Operations Manager – Restaurant & Catering

London | 1 Lombard Street & Lombard Hospitality

£75000+ performance-based bonus ( negotiable)

We are seeking an experienced Operations Manager to take a lead role across both our flagship restaurant at 1 Lombard Street and our growing off-site catering division, Lombard Hospitality.

This is a senior operational appointment focused on ensuring that confirmed bookings and forward pipeline are supported by disciplined staffing, planning and delivery – without compromising the standards of our core restaurant operation.

The Role

You will work closely with the Sales & Marketing Director and Finance team to ensure that operational capacity, labour deployment and cost control consistently align with business demand across both restaurant and catering activity.

The immediate priority will be to strengthen delivery capability using the existing 1 Lombard Street team, while progressively building a dedicated catering operations structure capable of supporting increased event volume in a commercially sustainable way.

As the catering division scales, responsibility will extend toward coordinating concurrent off-site delivery across multiple London venues.

Key Responsibilities

Restaurant – 1 Lombard Street

• Day-to-day operational leadership
• Maintaining service standards and guest experience
• Labour planning and rota oversight
• Productivity and staffing deployment
• Wage cost and GP management
• Compliance with H&S, food safety and HR procedures
• Working with Finance on budgets and reporting

Catering & Events – Lombard Hospitality

• Deployment of restaurant teams across off-site events
• Maintaining service standards across both operations
• Development of a dedicated catering team
• Recruitment and training of ops event staff
• Equipment planning and supplier coordination
• Oversight of event staffing levels
• Delivery support for operationally complex functions
• Post-event performance review
• Alignment of operational capacity with confirmed bookings

About You

• 7–10+ years’ senior hospitality operations experience
• Premium restaurant background with catering or events exposure
• Demonstrable P&L ownership
• Labour cost control experience
• Experience supporting multi-site or off-site delivery
• Strong leadership and team development capability
• Commercially aware and structured in approach
• Calm under pressure and solutions-focused

Experience contributing to tenders, pitches or contract mobilisation would be advantageous.

What Success Looks Like (12–18 months)

• Labour and cost ratios maintained within target
• Catering delivery supported without disruption to restaurant service
• Dedicated catering team established in line with event growth
• Increase in event volume and client base
• Catering turnover progressing toward £1.2m
• Delivery of agreed revenue and profitability budgets
• Consistent service standards across both operations

To apply, please submit your CV via LinkedIn or contact us directly for a confidential discussion.