Director of Restaurant Operations

About the Position We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Director of Restaurant Operations to lead the operational, financial, and strategic performance of our restaurant portfolio located adjacent to our movie theaters. This is a senior leadership position responsible for the overall success of the restaurant business, including operations, financial performance, guest experience, talent development, culinary execution, sales growth, and organizational culture. The Vice President will provide leadership and direction to General Managers and restaurant leadership teams while establishing the standards, systems, and strategies necessary to deliver a consistently exceptional guest experience across the portfolio. The VP of Restaurant Operations will serve as the senior operational leader for the restaurant division, partnering closely with executive leadership and corporate support functions to establish business objectives, develop growth strategies, improve operational performance, and build a high-performing restaurant organization. The ideal candidate is a highly accomplished restaurant executive with significant experience leading multi-unit, full-service, upscale, high-volume, entertainment, hospitality, or destination-based restaurant operations. This individual must be equally comfortable discussing guest experience, talent development, food quality, labor, and service as they are reviewing a P&L, developing budgets, analyzing KPIs, or making strategic business decisions. This role requires a highly visible, hands-on leader who is comfortable spending significant time in the restaurants, developing General Managers and leadership teams, identifying opportunities, and holding the organization accountable for results. Ability to effectively manage and assess a location remotely by analyzing key operational reports and performance metrics to identify areas of strength, recognize challenges, and determine whether the business is meeting expectations without needing to be physically present. Extremely important PASSION FOR FOOD Key Leadership Responsibilities Executive Leadership & Strategy Provide overall leadership, direction, and accountability for the restaurant division. Develop and execute the restaurant division's short- and long-term operating strategy in alignment with overall company objectives. Establish annual and quarterly operating priorities, performance objectives, and financial targets. Develop strategies to increase sales, traffic, guest frequency, average check, profitability, and overall restaurant performance. Establish clear operational expectations, standards, and accountability throughout the organization. Partner with executive leadership to evaluate business opportunities, new concepts, market opportunities, capital investments, and future restaurant growth. Provide executive leadership with regular updates regarding restaurant performance, opportunities, challenges, trends, and strategic recommendations. Develop and maintain an organization capable of supporting current operations and future growth. Serve as a senior ambassador for the restaurant division and represent the company professionally with internal and external stakeholders. Leadership Manager & Development Lead, coach, mentor, and develop the General Manager organization. Establish clear expectations and performance standards for all General Managers. Recruit, interview, select, onboard, and develop high-caliber General Managers. Establish formal performance management and development processes for restaurant leadership. Conduct regular business reviews with General Managers focused on financial performance, guest experience, people development, operational execution, and strategic priorities. Develop succession plans and identify high-potential leaders for future advancement. Build a strong internal leadership pipeline capable of supporting future restaurant growth. Ensure General Managers are accountable for the complete performance of their restaurants. Coach General Managers on leadership, financial management, labor optimization, guest recovery, sales growth, team engagement, and operational execution. Establish consistent leadership expectations while allowing General Managers’ appropriate autonomy to operate their businesses. Identify underperforming leaders and establish clear improvement plans and accountability measures. Ensure successful transitions when new General Managers assume responsibility for a restaurant. Operations & Operational Excellence Establish and maintain world-class operating standards across all restaurants. Ensure consistent execution of company standards related to service, food quality, hospitality, cleanliness, ambiance, music, appearance, safety, and overall guest experience. Conduct regular restaurant visits and operational assessments. Identify operational opportunities and ensure corrective actions are implemented quickly and sustainably. Establish standardized operating procedures while recognizing the unique characteristics of individual restaurant concepts and locations. Ensure restaurants consistently execute company initiatives, policies, procedures, and operating strategies. They must ensure the restaurant delivers an exceptional guest experience that stands on its own, independent of the theatre experience. While coordination and synchronization between the restaurant and theatre operations are essential, the restaurant experience must remain the primary focus. If we determine that theatre experience enhances and drives the restaurant experience, we can then adjust our approach accordingly. Monitor staffing, scheduling, labor productivity, service levels, table turns, guest flow, and overall operational efficiency. Ensure restaurants have the appropriate tools, systems, staffing, and resources to achieve operational and financial goals. Establish best practices and ensure successful practices are shared throughout the restaurant portfolio. Lead operational initiatives designed to improve efficiency, productivity, service, and profitability. Ensure restaurants maintain full compliance with health, food safety, sanitation, alcohol, employment, and other applicable regulatory requirements. Guest Experience & Hospitality Establish and champion a guest-first culture across the restaurant organization. Develop strategies to increase guest engagement, satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat visitation. Establish clear expectations for service recovery and empower restaurant leadership to resolve guest concerns effectively. Monitor guest feedback, satisfaction scores, reviews, and other indicators of the guest experience. Identify trends and implement initiatives to improve guest satisfaction and retention. Ensure restaurants consistently deliver a welcoming, energetic, polished, and memorable experience. Partner with theater operations and company leadership to create a seamless, integrated guest experience that encourages guests to enjoy both the restaurant and theater offerings, driving engagement, satisfaction, and revenue across both experiences while maintaining the restaurant’s distinct identity and service standards. Financial Leadership & P&L Management Own overall financial performance for the restaurant portfolio. Establish and oversee annual budgets, forecasts, financial targets, and operating plans, ensuring the ability to achieve established goals. Partner with General Management to review performance, identify opportunities and challenges, and develop strategic, actionable plans to meet or exceed financial and operational objectives. Review restaurant and portfolio-level P&Ls and identify opportunities to improve profitability. Monitor sales, labor, food costs, beverage costs, operating expenses, prime costs, margins, and other key financial indicators. Partner with General Managers to establish financial goals and action plans. Hold General Managers accountable for achieving sales, labor, cost, and profitability targets. Identify opportunities to increase revenue through pricing, menu strategy, promotions, events, private dining, partnerships, and guest engagement initiatives. Develop strategies to improve labor productivity without compromising guest or team member experience. Establish and maintain strong food, beverage, purchasing, inventory, and cost-control practices. Review performance against budget, forecast, prior year, and established benchmarks. Identify financial risks and opportunities and implement appropriate corrective action. Partner with Finance and Accounting to ensure accurate reporting, forecasting, budgeting, and financial controls. Evaluate capital expenditures and return on investment for restaurant improvements, equipment, technology, and other investments. Identify and prioritize key operational KPIs, analyze performance trends, and develop and implement actionable strategies to achieve established targets and drive continuous operational improvement. Sales, Marketing & Revenue Growth Partner with Marketing and corporate teams to develop strategies that drive restaurant traffic and incremental revenue. Develop restaurant-specific sales-building initiatives based on local market opportunities. Leverage the relationship between the restaurants and adjacent movie theaters to increase cross-traffic, frequency, and overall guest spend. Develop strategies around movie releases, special events, holidays, premieres, private events, group dining, and other high-traffic opportunities. Identify and capitalize on opportunities to drive pre- and post-movie dining occasions by leveraging movie-related traffic, showtimes, and audience trends to increase restaurant visits and revenue, while ensuring the restaurant maintains its own distinct identity and appeal beyond the moviegoing experience. Partner with Marketing to ensure restaurant promotions and campaigns are operationally executable and financially effective. Monitor promotional performance and adjust strategies based on results. Develop strategies to increase average check, beverage sales, loyalty, repeat visitation, and guest frequency. People, Culture & Talent Build and maintain a high-performance, people-first culture throughout the restaurant organization. Establish leadership standards that promote accountability, respect, teamwork, inclusion, and professional development. Develop strategies to attract, retain, and engage high-performing restaurant talent. Partner with Human Resources to develop effective recruiting, retention, onboarding, training, and performance-management programs. Ensure General Managers and restaurant leaders understand their responsibility for developing their teams. Promote internal career growth and advancement opportunities. Establish leadership development programs for Assistant General Managers, Managers, Chefs, and other high-potential employees. Recognize and reward strong performance. Address performance issues promptly and consistently. Build an organization known for strong leadership, teamwork, hospitality, and career development. Build and develop a team that takes pride in the restaurant, demonstrates loyalty and accountability, and is committed to delivering exceptional food quality and outstanding guest service. Foster a strong passion-for-food culture that emphasizes culinary excellence, consistency, quality, and a shared commitment to creating an exceptional dining experience for every guest. Culinary & Food Quality Partner with culinary leadership to establish and maintain food quality, consistency, presentation, and execution standards. Ensure menu execution consistently meets company expectations. Monitor food quality, preparation, portion control, presentation, and guest feedback. Partner with culinary and purchasing teams to optimize food costs while protecting product quality. Support menu development, menu engineering, pricing, and new product initiatives. Ensure kitchen operations, staffing, training, cleanliness, and food safety standards are consistently achieved. Partner with restaurant leadership to identify opportunities to improve kitchen efficiency and profitability. New Restaurant Openings & Growth Lead or support the operational planning and execution of new restaurant openings. Establish opening timelines, staffing plans, training plans, operating procedures, and performance expectations. Recruit and develop opening management teams. Ensure new restaurants are properly staffed, trained, equipped, and operationally prepared before opening. Provide ongoing support and leadership during the opening and stabilization period. Develop scalable systems and processes that support future restaurant growth. Cross-Functional Leadership Establish strong communication and collaboration between restaurant operations and corporate support functions. Partner closely with Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Culinary, Purchasing, Facilities, IT, Legal, and Theater Operations. Ensure corporate initiatives are effectively translated into restaurant-level execution. Provide field insight and operational feedback to corporate leadership. Identify opportunities for greater integration between restaurant and theater operations. Promote a collaborative, solutions-oriented approach across the organization.

Qualifications

Minimum of 10 years of progressive restaurant or hospitality operations experience required. Minimum of 5 years of multi-unit restaurant leadership experience required. Significant General Manager and/or multi-unit operations leadership experience required. Proven success leading a portfolio of restaurants, multiple locations, or a large-scale restaurant operation. Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, and developing General Managers and senior restaurant leaders. Strong track record of improving sales, profitability, guest satisfaction, employee engagement, and operational execution. Demonstrated P&L ownership and financial management experience. Experience developing budgets, forecasts, operating plans, and financial strategies. Experience leading high-volume, full-service, upscale, entertainment, hospitality, or destination-based restaurants strongly preferred. Experience with new restaurant openings, remodels, concept development, or significant operational transformations strongly preferred. Strong understanding of restaurant labor management, food and beverage costs, inventory, purchasing, scheduling, service standards, and operational controls. Demonstrated ability to develop and implement multi-year business strategies while maintaining strong day-to-day operational execution. Proven ability to build strong leadership teams and succession plans. Demonstrated ability to influence, motivate, coach, and hold senior leaders accountable. Willingness and ability to travel regularly among restaurant locations. Must be willing to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events as business needs require. Knowledge & Skills Exceptional leadership and people-development capabilities. Strong business and financial acumen. Advanced understanding of restaurant P&L management. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Strong negotiation, influence, and decision-making abilities. Excellent planning, organization, prioritization, and delegation skills. Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, highly visible environment. Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities. Ability to identify trends, analyze data, and translate insights into actionable business strategies. Strong understanding of labor forecasting, productivity, scheduling, and workforce management. Strong knowledge of food, beverage, labor, inventory, and operating cost controls. Strong commitment to hospitality and guest experience. High level of emotional intelligence and interpersonal awareness. Ability to establish credibility and build relationships at all levels of an organization. Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational leadership. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and restaurant technology systems. Experience using financial reporting, labor-management, POS, guest-feedback, and business-intelligence systems. Highly accountable, results-oriented, and self-motivated. Key Performance Indicators The Director of Restaurant Operations will be accountable for measurable improvement and sustained performance across the restaurant portfolio, including: Sales and same-store sales growth Restaurant-level profitability EBITDA / operating income Labor percentage and productivity Food and beverage cost Prime cost Guest satisfaction and guest retention Guest complaint and service-recovery performance Employee engagement and retention Management turnover General Manager retention and development Internal promotion and succession planning Operational audit performance Food safety and health inspection results New restaurant opening performance Budget and forecast accuracy Average check and revenue per guest Restaurant traffic and frequency Successful execution of company initiatives Waste Reduction Leadership Profile The successful candidate will be a strategic operator, exceptional people leader, and commercially minded restaurant executive who understands that outstanding financial performance begins with outstanding people, hospitality, and operational execution. This leader must be visible in the restaurants, highly engaged with General Managers and teams, comfortable making difficult decisions, and passionate about building a culture of accountability and excellence and passionate for food. Working for CMX Cinemas comes with really great perks: Highly competitive wages and awesome tip-earning potentials for qualifying positions Health insurance available for full-time employees at affordable rates Disability and life insurance available at affordable rates 401K (Company Match) Free movie passes Meal discounts Great work environment Flexible hours Fun and challenging team member contests Recognition programs Professional career development opportunities based on performance CMX Cinemas is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, promoting diversity and inclusion of all as being foundational to our culture.

Benefits

Relocation assistance Work Location: Remote