Area Coach

Craven Cottage CC; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 500,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

Craven Cottage CC in Cape Town seeks a leader to develop teams and ensure excellent customer experiences across multiple restaurant locations. This role involves coaching, operational management, and driving brand strategies.

The ideal candidate has over 5 years of management experience in the Quick Service Restaurant sector, proven leadership of large teams, and strong commercial acumen. You will be expected to manage a workforce and assist with training initiatives.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years’ management experience in a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) or FMCG/retail industry.
• Proven leadership of a workforce of 700–800+ employees.
• Proven track record managing 25+ high-volume restaurants achieving operational KPIs.

Responsibilities

• Coaching and mentoring restaurant leaders.
• Driving daily/weekly operational routines.
• Managing food, staffing, and overhead costs proactively.

Skills

Coaching and mentoring

Leadership

Data-driven decision-making

Commercial acumen

Education

Diploma/degree in supply chain, hospitality, or related field

Tools

Excel

GAAP/POS

Job description

Responsibilities

Build People Capability

• Coaching and mentoring restaurant leaders to lead high-performing teams; role-model inclusive, values-led leadership and effective on-the-floor coaching.
• Identifying and accelerating high-potential talent; maintaining a healthy pipeline of Team Leaders, RMs and RGMs.
• Partner with People Capability Leader (PCL) and operational leaders to design employee engagement plans (recognition and growth pathways) that improve retention.
• Ensuring clear goals, timely feedback, and result management; closing skill gaps through targeted development and training certification.
• Safeguarding safe staffing levels and balanced rosters; upholding safety, security and labour practice standards.

Deliver a Consistent Customer Experience

• Auditing and coaching CHAMPS (Cleanliness, Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product Quality, Speed of Service), ROCC (Restaurant Operations Compliance Check), and CSL (Champs Standards Library) standards; ensuring brand-consistent service, quality and efficiencies across all restaurants.
• Driving daily/weekly operational routines (CHAMPS checks, shift huddles, line checks, food safety, cash controls) and closing gaps with action plans.
• Managing food, staffing or staff resources, and overhead costs proactively, ensuring agreed service times, effective deployment profitability.
• Ensuring H&S, food safety, security and cash handling compliance; reducing loss, waste and operational variance.
• Sharing best practices; leading root-cause problem solving with operational leaders to drive sustainable improvements.

Grow the Brand, Sales & Profits

• Driving initiatives that translate to the broader brand strategy and embedding them for local success within your region.
• Guiding store marketing, delivering optimisation, product & promo execution; ensuring visibility and operational readiness.
• Reviewing P&Ls with Operational Leaders (RGMs, RM and SS); driving cost/productivity initiatives and margin improvement.
• Piloting, embedding and sustaining new ways of working; tracking post-initiative KPIs and scaling what works.
• Partner with PCL, Operational Leaders, Training Facilitators and fellow ACs to deliver impactful training and culture initiatives.

Requirements

• Diploma/degree in supply chain, hospitality and/or related field (Advantageous)
• Proven leadership responsibility for a workforce of 700–800+ employees
• Minimum 5 years’ management experience in leading large teams, across multiple locations, with a strong understanding of the complexity that comes with it in Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), and/or FMCG/retail industry
• Western Cape, Northern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga restaurants
• Proven track record managing 25+ high-volume restaurants/stores achieving operational KPIs and team development goals
• Passion for coaching, mentoring, and succession planning to foster growth and leadership within your teams
• Strong commercial acumen; advanced Excel; GAAP/POS proficiency; data-driven decision-making
• Valid driver’s license and willingness to work weekends and travel extensively to restaurants within your designated portfolio.