safety
• Certification course. In Illinois certification is required through the Illinois Department of Public Health, while in all other states certification is required through the National Restaurant Association (ServSafe), National Registry of Food Safety Professionals or the National Environmental Health Association (Prometric). Should the Shift Leader or Manager fail to pass the certification requirements after two attempts, he or she will be not be qualified to continue to perform in a Shift Leader or Management capacity.
• Ability to comprehend and communicate in English via verbal and written communication, such that employee can perform his or her job responsibilities.
• Must spend 80-90% of time on the shop floor in the Front of the House.
• Must have financial literacy. Ability to understand financial reports.
• Exceptional customer service skills.
• Strong time-management skills. Ability to multi-task, to prioritize and to organize.
• Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to select, develop, inspire and manage strong teams.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to delegate, follow-up and hold team accountable.
• Ability to create and execute effective plans to build the business.
• Must have the ability to set budgets and maintain food and beverage cost.
• Ability to follow expectations and guidelines set by Potbelly.
• Microsoft Office skills.

You are applying to work with a franchisee of Potbelly Corporate. If hired, the franchisee will be your only employer. Franchisees are independent business owners who set own terms of employment, including wage and benefit programs, which can vary between franchisees.