Restaurant Manager Job Description [+Free Template]

A restaurant manager job description outlines the duties and responsibilities of a restaurant manager’s role. Restaurant managers schedule workers, ensure excellent food quality, provide friendly customer service, and keep food and labor costs under control. A restaurant manager job description template makes it easy to modify restaurant manager job duties to your specific restaurant.

If you’re looking to hire a restaurant manager, consider software that posts jobs and tracks applicants. Homebase offers a tool that helps you find a restaurant manager faster and onboards them once they accept your job offer. From there, Homebase makes it easier for your restaurant manager to schedule and manage staff.

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How a Restaurant Manager Job Description Template Works

Our restaurant manager job description template serves as a starting point for you to document what you want in a restaurant manager in terms of skills, experience, and education. It also describes the functions of the job, such as building shift schedules, maintaining the facility, and ordering food, beverages, and smallwares from suppliers.

The restaurant manager job description then becomes the foundation for you to advertise the job when you’re ready to hire a new restaurant manager as well as to describe what the restaurant manager job is all about formally. A well-written restaurant manager job description can also reduce your risk of discrimination or wrongful termination claims should the person you hire not work out.

Here’s a restaurant manager job description template you can download and customize:

Download free template: PDF | Word | Google Doc

Restaurant Manager Job Description Template Features

A restaurant manager job description should include specific information about your foodservice establishment and the job duties that need to be carried out. It will typically include sections typical to any employee job description with the specific responsibilities focused on people, food and labor costs, safety, and customer service—to name a few. Download our free restaurant manager job description template.

Here are the sections to include in your restaurant manager job description that explain the duties and responsibilities of a restaurant manager.

Our Restaurant

It’s often helpful, primarily when recruiting, to describe your business and what makes it unique. You might want to include information on the kind of food you serve, the type of customer service you provide, or how the business was founded. This information helps applicants understand your business better and helps new managers support your business model.

Here’s an example:

Restaurant Manager Job Duties

This is the section of the restaurant manager job description template that tells your new hire or applicant what is expected of them in the job. It speaks to the myriad of responsibilities that a restaurant manager has, from keeping employees happy to making sure food is delivered to the table.

Restaurant managers oversee multiple people relationships: employees they hire, vendors they buy from, and customers who dine. They also are the person who solves problems, such as being out of food items, the register jamming, or needing to call a plumber.

Here are the duties to consider including and customizing in your restaurant manager job description:

Education

A college education may not be required of your restaurant manager unless, for instance, they’ll also serve as the culinary expert, creating new menu items, or as a marketing expert, using social media to grow your business. Because managing a restaurant requires that you know and have done almost all the functions within the business, you may not want to restrict your candidates to college graduates.

Here’s an example of what you might consider in the educational requirements section:

Experience

People management and foodservice experience are the most sought-after kinds of experience for which you’ll want to look. You want someone who understands the importance of customer service and who will be liked by diners as well as your staff. Someone who comes up through the ranks of a restaurant operation you respect might be your best option.

Consider a simple statement of restaurant experience requirements (tailored to your operation):

Interpersonal Skills

Just as people-management experience is essential, so are other interpersonal skills. Most of what a manager does is lead people. Managers get work done through others—the kitchen staff, the wait staff, the bar staff, and the hosts or hostesses. Therefore, relationship and leadership skills are crucial. Your restaurant manager needs to be able to notice and address people nuances like a customer who has been waiting too long for a beverage refill or an overwhelmed waitress.

Consider a statement like the one below in your restaurant manager job description:

Minimum Required Skills & Abilities

To protect yourself from possible legal action or discrimination, it’s best to describe the kinds of physical skills you need in your restaurant manager job role. Some examples are provided below, along with a general statement about the nature of the business environment.

Consider having a statement and list like this to clarify physical job requirements:

The examples described in the restaurant manager job description template are meant to be customized for your business. They should provide examples and specifics on your restaurant management job duties—allowing the job description to cement the understanding you and your manager have about your expectations.

Ways to Use Restaurant Manager Job Description Templates

A restaurant manager job description template is ideal for any business that prepares and serves food to customers. It is a tool for communication that can jump-start your hiring process by getting clear on what you want a manager to do. It clarifies expectations—even if the person managing your restaurant is a family member—by spelling out the specific duties required.

Here are examples of businesses that will benefit from using a restaurant manager job description template:

• A small restaurant hiring its first manager: Business owners benefit by starting with a template that helps them think through precisely what they want their new restaurant manager to do before they advertise the position on a job posting site.
• A growing establishment: You may need more than one manager—perhaps for a new location, increase in existing business, or to cover a different shift. The restaurant manager job description can be customized for day and evening shifts, for example.
• An existing business wanting to clarify the restaurant manager job role: Some businesses start without a formal job description only to find that people interpret the job differently. A restaurant manager job description gets everyone on the same page.
• Foodservice businesses wanting to promote an employee: Your bartender may seek to be promoted. The job description will help you convey what’s required.
• Other businesses similar to restaurants: For example, a catering company may find the requirements spelled out in the restaurant manager job description template are identical to what they want their catering manager to do.
• Smaller foodservice businesses: Even a snow-cone kiosk or a food truck may need someone to manage operations. Documenting what’s required to handle your food and beverage business on a job description will reduce employee misunderstandings.

The restaurant manager job description template helps you when hiring and managing restaurant managers—by making clear what the job entails. Some eateries may use a different job title, such as “cafeteria manager,” “food truck manager,” or “cafe manager”—the restaurant manager job description template can work as a starter document for those job roles too.

If you’re looking to hire a restaurant manager, you may want to use software that posts jobs online and tracks restaurant manager applications. Homebase offers a free forever version for businesses with only one physical location. It posts jobs, keeping track of applicants and interviews until you find the right person. From there, it can schedule all of your employees by shift and track time worked. Try Homebase for free.

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Restaurant Manager Job Description Document Costs

There’s no cost to use our free restaurant manager job description template. Software like Homebase offers free templates too. Therefore, your template costs are minimal, including the time you spend customizing the job description and how you store it. Some businesses prefer to have all their hiring documents reviewed and approved by a human resources (HR) expert or labor law attorney at an extra cost.

Here are costs you might pay to finalize your restaurant manager job description:

• Template: Using our template is free. However, if you sign up for a site like HR.com or SHRM.org, you’ll pay an annual membership fee of a few hundred dollars per year to get access to job description templates of all kinds.
• Consulting: If you outsource your HR needs, you might pay a few hundred dollars to have your restaurant manager job description modified for your business and location. Some legal services will review your documents for as low as $39 each.
• Storage: You’ll want to keep your job descriptions for at least two years as part of your hiring documents— these days most businesses use an online service for HR or payroll (most offer online file storage). But a locked filing cabinet may cost less than $100.

It doesn’t cost much to develop and maintain a job description. Some think of it as a cost-avoidance tool more than an expense. That’s because a restaurant manager job description will help you make a better hiring choice. That’s likely to result in you onboarding a restaurant manager who can do the job well from day one. It can also prevent you from making a costly hiring mistake.

Restaurant Manager Job Description Template Providers

You’ll find experts in HR, payroll, and restaurants that provide job description templates for restaurant managers and their staff. Also, you can often “borrow” samples from neighboring restaurants or online job boards. Then, tailor them to your restaurant.

Here are some great places to find restaurant manager job description templates and more.

1. Time & Attendance Providers

Because many timekeeping software vendors support the shift scheduling needs of restaurants, they may provide job description templates you can start with. Two of the top scheduling and attendance software, When I Work and Homebase, both offer templates as well as free job posting and applicant tracking to help you fill open positions for restaurant managers and staff.

2. HR Software Vendors

Many of the best HR software platforms for small business offer job description templates. Zenefits is an example of an affordable HR system for small businesses that includes an HR library full of prebuilt templates plus job offer letters and an employee handbook. All can be customized for your restaurant.

3. Online Job Boards

Free job boards like Indeed and paid job advertising sites like ZipRecruiter offer hundreds of downloadable templates to subscribers. Once you find a restaurant manager job description template that you like, you can download and modify it to suit your exact business needs. Check out this list of free job posting sites.

4. Industry Websites

Online industry groups, like the National Restaurant Association, are designed to support restaurant owners and their operations. You’ll find restaurant-specific job descriptions like food and beverage manager, kitchen manager, and dining room manager. Furthermore, an industry website connects you with like-minded business owners. More experienced restaurateurs may help you refine exactly what to include in your restaurant manager job description.

Restaurant Manager Job Description Template Pros & Cons

Starting from a template nearly always saves time as you don’t have to think of what to include in your restaurant manager job description from scratch. However, each restaurant operation is different. For instance, a fine dining establishment that serves cocktails is managed much differently than a barbeque sandwich shop in a strip mall. Thus, you’ll need to do some customization.

Pros of a Restaurant Manager Job Description Template

Here’s the upside of starting with a template:

• It’s faster: By starting with a template, you don’t need to think about how to format your job description. Instead, you need to download and edit it. That’s a time saver.
• It’s more likely to be complete: It’s easy to miss something when you try to think of all the things a manager might do. A template helps you consider all aspects of the restaurant manager’s job, such as training employees, food safety, and making bank deposits.
• It’s objective: Using a template helps you avoid disputes with your existing restaurant manager about what’s expected in a restaurant management role.

Cons of the Restaurant Manager Job Description Template

On the downside, here are some negative considerations:

• It’s not your style: Whenever you use a template, you may find that it doesn’t match how you would write it exactly. For example, you may want to include your logo or add a section to describe your organization’s culture, work style, or promotional opportunities.
• It may not be legal: If you’re ever sued for discrimination or wrongful termination, a court may want to view the job description. If you pull a template off the internet, you run the risk that it may not hold up as a defense for your business. Having your template reviewed by an HR or labor law expert in your state and industry is never a bad idea.
• It must be updated: Once you create your job description like any employment document—offer letter template and employee handbook, for example—you’ll want to keep it updated, or it will lose its value over time. An annual update will typically suffice to keep it current.

Alternatives to Using a Restaurant Manager Job Description

A job description is one of the most common HR tools used to describe work that you need to be done in your business and the required skills and experience required of job applicants. However, you may wish to use a more formal document or take an entirely different hiring approach.

Here are alternatives to using a restaurant manager job description.

Employment Contract

You may choose to develop a full-blown employment contract with your restaurant manager instead of a job description. This document will often be longer and more detailed with information included like a nondisclosure statement, bonus opportunity, or guaranteed severance payout. Similar to a restaurant manager job description template, you’ll likely have to modify your employment contract template to suit your business and any requests of the person you’re hiring.

Contractor Agreement

Using a contractor agreement makes sense in addition to or instead of a restaurant manager job description when you’re hiring an independent contractor to manage your restaurant instead of hiring an employee. Hiring a contractor may make sense if you’re trying to turn around a poorly managed operation or you want to “try before you buy,” by seeing how the manager does over a limited timeframe, such as one year.

Other Job Description Templates

Instead of a restaurant manager job description template, perhaps your business needs to divide the work being done into more distinct roles, such as banquet manager or kitchen manager. Job description templates with those titles may be a better fit for the exact work you want your restaurant manager to do. For example, if you do all the hiring, bookkeeping, and cooking and want someone to oversee the servers, a restaurant shift manager or assistant job description might be a better fit.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Restaurant Manager Job Descriptions

Every restaurant is a little different and, therefore, your restaurant manager job description may need information that’s not required in other foodservice establishments. Here are some common questions answered below about a restaurant manager job. Please post any additional queries to our forum.

What are the most important duties of a restaurant manager?

Restaurant management is a balancing act in terms of being able to be both organized and flexible. A restaurant manager has to hire, train, encourage, and motivate their workers. They also have to keep food quality high while keeping food costs low and reducing waste. They need to be good at planning—both staffing and inventory—as well as have a customer-friendly disposition. None of these duties are more important than others—it’s a balance of all of them.

What should I look for in a restaurant manager’s resume?

There’s no one educational program that is needed to be a restaurant manager. You might find the best restaurant managers are those who have come through the ranks. For example, they may have worked their way up in a larger fast-food chain, or they may have managed a smaller gourmet restaurant with a very demanding clientele.

What’s most important to look for is their expertise in the areas you find most important for your business. That may be staff management, customer service, and brand reputation, or it may be food and labor cost control. The best restaurant manager candidates will be those with expertise in all the core functions of a restaurant manager job.

What should I pay a restaurant manager?

Job boards like Indeed provide salary tools to determine what the average job pays. Restaurant manager pay range is from $15,000 to more than $100,000 annually with the average being slightly more than $49,000 per year. Factors that affect pay include restaurant size, manager experience, and location.

What kind of interpersonal skills make for a good restaurant manager?

Like any good manager, people skills are paramount. A restaurant manager should be approachable by staff and restaurant patrons alike. They should have excellent organizational skills, solid numbers skills—for negotiating with vendors and managing costs—and be open to feedback. Restaurant managers need to be able to manage their own stress while also helping their workers manage the demands of the job. Having a good sense of humor helps too.

What are the duties of a restaurant operations manager?

A restaurant operations manager can have the same duties as a restaurant manager, or they may have more. For example, they may manage more than one restaurant, which is often referred to as a general manager. They may manage the bookkeeping and office duties—accounts payable and payroll—as well as the restaurant staffing and onsite management.

Conversely, someone with the title of restaurant operations manager could also have fewer duties but a larger scope. An example might be in a larger restaurant when a restaurant operations manager manages the operations of the restaurant—front of house, scheduling, and customer service—while a kitchen manager manages inventory, food prep, product quality, and the kitchen staff.

What other job titles might be used in place of a restaurant manager?

To attract the candidate with the best-matched experience to your open job, you might consider posting jobs with more specific titles like fast-food restaurant manager, restaurant and bar manager, restaurant general manager, food and beverage manager, assistant restaurant manager, or restaurant operations manager.

Bottom Line

A great restaurant manager is crucial to the success of your restaurant operation, whether it’s a family restaurant or a quick-serve establishment. Having a solid restaurant manager job description template is the tool you’ll need to find and manage that critical staff member. It serves as the foundation of discussion for duties and responsibilities when talking with your restaurant manager and makes it clear what you’re looking for when hiring.