Service Manager

Little Mountain; Montecito (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Little Mountain is seeking a Service Manager to elevate every guest interaction and build a culture of excellence in fine dining. You will translate vision into elegant, repeatable service and coach a team through every table-side moment with warmth and precision.

The ideal candidate thrives on coaching, mentorship, and creating systems that make daily service easy and efficient, even under pressure.

Qualifications

• Experience in fine dining where exceptional service is non-negotiable.
• Proven ability to coach and develop service staff to higher standards.
• Ability to translate vision into service standards and systems.
• Engaging presence on the floor with guest-centric leadership.
• Strong business acumen including labor costs and scheduling.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor the service team to deliver exceptional guest experiences.
• Create, implement and monitor comprehensive service standards.
• On-floor leadership to maintain composure under pressure and at capacity.
• Train staff to turn knowledge into repeatable service routines.

Skills

Leadership

Team development

Hospitality excellence

Staff training

Problem solving

Communication

Guest relations

Operational awareness

Job description

We're in search of a brilliant Service Manager to help us grow our culture of excellence and adaptable hospitality. We're looking for someone who understands that exceptional hospitality is both an art form and a finely-tuned science - a leader who can translate our vision into moments that guests will remember long after the last plate is cleared.

Our ideal Service Manager has a deep love of details and of teaching and genuinely delights in elevating every detail of the guest journey. You're the rare person who finds equal satisfaction in coaching a new server through the perfect table side presentation as you do in creating elegant systems that make daily service easy and efficient. If you're passionate about building remarkable teams, have eagle-eye attention to detail, and believe that true hospitality comes from the heart, we want to talk with you.

The need to haves:

• Experience in fine dining environments where exceptional service is non-negotiable
• A natural talent for leadership and a genuine passion for developing your team into hospitality professionals
• The ability to create and implement comprehensive service standards that reflect our restaurant's vision
• An engaging and warm presence on the floor that simultaneously puts guests at ease and inspires confidence
• A gift for training and mentorship – you know how to turn service knowledge into muscle memory for your team
• The skill to maintain perfect composure under pressure, especially when the dining room is at capacity
• A sharp eye for the subtle details that transform good service into extraordinary experiences
• Strong business acumen – you understand labor costs, scheduling efficiencies, and service economics
• Excellent communication skills that translate across leadership, staff, and diverse guests
• The ability to anticipate needs before they arise and solve problems with creativity and grace
• Physical and mental stamina to thrive in a demanding hospitality environment
• Availability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as our business demands

The nice to haves:

• Experience in Michelin-starred or other exceptional restaurant environments
• Wine knowledge and/or sommelier certification
• Fluency in multiple languages
• Experience opening new restaurants and building service cultures from the ground up
• Experience with exciting & innovative service approaches that might inspire our team

If this sounds exciting and you're someone who has ever been described as having "hospitality in their DNA" we want to meet you. You don't need to check every single box – we value passion, intuition, and the indefinable quality that makes guests feel genuinely cared for.