Manager, Taproom & Restaurant – Bench Brewing Company

Reports to: General Manager
Department: Taproom & Restaurant
Location: Beamsville, ON

Job Type: Full Time, Salaried

About Bench Brewing:
Located in the heart of Niagara’s wine country, Bench is an experiential brewery located on the site of the historic Maple Grove Public School in Beamsville, Ontario. Our brewery is a place for our guests to relax, learn, and experience the craft of brewing beer.

The Bench Brewing Campus sits across eight beautiful acres and will feature a 50hL brewing system, a tap and tasting room, a beer garden, a ‘funk house’ for our wild ale and barrel fermentation program, and our very own hops field.

The Role:
Reporting to the General Manager, the Taproom & Kitchen Manager is accountable for the overall successful operations of the Bench taproom and kitchen.
This role oversees and coordinates the planning, organizing, training and leadership necessary to achieve sales and service objectives, costs, taproom team recruitment retention, as well as all food and beverage quality, cleanliness and sanitation
The Taproom & Kitchen Manager plays a crucial role as our ‘culture bearer’ as it pertains to both our employees and our guests. Core duties and responsibilities include:
Leadership and People Development
Recruit and retain high performing team members
Develop taproom and kitchen team members by conducting regular one-one-one meetings with supervisor level employees, conducting team-wide training and development sessions, and providing regular mentoring and coaching to all gust-facing team members on service excellence standards.
Develop strategies and tactics to create a fun and engaging work culture and environment, and fostering our “one team, one dream” philosophy.
Address all potential cultural issue or team member conflicts in a timely, constructive matter, and continually gain employee alignment to the broader Bench vision and strategy.
Understand, implement and develop new policies, procedures, standards, specifications, guidelines and training programs.
Develop, foster and grow our community partnerships that include local charities, community groups, and other neighbouring craft beverage companies.
Ensure proactive and collaborative communication between taproom and kitchen team and our production and operations team.
Financial Planning and Taproom Profitability
Build plans that enhance the financial health of our taproom and kitchen business
Work with the General Manager and Director of Finance to develop annual sales forecasts and budgets
Regularly conducts Profit & Loss reviews to analyze financial metrics and provide cost efficiency solutions.
Power user of all systems and reporting tools
Taproom and Kitchen Operational Excellence
Ensure best-in-class standard of service and guest satisfaction. All Bench guests must feel welcome and be given responsive, friendly and courteous service at all times during the pre, during and post visit cycles.
Ensure taproom team is adhering to opening and closing procedures so that we are effectively doing business as per the set operating hours.
Respond to complaints and take all appropriate action to turn dissatisfied guests into return guests and ultimate Bench advocates.
Developing beer list strategies and proactively working with our logistics team on inventory management and beer ordering.
Oversee daily reconciliation of sales and cash. Control cash and other receipts by following cash handling procedures.
Oversee all required operational planning and reporting, including staff scheduling and time sheets, and inventory tracking.
Improving existing and/or developing new inventory count processes and procedures to be reconciled on a monthly basis.
Serve as the ultimate utility person, filling in wherever needed and/or finding additional coverage support. The Taproom & Kitchen manager must be able to support all roles to ensure guest experience is not affected in case of a scheduling conflicts or issues.
Abide by all AGCO regulations for pouring & serving alcohol.
Ensure the restaurant is complying with employment standards, human rights, Health & Safety, pest control, alcohol handling and WHMIS.
Develop, implement and oversee all taproom and kitchen maintenance programs to ensure immaculate facilities, equipment, interior and exterior dinning areas, parking lot and all surrounding grounds at all times.
Ensure the safety and security of employees and guests at all times.

The ideal candidate will have:
A post-secondary degree, ideally in hospitality and/or business-related field
Minimum 3 to 5 years of relevant experience in a senior restaurant management role operating in an environment of similar size and guest traffic as Bench.
Extensive knowledge of restaurant operations, food and beverage.
Strong business and financial acumen – ability to drive operating efficiencies through a profound understanding of restaurant key performance indicators like prime and labour cost percentages, sales per labour hours, and F&B sales per guest.
Smart Serve certification
Proven track record of leadership and problem solving. Excellent communication. Organizational, and motivation skills are vital.
Passion for our beer and a thirst for knowledge – desire to constantly be learning about beer styles and brewing processes and being excited to share that knowledge with our customers and consumers. Any level of Prud’Homme or Cicerone beer training would be considered a strong asset.
Availability to work evenings, weekends and holidays.
The drive to win as a team – collaborating cross-functionally to achieve success is what we do here at Bench.
A willingness to lift the occasional keg or case of beer!

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit and are motivated to work in a fast-paced, fun environment with like-minded people who love what they do, we want to hear from you! Please send your resume and cover to info@benchbrewing.com.