General Manager

WINE LAIR

General Manager & Wine Director

Washington, DC | Executive Leadership

Position Overview

Wine Lair seeks an accomplished wine and hospitality executive to lead the operations, membership experience, wine commerce, and strategic development of a sophisticated private wine club in Washington, DC. This is a senior, hands-on leadership opportunity for an individual with an established reputation in the fine wine industry, exceptional commercial judgment, and demonstrated relationships with collectors, producers, importers, distributors, and auction houses. The General Manager & Wine Director is the working leader of the club: personally present during service, visible to members, and accountable for daily hospitality standards, team performance, and operating results. The position combines the credibility of an experienced wine professional with the financial and operational discipline of a seasoned hospitality executive.

Daily Operations & Service Leadership

The General Manager & Wine Director is expected to lead from the floor, actively directing service and personally setting the standard for member hospitality. This is not a desk-based management role.

• Be regularly present and actively engaged during club service, including evenings, peak periods, major member experiences, and private events.

• Own daily readiness and execution: opening and closing procedures, reservations, member arrivals, floor coverage, service pacing, presentation, and end-of-night reporting.

• Lead pre-service briefings, manager and team communication, service assignments, and ongoing coaching; intervene directly to resolve service issues.

• Personally welcome members, anticipate their needs, oversee special requests, and maintain an informed presence throughout the dining room and club.

• Supervise and develop front-of-house and wine service staff; manage schedules, labor deployment, training, performance, and accountability.

• Coordinate with culinary and event teams to ensure food, wine, service, and private experiences are executed seamlessly.

• Oversee daily wine inventory movements, cellar requests, purchasing, receiving, storage conditions, and accurate member bottle handling.

• Monitor daily sales, cash and payment controls, member billing, labor, purchasing, and operating expenses; resolve discrepancies promptly.

• Maintain standards for facility condition, cleanliness, safety, licensing, regulatory compliance, and vendor coordination.

• Provide ownership with clear operating updates, member feedback, performance reporting, and recommendations for improvement.

Fine Wine Industry Relationships & Acquisition

A central responsibility is developing and leveraging relationships throughout the international fine wine trade.

• Maintain established relationships with leading fine wine importers, distributors, producers, estates, and négociants.

• Demonstrate experience working directly with major wine auction houses, including acquisition, valuation, and disposition of collectible wines.

• Understand the global secondary wine market, including pricing, provenance, condition, scarcity, and market demand.

• Source rare, allocated, mature, and collectible wines for the club and private members.

• Negotiate favorable purchasing arrangements, allocations, and exclusive opportunities through industry relationships.

• Advise collectors on cellar development, acquisitions, collection management, and the evolution of their holdings. • Develop relationships with private collectors and merchants to identify exceptional wines and collections.
• Maintain rigorous standards for provenance verification, storage history, authenticity, and inventory controls.
• Establish Wine Lair as a trusted resource for collectors seeking access, expertise, and discretion.

Commercial Leadership & Business Development

The General Manager & Wine Director is accountable for a commercially successful wine business alongside an exceptional private club experience.

• Lead wine purchasing strategy, retail pricing, inventory investment, and gross margin performance.

• Develop recurring wine sales through personalized member relationships and cellar advisory services.

• Identify private collection acquisitions, special allocations, and exclusive member offerings.

• Expand relationships within Washington’s private wealth, business, diplomatic, and collecting communities.

• Build strategic partnerships that strengthen market position and differentiated access to fine wines.

• Direct membership engagement, onboarding, retention, and growth in collaboration with ownership.

• Lead the annual calendar of Blue Chip tastings, Wine Culture events, member gatherings, and private entertaining; oversee execution and event profitability.

• Manage club operating performance, staffing, budgets, purchasing, financial controls, and reporting.

• Establish measurable performance standards across membership, wine commerce, cellar services, events, and operating profitability.

Professional Qualifications

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in fine wine, luxury hospitality, private clubs, fine wine merchants, or comparable environments.

• Significant hands-on management experience with responsibility for service execution, people, budgets, commercial performance, and client relationships.

• An established professional network among leading importers, distributors, auction houses, wineries, merchants, and collectors.

• Direct experience sourcing and transacting collectible and mature wines, including auction markets and secondary-market valuation.

• Advanced expertise in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Piemonte, Tuscany, Napa Valley, and other internationally significant wine regions.

• Experience advising high-net-worth individuals and serious collectors on wine acquisitions and cellar management.

• Strong understanding of wine pricing, inventory investment, purchasing margins, and revenue development.

• A record of building trusted client relationships and delivering highly personalized service.

• The presence, discretion, and professional credibility to represent Wine Lair at the highest levels of the fine wine and hospitality communities.

• Advanced sommelier credentials or comparable qualifications are valued; demonstrated industry expertise, relationships, and commercial accomplishments are essential.

The Opportunity

This is a highly compensated leadership position with significant responsibility and the opportunity to shape the future of Wine Lair. The successful candidate will help build a distinctive private wine institution—combining the hospitality and community of a members’ club with the expertise, access, and commercial capabilities of an established fine wine business. Wine Lair seeks an entrepreneurial, service-present leader with the relationships, judgment, operational discipline, and ambition to build something exceptional.

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