Guest Experience Manager - NAYA - New York

Guest Experience Manager - NAYA - New York

At NAYA, we're on an exciting journey - growing fast, sharing authentic, fresh and nutritious Middle Eastern flavors, and building a team that grows right along with us.

At NAYA, our mission is to share the Middle Eastern flavors that nourish and inspire us.

We are looking for an experienced, passionate person to grow with us as we live our mission. If you're ready to lead with heart, inspire others, and be part of something bigger, NAYA is the place to make it happen.

You will love working at NAYA. We believe great people deserve great rewards. NAYA offers a comprehensive and people-focused benefits package designed to support you at work and beyond, including:

• Competitive pay to recognize your impact
• Competitive bonus plan
• Paid Vacation time
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance to keep you healthy and thriving
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter benefits to make life easier
• Employee discounts and free NAYA meals — because we believe in enjoying what we serve
• Pet Insurance - because we know your fur babies are important you
• Growth opportunities at every level — we invest in developing leaders from within
• Employee Assistance, Pay on Demand, Pet Insurance, Identity Theft Protection, and much more!

At NAYA, you'll find more than a job — you'll find a community that values you, supports your goals, and celebrates your success.

The Guest Experience Manager is responsible for leading NAYA's day-to-day guest support operations across all channels, including digital, in-store, and post-visit feedback. This role goes beyond response management to build scalable processes, surface actionable insights, and ensure every guest interaction reflects NAYA's brand and values, deepening guest satisfaction and loyalty.

You will serve as the primary owner of guest feedback and communication, ensuring SLAs are met, recovery strategies are effective, and cross-functional partners have the information they need to drive improvements.

This is a highly visible role requiring a balance of empathy, operational awareness, analytical thinking, and leadership.

How You'll Impact

• Build and lead a best-in-class guest support function that scales with NAYA's growth
• Increase guest satisfaction, retention, and brand loyalty through thoughtful recovery strategies
• Influence operational, digital, and marketing decisions through actionable guest insights
• Establish consistent, high-quality standards for guest communication across all platforms

What You'll Do

Guest Experience Operations & Strategy

• Own and manage NAYA's guest support operations across email, phones, surveys, social media, and third-party platforms.
• Develop and maintain processes for managing guest feedback consistently and at scale, including implementing new systems.
• Help define and track key success metrics, including CSAT, response time, resolution rates, and sentiment trends.
• Support the implementation of a Contact Center strategy, including channels, hours of operation, and recovery program.
• Identify opportunities to proactively improve the guest journey, not just respond to issues.

Team Oversight

• Oversee day-to-day work of Guest Support Specialists and ensure SLAs are consistently achieved.
• Identify coaching and training opportunities to strengthen team performance and response quality.
• Escalate issues that are preventing SLA achievement and follow through on resolution.

Guest Communication & Recovery

• Ensure all guest responses are timely, empathetic, brand-aligned, and solutions-driven
• Manage recovery strategies and guide tone, voice, and messaging across all channels to ensure consistency and guest satisfaction.
• Track offer redemption rates and evaluate the effectiveness of recovery efforts, including A/B testing of solutions.

Insights & Reporting

• Provide scheduled and ad hoc reporting on guest feedback trends, including ordering issues, LTO performance, marketing promotions, and new initiatives.
• Analyze feedback to identify patterns, root causes, and opportunities for improvement.
• Translate insights into clear, actionable recommendations for Operations, Marketing, and Technology.
• Build and maintain reporting dashboards that give leadership a clear view of guest experience performance.

CRM & Systems Optimization

• Help stand up NAYA's CRM from the start, contributing to tool evaluation, workflow setup, and documentation as we build out this tool.
• Manage and optimize reputation management and guest feedback tools (e.g., Tattle, SOCI, Olo Engage).
• Maintain organized tracking of guest interactions across all systems, ensuring data is categorized and usable for reporting.

Brand & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Serve as a go-to contact for guest experience across internal teams.
• Track and follow up on escalation issues to ensure accountability and resolution.
• Maintain deep knowledge of NAYA's menu, operations, and evolving systems.
• Ensure all guest-facing communication reflects current offerings and brand standards.

What you Bring

• 3+ years of experience in guest experience, customer experience, or hospitality operations (multi-unit or high-growth environment preferred)
• Proven ability to move from execution to strategy — building systems, not just managing tasks
• Exceptional communication skills (written and verbal), with a strong sense of tone and brand voice
• Experience with CRM, guest feedback, and reputation management platforms
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to turn data into action
• High attention to detail and organizational discipline
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally and influencing without direct authority

A mindset that is:

• Guest-obsessed: Sees every interaction as an opportunity to build trust and loyalty
• Strategic thinker: Looks beyond individual issues to identify patterns and long-term solutions
• Empathetic communicator: Balances care with clarity in every interaction
• Operator at heart: Understands the realities of restaurant environments and designs practical solutions
• Curious and growth-driven: Continuously looks for ways to improve systems, tools, and outcomes
• Ownership mentality: Takes full accountability for the guest experience end-to-end