Project Manager - Restaurant Development

Job Description

Job Description

Project Manager – Restaurant Development & Construction

Company: Blooco
Location: Central Florida / Project-Based Travel
Employment Type: Full-Time

About Blooco

Blooco is a restaurant development company focused exclusively on the physical environments where restaurant brands come to life.

Through our integrated Design, Build, Equipment, and Furnishings divisions, we help restaurant owners and operators take projects from concept through opening day. Our goal is to make restaurant development simpler, faster, and more predictable by bringing the major pieces of the development process together under one team.

We are looking for a Project Manager with strong restaurant construction and development experience to lead projects from preconstruction through turnover and opening.

The Role

The Project Manager is responsible for the overall successful delivery of Blooco projects, serving as the primary point of coordination between the client, design team, field team, subcontractors, vendors, equipment suppliers, and other project stakeholders.

This is not simply a general commercial construction PM position.

Restaurants are fast-paced, highly coordinated projects with unique requirements. A successful candidate should understand how a restaurant actually comes together—from underground utilities and grease waste to kitchen equipment, hoods, millwork, finishes, health inspections, fire inspections, owner-furnished equipment, and final opening.

We are specifically looking for someone who understands the difference between building a building and opening a restaurant.

What You'll Be Responsible For

As a Blooco Project Manager, you will own the project from handoff through closeout, with responsibility for:

• Managing restaurant construction projects from preconstruction through final turnover and opening
• Serving as the primary relationship and communication point for the client throughout the project
• Developing and maintaining project budgets, commitments, forecasts, change orders, and financial reporting
• Working closely with the Superintendent/Construction Manager to maintain the project schedule and remove obstacles affecting field production
• Coordinating architects, engineers, consultants, subcontractors, suppliers, equipment vendors, and owner vendors
• Reviewing drawings, specifications, submittals, RFIs, shop drawings, and project requirements
• Identifying constructability and coordination issues before they become field problems
• Managing long-lead items and ensuring procurement aligns with the construction schedule
• Coordinating Blooco's Design, Build, Equipment, and Furnishings teams when multiple divisions are involved
• Managing owner decisions and communicating deadlines required to maintain the project schedule
• Managing subcontractor scopes and identifying scope gaps before they result in change orders or delays
• Maintaining accurate project documentation and reporting
• Leading project meetings and communicating clear action items, responsibilities, and deadlines
• Managing permitting, inspections, testing, certificates of occupancy, health department approvals, and other turnover requirements
• Driving punch list completion and closeout
• Ensuring the restaurant is truly ready for the client—not simply "construction complete"

Restaurant Knowledge Matters

Restaurant development experience is a major priority for this position.

The strongest candidates will have direct experience coordinating many of the systems unique to restaurant projects, including:

• Commercial kitchen equipment
• Type I and Type II hood systems
• Fire suppression systems
• Grease interceptors and grease waste systems
• Walk-in coolers and freezers
• Refrigeration systems
• Gas distribution
• Floor sinks, indirect waste, and kitchen plumbing
• Electrical requirements for commercial kitchen equipment
• Millwork, casework, counters, and solid-surface fabrication
• Foodservice equipment utility rough-ins
• Health department requirements
• Fire marshal inspections
• ADA and accessibility requirements
• Signage
• POS, security, low-voltage, and technology vendors
• Owner-furnished and vendor-installed equipment
• Furniture, fixtures, and décor packages
• Final commissioning, inspections, and opening coordination

Just as importantly, you should understand the pace of restaurant development . A delayed decision, missed equipment rough-in, late hood package, or coordination issue can jeopardize an opening date.

Our Project Managers are expected to anticipate these issues rather than simply react to them.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Blooco Project Manager consistently delivers projects that are:

On Schedule
The restaurant opens when we said it would.

Financially Successful
Project costs, commitments, change orders, and forecasts are actively managed throughout the project.

Well Coordinated
Design, construction, equipment, furnishings, vendors, and owner responsibilities come together as one coordinated project.

Proactively Managed
Problems are identified weeks ahead—not discovered when they become emergencies.

Client Focused
The client always understands where the project stands, what decisions are required, and what is happening next.

Ready to Operate
The finished project isn't merely construction-complete. It is ready for the restaurant operator to move in, train their team, and open.

Qualifications

Preferred Experience:

• 5+ years of commercial construction project management experience
• Strong preference for restaurant, hospitality, foodservice, or retail construction experience
• Experience managing ground-up and/or tenant-improvement restaurant projects
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong understanding of construction drawings, specifications, contracts, schedules, and budgets
• Experience working directly with restaurant owners, franchisees, developers, architects, and brand representatives
• Familiarity with permitting, inspections, health department requirements, and restaurant turnover
• Experience coordinating commercial kitchen equipment and foodservice vendors is highly preferred

The Person We're Looking For

Technical construction knowledge is important, but the right person also needs to be an exceptional operator.

You should be:

• Proactive – You solve problems before they become emergencies.
• Organized – You can manage hundreds of moving pieces without losing sight of the critical path.
• Accountable – You take ownership of the outcome rather than explaining why something didn't happen.
• Urgent – You understand that restaurant opening dates matter.
• Communicative – Clients and team members never have to wonder where things stand.
• Detail-Oriented – You recognize that small coordination mistakes can create major downstream problems.
• Commercially Minded – You understand that great project management includes protecting the financial performance of the project.
• Restaurant Minded – You think beyond construction completion and understand what the operator needs to actually open the restaurant.

Why Blooco?

Restaurant development is traditionally fragmented. Owners may have separate architects, contractors, equipment dealers, millworkers, furniture suppliers, and consultants—all working independently.

Blooco is building a different model.

By bringing Design, Build, Equipment, and Furnishings together, we're creating a more integrated way to develop restaurants.

For the right Project Manager, this means exposure to the entire restaurant development process—not just the construction portion of it.

You'll have the opportunity to work with restaurant brands and operators, solve complex development challenges, and help build a company focused on becoming one of the leading restaurant development platforms in the country.

If you understand restaurants, love construction, take ownership of outcomes, and thrive in a fast-moving environment, we'd like to meet you.

\nCompany Description

Blooco is a restaurant development company focused exclusively on the physical environments where restaurant brands come to life.

Through our integrated Design, Build, Equipment, and Furnishings divisions, we help restaurant owners and operators take projects from concept through opening day. Our goal is to make restaurant development simpler, faster, and more predictable by bringing the major pieces of the development process together under one team.

Company Description

Blooco is a restaurant development company focused exclusively on the physical environments where restaurant brands come to life.\r\n\r\nThrough our integrated Design, Build, Equipment, and Furnishings divisions, we help restaurant owners and operators take projects from concept through opening day. Our goal is to make restaurant development simpler, faster, and more predictable by bringing the major pieces of the development process together under one team.