Restaurant Manager - Gainesville

Socket.dev; Gainesville (VA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Nando's North America is seeking a Restaurant Manager to lead on the floor with the team, protect the guest experience, and ensure calm, confident service during peak hours. You will model the Nando’s Way values, coach staff, and manage opening to closing shifts across a busy operation.

You will drive sustainable sales, uphold food safety and brand standards, and develop team members into future leaders while collaborating with leadership to maintain exceptional service, inclusion, and a

Qualifications

• 2–3 years of restaurant management experience (fast casual, QSR or full service).
• Proven ability to lead full shifts with deployment, breaks and peak-time operations.
• Experience delivering KPIs (sales, labor, audits, speed of service).
• Experience hiring, onboarding and training team members.
• Inventory management, ordering, prep and food safety routines.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and build belonging across the team.
• Protect the Nando’s experience by delivering consistent standards and warm hospitality.
• Drive sales, manage labor, and oversee cost controls.
• Ensure food safety, cleanliness, and governance across shifts.
• Develop team members into new roles or certifications.
• Oversee opening, shift changeover, and closing procedures, including cash handling and end-of-day reports.

Skills

Restaurant management

Lead shifts

KPI delivery

Hiring & onboarding

Inventory management

Guest issue resolution

Food safety & compliance

Team development

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Serv Safe Manager certification

Allergen & alcohol service certifications (where required)

Job description

NANDOS’ VISION

At Nando’s, we want to be the most loved restaurant brand in North America, sharing the spirit of Nando’s PERi-PERi with everyone who chooses to access it. We will redesign and build a business that thrives as it answers fully it’s consumers’ needs - and endures over time through genuinely putting people at the heart of what we do. We will lead with our values and act with care, compassion, and kindness. By doing this, we will Change Lives Together, every day and everywhere.

RESTAURANT MANAGER

As Restaurant Manager, you make the restaurant feel brilliantly consistent, human, and alive—you show up where it matters most, on the floor, with the team – setting the tone for service and bringing calm, confident direction to every moment while, protecting the Nando’s experience and keeping the whole operation humming. You set the tone for service, coach in the moment, uphold standards without compromise, and grow confidence and capability shift after shift—so guests feel the warmth of our hospitality every time.

Your Purpose

Lead a safe, smooth, standard of tight operation that delights guests and develops people. Translate plans into daily execution, use insight to make smart decisions fast, and create an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work.

Scope & Span of Accountability

Operates as an in-restaurant leader of leaders, ensuring the restaurant is prepared before peaks; standards are upheld throughout service, and handovers set up the next team for success. Alternates between leading the floor and picking up critical stations to protect speed, quality, and atmosphere.

Operational Rhythms

• Opening
  • Review Manager Communication Log (MCL), staffing lineup, catering orders, and the day’s forecast; validate previous inventory and complete prep/production sheets.
  • Complete safe count; assign cash drawers; order change; prepare chicken cook sheet (where applicable).
• Shift Changeover
  • Reconcile AM monies and the safe; validate production and station readiness; walkthrough; document MCL handover notes.
• Closing
  
  • Final walkthrough; setnext daycatering; closing inventory; reconcile cash;validatetimekeeping; run end-of-day reports; update the MCL
• Cash & Security (when supervising)
  
  • Practice responsible cash management: floats, safe counts, deposits, cashier check‑outs, refunds/voids/discounts per policy; safeguard keys, secure doors, set alarms; follow escalation protocols.

Key Focus Areas & Responsibilities

• People — Lead, Coach, and Build Belonging
  • Lead in the Nando’s Way:ModelPride, Passion, Courage, Integrity, and Family; grow culture through daily behaviors and decisions.
  • Communicate Brilliantly:set clear expectations, run motivating briefs/meetings, givetimelyfeedback, flex style to the person and the moment.
  • Recruit, Onboard & Develop:support interviewing, onboarding, and station signoffs; coach on SOPs; buildcross trainingplans; strengthen the buddy system; grow future Shift Leads.
  • Manage People Processes:ensure fairness and consistency; support ER basics; ensure required documentation is complete and filed correctly.
  • Wellbeing & Safety:monitor energy and breaks; deescalate conflict; keep the environment psychologically and physically safe.
• Brand — Protect the Nando’s Experience
  • Deliver Consistent Standards:Conducttravel paths;upholdcriticaltouchpoints(atmosphere, quality, speed) across all channels.
  • Hospitality & Recovery:role modelwarm welcomes/fond farewells; table touches/checkbacks; resolve issues with empathy and judgment; elevate per process.
  • Channel Management:keepeatingprimacy whilemaintainingtakeaway and delivery standards; coach accuracy to reduce missing items.
• Commercial — Sales, Labor, and Profit
  • Drive Sustainable Sales:connect the team to daily/weekly targets; apply simple, approved local tactics in line with guidance.
  • Use Insights to Decide:read and react to forecast; align deployment and breaks to flow; coach leaders to use dashboards and act on trends.
  • Operations — Food Safety, Stock, Cleanliness
    • Food Safety & Compliance:enforce hygiene; complete daily/weekly logs (temperatures, labels, hot holds); manage allergy orders; escalation food safety complaints appropriately.
    • Changing Lives — Community, Planet, Opportunity
      • Create Belonging:judgment freeteam environment; celebrate strengths; build confidence; live “Family.”
      • Governance, Risk & Compliance
        • Own the restaurant’s audit cadence (daily/weekly routines) and compliance posture: food safety, H&S basics, licensing visibility, incident documentation; support ER processes and escalation high-riskissues promptly.

      Leading in the Nando’s Way

      You bring the spirit of Ubuntu into action—leading collaboratively, challenging with heart, and uplifting those around you. You blend having fun, making money, and changing lives; communicate brilliantly; support change with positivity; and role‑model Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity, and Family.

      Qualifications

      What You Bring(Knowledge, Skills & Experience)

      • 2–3 years of restaurant management experience (fast casual, QSR, or full service)
      • Demonstrated ability to lead full shifts, including deployment, breaks, and peak‑time operations
      • Proven experience delivering KPIs (sales, labor, food quality, audits, speed of service)
      • Experience hiring, onboarding, and training team members
      • Documented experience managing inventory, ordering, prep, and food safety routines
      • Proven ability to resolve guest issues and support team conflict resolution
      • Experience maintaining compliance with food safety, health department, and brand standards
      • Track record of developing team members into new roles or certifications
      • Education / Certifications: High school diploma or equivalent; Serv Safe Manager (or market equivalent), Allergen Certification and alcohol service certifications where required.

      Physical Requirements

      • Able to independently lift up to 50lbs for an extended period of time
      • Must be able to walk and/or stand for 8-10 hours per day
      • Hand-eye coordination
      • Reaching, bending twisting, stooping
      • Pushing and Pulling
      • Lifting overhead
      • Must be able to climb stairs in restaurants that have multiple levels

      Nandos North America provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

      This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.