The Hale Kai Lunch & Dinner Restaurant Manager is responsible for overseeing daily operations of a high-volume luxury resort restaurant, ensuring exceptional guest experiences, maximizing financial performance, and fostering a culture of hospitality, teamwork, accountability, and service excellence. This position leads, coaches, and develops restaurant colleagues while maintaining the highest standards of luxury service, cleanliness, food safety, and operational efficiency.
The Hale Kai Manager serves as a visible leader on the floor, engaging with guests and employees to ensure memorable dining experiences that reflect the resort's values and commitment to excellence.
Essential Functions
Leadership & People Leadership
- Lead, coach, and develop restaurant supervisors and service teams.
- Promote a culture of luxury service, professionalism, accountability, and teamwork.
- Conduct training, coaching, performance evaluations, and corrective action when necessary.
- Ensure compliance with hotel policies, collective bargaining agreements, and employment laws.
- Foster employee engagement and recognition initiatives.
- Foster a positive, inclusive, and engaging work environment.
- Conduct daily pre-shift meetings and service briefings.
- Ensure employees understand departmental goals, service standards, and expectations.
- Support onboarding and continuous training programs.
Compliance and Ethics
- Ensure compliance with company policies, collective bargaining agreements, employment laws, and regulatory requirements.
- Protect confidentiality of employee, guest, and company information.
- Demonstrate honesty, professionalism, and ethical conduct at all times.
- Support investigations, audits, and compliance initiatives as required.
Communication and Collaboration
- Communicate clearly, professionally, and respectfully.
- Foster strong working relationships throughout the resort.
- Support cross-functional teamwork and problem-solving.
- Promote a culture of transparency and collaboration.
Guest Experience
- Serve as a role model for luxury hospitality standards and lead by example in all guest interactions.
- Develop ongoing LQA action plans for restaurant and participate in weekly audits.
- Deliver exceptional, personalized, and anticipatory service that consistently exceeds guest expectations.
- Maintain a highly visible presence in the restaurant during service periods to engage with guests and support team members.
- Create memorable dining experiences through attention to detail, genuine hospitality, and proactive service recovery.
- Anticipate guest needs and take immediate action to enhance comfort, satisfaction, and loyalty.
- Address guest concerns, complaints, and special requests promptly, professionally, and with a sense of urgency.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with repeat guests, VIPs, and resort residents.
- Collaborate closely with Culinary leadership and other departments to ensure seamless execution of the dining experience.
- Monitor dining room operations, ambiance, cleanliness, and presentation standards to ensure consistency with luxury resort expectations.
- Evaluate guest feedback and implement improvements that enhance overall satisfaction and service delivery.
Operational Excellence
- Oversee all daily restaurant operations, ensuring smooth and efficient lunch and dinner service.
- Ensure departmental policies, procedures, service standards, and luxury brand expectations are consistently followed.
- Manage opening, operating, and closing procedures while maintaining accountability for operational readiness.
- Maintain a highly visible leadership presence throughout operations, providing guidance, coaching, and support to employees.
- Monitor reservation flow, table management, seating strategies, and dining room efficiency to maximize guest satisfaction and revenue opportunities. OpenTable champion for outlet.
- Ensure all team members maintain comprehensive menu, beverage, and promotional knowledge and can confidently communicate offerings to guests.
- Coordinate effectively with Culinary, Stewarding, Housekeeping, Engineering, Security, and other resort departments to achieve operational objectives.
- Promote efficiency, organization, cleanliness, and attention to detail throughout all areas of the restaurant.
- Identify opportunities for innovation, process improvement, and enhanced operational effectiveness.
- Ensure compliance with all health, sanitation, safety, food handling, alcohol service, and company standards.
- Maintain restaurant facilities, furnishings, equipment, and physical surroundings in accordance with luxury resort presentation standards.
- Support resort-wide initiatives and collaborate with leadership teams to achieve departmental and organizational goals.
- Develop and drive yearly activation calendar with support form Senior Managers and Divisional Directors
Cleanliness and Luxury Standards
- Maintain exceptional standards of cleanliness and presentation.
- Ensure facilities, equipment, and workspaces reflect luxury resort expectations.
- Foster ownership and pride in maintaining the physical environment.
- Hold teams accountable for cleanliness and organization.
Financial Responsibilities
- Monitor labor costs, scheduling, productivity, and payroll.
- Full ownership of department level P&L. Works to drive check average and covers per occupied guest room.
- Manage departmental budgets and financial performance.
- Analyze sales trends and implement revenue-enhancing initiatives.
- Control operating expenses and minimize waste.
- Support inventory management and purchasing controls.
Safety, Sanitation & Cleanliness
- Ensure compliance with all health, sanitation, food safety, OSHA, and Hawaiʻi state regulations.
- Maintain a clean, organized, and safe work environment.
- Participate in bi-weekly walkthroughs of restaurant space with Divisional Director / Assistant Director and address ongoing cleanliness and maintenance opportunities through thoughtful action planning.
- Conduct regular inspections of restaurant facilities and equipment.
- Ensure employees follow safe food handling and workplace safety practices.
- Promote a culture of cleanliness and ownership throughout the restaurant.
Administrative Responsibilities
- Maintain accurate records, reports, schedules, and operational documentation.
- SAQ audit champion for department. Ensure proper controls are followed through on a daily basis.
- Participate in leadership meetings and hotel initiatives.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, and retention efforts.
- Assist with special events, promotions, and outlet marketing initiatives.