Director Restaurant Operations ( Upscale )

TITLE : Multi-Unit Director of Restaurant Operations (Upscale / Fine-dining)

COMPENSATION : up to $230K On-Target Earnings ($180-200K Salary, 15% Bonus), Plus additional profit share, medical/dental insurance, Retirement, etc.

LOCATIONS : Texas-based | 4 units in Houston + growing statewide footprint 

RELOCATION : Full corporate relocation package to Houston TX available (up to $10K)

CAREER PATH : Direct path toward senior enterprise leadership

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

A rapidly growing, chef-driven hospitality organization is seeking a high-caliber Multi-Unit Restaurant Operations Director to become a key member of its senior leadership team. This is not a maintenance role—and it is not simply a position responsible for checking operational boxes across a collection of restaurants.

The organization is entering an exciting period of expansion, with 4 established Houston locations and additional Texas openings underway , creating an opportunity for an experienced operator to help shape how the company scales. The ideal leader will bring the instincts of a great restaurant operator—guest experience, people development, service excellence and field leadership—combined with the financial discipline and systems thinking required to build a sophisticated multi-unit organization.

You will work closely with nationally-recognized culinary leaders to establish operating standards, strengthen the leadership bench, improve financial performance, open new locations and create the infrastructure needed to support significant growth. For the right person, this role is designed to become much bigger than Director of Operations. As the organization expands, there is a clear opportunity to assume increasing enterprise-level responsibility and ultimately grow into a COO-level leadership position.

 

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

Multi-Unit Operations & Leadership

• Serve as the senior operational leader across a growing portfolio of upscale restaurant concepts and managed hospitality partnerships
• Lead, coach and develop General Managers and department leaders, creating a strong pipeline of future leadership talent
• Establish clear operating expectations while empowering GMs to own their businesses
• Maintain a consistent culture of hospitality, accountability and operational excellence across every location
• Spend meaningful time in the field—working alongside restaurant leadership rather than managing exclusively from a corporate office

Financial Performance

• Own operational performance and P&L results across the portfolio
• Drive improvements in labor, food cost, controllable expenses and overall profitability
• Partner with executive leadership on budgets, forecasts and long-term financial planning
• Identify performance gaps, develop corrective strategies and hold leadership teams accountable for results
• Help build the financial and operational discipline necessary to support continued expansion

Growth & New Openings

• Play a central role in preparing and launching new restaurants across Texas
• Lead operational readiness, staffing, training, systems implementation and opening execution
• Develop repeatable opening processes that allow the organization to scale without compromising the guest experience
• Help evolve the operating model as the company grows from a successful regional group into a larger hospitality organization

Systems, Standards & Scalability

• Build and continuously improve SOPs, playbooks and operating systems across the organization
• Establish scalable processes around scheduling, inventory, POS, reservations, training and restaurant administration
• Conduct regular field visits and operational reviews to identify opportunities and reinforce standards
• Create consistency without creating bureaucracy—protecting the individuality and hospitality of each concept while establishing a common operating foundation

Executive Partnership

• Serve as the critical connection between restaurant leadership and executive leadership
• Bring field-level insight and operational recommendations directly to the executive team
• Help shape organizational strategy, culture and infrastructure as the company expands
• Partner with ownership and senior leadership on new concepts, growth initiatives and long-term organizational development

 

WHAT MAKES THIS OPPORTUNITY DIFFERENT

• Real influence. You won't simply inherit a playbook—you'll help build it.
• Real growth. With multiple new Texas locations coming online, the scope of this position will expand alongside the organization.
• Real ownership. The role carries meaningful responsibility for people, culture, operations and financial performance—not simply administrative oversight.
• Real upside. Competitive executive-level compensation includes a substantial bonus opportunity and additional profit-sharing potential.
• Real career trajectory. The long-term vision is to develop this leader into a broader enterprise executive.
• Real hospitality. This is an organization built around elevated food, thoughtful service and exceptional guest experiences. The goal is to create systems that make great hospitality more consistent—not systems that get in the way of it.

 

IDEAL BACKGROUND

We're looking for an experienced restaurant operator who has earned their way through the operation and understands what it takes to build exceptional restaurants from the ground up:

• 10+ years of hospitality experience, including significant multi-unit restaurant leadership
• Proven progression through roles such as General Manager, Regional/Area Leadership, Director of Operations or similar
• Experience operating upscale, fine-dining, chef-driven or highly sophisticated restaurant concepts
• A demonstrated record of developing strong GMs and leadership teams
• Meaningful P&L ownership and a strong command of restaurant economics
• Experience opening new restaurants and building scalable operating systems
• Strong understanding of both FOH and BOH operations
• A track record of improving labor, food cost, profitability and overall operational performance
• Strong instincts around hospitality, service culture and the guest experience
• The ability to operate strategically while remaining highly engaged in the field
• A builder's mentality—someone who enjoys creating infrastructure, developing people and helping an organization reach its next level

 

THE RIGHT PERSON

The ideal candidate may currently be a Director of Operations, Regional Director, VP of Operations, Area Director or senior multi-unit General Manager within a respected restaurant group. But more important than title is trajectory - we're looking for someone who has demonstrated that they can run great restaurants, develop great leaders, improve financial performance and then scale those capabilities across an organization. This is an opportunity for that person to take the next step—from excellent restaurant operator to enterprise-level hospitality leader.

 

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Equal Opportunity Employer

Employment Type: Full Time
Years Experience: 10 - 15 years
Salary: $180,000 - $200,000 Annual
Bonus/Commission: Yes