Assistant General Manager /Bench Assistant Patrao - DC

Assistant General Manager (Assistant Patrão)

Being an Assistant Patrão at Nando's means stepping into the restaurant each day with pride, passion, courage, integrity, and family at your core. You bring energy, fun, and focus to every shift—firing up Nandocas, supporting your Patrão, and helping deliver brilliant shifts that make our restaurants feel alive. You lead shoulder-to-shoulder, shaping the atmosphere, coaching in real time, and inspiring belief and confidence across your team. You are a culture carrier, a coach, and a catalyst for growth—helping Nandocas become their best selves, both inside and outside of Nando's.

Your purpose

As Assistant Patrão, you are the second-in-command—the operational engine that keeps the rhythm of the restaurant strong week after week. You bring the vision of the restaurant to life, running brilliant shifts, developing Nandocas, improving KPIs, and protecting Nando's experience. You support your Patrão in all aspects of people, brand, commercial performance, and Changing Lives—ensuring the restaurant delivers 14 Brilliant Shifts consistently.

Scope & Span of Accountability

You operate with a weekly horizon while supporting elements of the annual plan. You oversee deployment, rotate ownership, training cadence, coaching rhythms, and the day-to-day people processes that set the team up for success. You lead shift excellence across all channels, elevate brand execution, and help convert weekly goals into real results.

Key Focus Areas & Responsibilities

People — Grow, Inspire, and Lead the Restaurant Family

You bring Nando's values to life across every shift. You coach, motivate, and ignite Nandocas—connecting them to the restaurant vision and KPIs. You support your Patrão in hiring, onboarding, and developing capable Nandocas; spotting potential early; and growing individuals into future Shift Leaders and managers. You foster belonging, fairness, psychological safety, and team wellbeing—ensuring everyone feels welcome, supported, and empowered to shine.

Brand — Deliver a Fired-Up Nando's Experience

You role-model hospitality excellence and coach Nandocas to create memorable customer experiences. You ensure the full customer journey is delivered brilliantly—whether in-restaurant, takeaway, or delivery—protecting the primacy of the eat-in experience. You maintain consistency of standards, complete quality checks, support customer recovery, and bring local and national marketing plans to life.

Commercial — Fuel Weekly Performance

You bring commercial KPIs to life on shift—managing labor to forecast, reducing waste, adjusting levers to protect speed and quality, and supporting your Patrão to drive sustainable sales. You make smart, informed decisions that balance cost control and customer experience, helping grow the restaurant in a way that delights guests, uplifts Nandocas, and improves the bottom line.

Changing Lives — Make a Difference Every Day

You help create daily moments that change lives—building confidence, nurturing belonging, and giving opportunities to individuals others might overlook. You support scheduling fairness, support wellbeing conversations, champion community partnerships, and help the restaurant deliver on sustainability goals such as reducing waste, recycling, and energy usage.

Decision Authority

You lead multiple shifts each week and make operational decisions around deployment, cross-training, customer recovery, and stock adjustments. You escalate complex ER, safety, or financial issues to your Patrão and support the execution of corrective actions and weekly plans.

Risk & Compliance

You uphold daily food safety; H&S, and audit routines—ensuring logs, checks, and compliance activities are consistently completed. You support people compliance: Right to Work, contracts, training completions, and safe operations—helping protect the Nando's brand and legal posture.

Core Outcomes & Measures

• Happy Nandocas: engaged, confident teams; development progress; stability and retention.
• Happy Customers: consistent touchpoints; speed, quality, hospitality; reduced detractors; strong shopper metrics.
• Happy Leadership: labor to forecast accuracy; reduced waste control; channel execution; improved weekly KPIs.
• Changing Lives: Inclusive hiring support; community participation; sustainability actions.

Key Interfaces

Patrão; Shift Leaders; Nandocas; People Partner/HR; Local Suppliers; delivery partners; Area/Managing Director when required.

Level Differentiators — What Makes an Assistant Patrão Distinct

You own the weekly rhythm, elevate shift performance, build capability through training and sign-off, and improve KPIs through root-cause analysis. You turn weekly plans into consistent execution—and create the conditions for Nandocas to thrive and become future leaders.

Leading in the Nando's Way

You bring the spirit of Ubuntu into action—leading collaboratively, challenging with heart, and uplifting those around you. You blend having fun, making money, and changing lives; communicate brilliantly; support change with positivity; and role-model Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity, and Family.

What You Bring

• 3-5 years of restaurant experience with shift leadership responsibilities; strong ER process executives
• Demonstrated ability to run peak shifts with pace and accuracy
• Experience supporting hiring, onboarding, and training of Nandocas
• Proven ability to maintain food safety, prep, and line checks
• Experience managing deployment, breaks, and shift routines
• Documented examples of supporting inventory, ordering, or scheduling
• Experience handling guest recovery and basic conflict resolution
• Education/ Certifications: High school diploma or equivalent; Serv Safe Manager required; Allergen Awareness and Alcohol Safety certifications where applicable.

Physical Requirements

• Able to independently lift up to 50lbs for an extended period of time
• Must be able to walk and/or stand for 8-10 hours per day
• Hand-eye coordination
• Reaching, bending twisting, stooping
• Pushing and Pulling
• Lifting overhead
• Must be able to climb stairs in restaurants that have multiple levels

Nandos North America provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.