Assistant Manager
5 days ago
£42000–£52000 yearly
Full-time
Carnaby, London
£42,000–£52,000 per year Full-time | 45 hours per week Ria’s is a neighbourhood pizza and wine bar built around the simple pleasures of deep-pan pizza, natural wine and brilliant hospitality. We opened our first site in Notting Hill in 2023, followed by Soho in 2025, and we’re looking for an ambitious Assistant Manager to join the management team at Ria’s Soho. This is a hands-on management role with real ownership. You’ll work closely with the General Manager and Head Chef to run the site, lead and develop the team and ensure we consistently deliver the Ria’s experience - while taking direct responsibility for key areas of the business including stock performance, customer experience, training and team development. You’ll also work directly with the founders and management across both Ria’s sites, helping us operate as one business and continually improve how we do things. The Role As Assistant Manager, you’ll be a key part of the Soho management team and take ownership of both the day-to-day running of the restaurant and longer-term performance of the site. Service & Customer Experience You’ll be responsible for ensuring every service delivers the Ria’s standard. That means: • Leading busy services confidently and setting the standard on the floor, • Ensuring our Steps of Service are consistently followed across the FOH team, • Maintaining warm, efficient, knowledgeable and proactive hospitality, • Identifying issues during service and taking ownership of resolving them, • Driving consistency across everything from welcomes and product knowledge to check-backs, upselling and how we close the customer experience, • Owning customer feedback and reviews, identifying recurring themes and turning them into improvements, • Handling customer issues and complaints confidently and appropriately Team Leadership, Training & Development A big part of this role is building a brilliant, confident and consistent FOH team. You’ll: • Lead, motivate and manage the FOH team on shift, • Support the GM in onboarding and training new FOH team members, • Ensure every new starter understands our service standards, products and ways of working, • Deliver and coordinate ongoing FOH training across service, food, wine and hospitality, • Coach team members in real time and give clear, constructive feedback, • Work with the GM to identify development opportunities and progression within the team, • Help create a positive, high-performing culture built around accountability, teamwork and mutual respect, • Ensure standards don't slip when senior management isn't on the floor Stock & Commercial Performance You’ll have direct ownership of FOH stock management and performance. This includes: • Managing ordering, stock counts and stock levels, • Ensuring stock processes are accurate and consistently followed, • Monitoring weekly stock performance and ensuring the site operates within agreed targets, • Investigating variances and taking action when something isn't performing as expected, • Ensuring the right systems and training are in place to maintain strong stock control, • Understanding how day-to-day operational decisions affect the commercial performance of the restaurant We want someone who is comfortable with numbers and interested in understanding why something is happening, rather than simply reporting it. Site Operations Alongside the GM and Head Chef, you'll take responsibility for making sure Soho runs brilliantly day to day. You'll: • Take full responsibility for the restaurant when leading a shift, • Manage opening and closing procedures, • Ensure health & safety and operational standards are consistently followed, • Identify and manage site maintenance issues, • Support effective communication between FOH and BOH, • Manage group booking enquiries and ensure larger bookings are delivered brilliantly, • Spot operational problems and take initiative to fix them Working Across Ria’s Although you'll be based in Soho, we're one Ria’s team. You'll work closely with the founders, Soho GM and management teams across both Soho and Notting Hill to: • Keep standards and ways of working aligned across both restaurants, • Share learnings, challenges and ideas between sites, • Align training and team development, • Help implement new menus, products, systems and initiatives, • Identify opportunities to improve the customer and team experience across Ria’s As a growing independent business, we want our managers to contribute to how Ria’s develops - not simply operate within an existing playbook. Who We're Looking For You might currently be an experienced Floor Manager, Senior Supervisor or Assistant Manager who's ready for more ownership. We're looking for someone who: • Has strong experience leading teams in a busy hospitality environment, • Is confident running a service and making decisions independently, • Leads from the floor and sets the standard through their own behaviour, • Has experience training, coaching and developing team members, • Is commercially minded and comfortable taking ownership of stock and operational targets, • Has exceptional attention to detail and genuinely cares about customer experience, • Communicates clearly and works well across FOH, BOH and senior management, • Takes initiative - if you see something that could be better, you're the kind of person who wants to improve it, • Loves hospitality, food and wine and wants to keep developing their knowledge Growing With Ria’s We're still a small, founder-led business meaning you'll work directly with the founders and senior team, have visibility across the business and be encouraged to contribute ideas and challenge how we do things. For someone ambitious, there is genuine opportunity to take on more responsibility as Ria’s grows. We have a clear management progression framework and will work with you on your individual development and next steps.
