Job Description
GENERAL MANAGER
New Private Club & Event Venue | Ithaca, NY Start:
Summer 2026 Property Opens:
2027 About the Opportunity We are launching a distinctive new private club and event venue in a vibrant university community in upstate New York. The property features substantial event infrastructure — including a large event tent, dedicated event room, multi-purpose space, and a signature restaurant — supported by extensive indoor and outdoor areas. Approximately 90% of revenue is expected from food and beverage operations, with the balance from membership and ancillary services. This venue is the flagship for a new hospitality platform designed to scale to additional premier university markets. The General Manager will serve as the founding operational leader — responsible first for delivering excellence at this location, then for establishing the operating template, training ground, and performance benchmark for every subsequent venue in the platform. The Role The General Manager is the single point of accountability for commercial performance, guest experience, and team culture. At opening, the role is approximately 90% Food & Beverage leadership — owning restaurant operations, high-volume event execution, beverage program development, kitchen partnership, and the associated P&L — with 10% multi-unit operator responsibilities including oversight of membership, facilities, and vendor relationships. As additional venues come online, the position evolves into true platform leadership: codifying operating standards, hiring and developing General Managers for new properties, owning multi-property performance, and serving as the operator counterpart to ownership on growth and acquisition decisions. The long-term trajectory for the right candidate is from founding GM of this property to Chief Operating Officer of the full platform. This is a hands-on builder role for someone who has recently led a multi-restaurant business or high-volume F&B operation and is ready to channel that experience into creating something exceptional from the ground up — first one outstanding property, then several. The successful candidate will be hired more than a year before opening to lead the complete pre-opening process. Key Responsibilities Food & Beverage Leadership (Primary Focus at Launch) Own the F&B P&L. Drive revenue while managing cost of goods, labor, and operating expenses across the restaurant, event spaces, and ancillary outlets. Build and defend strong margins in a high-volume, event-heavy business. Lead event operations . Oversee planning and execution of weddings, corporate functions, member events, and private buyouts. Build robust BEO processes, staffing models, and service standards that deliver flawless experiences at scale. Run the restaurant . Operate the signature restaurant as a destination dining experience for members and the broader community. Set the service culture, manage the floor, and partner closely with the Executive Chef on menu, sourcing, and quality. Build the beverage program . Develop the wine list, cocktail program, and beverage strategy for both à la carte and event service. Manage compliance, pricing, and inventory with precision. Partner with the kitchen . Collaborate daily with the Executive Chef and culinary team on menu engineering, costing, and execution. Maintain a culture of mutual respect between front and back of house. Health, safety & compliance . Own all food safety, liquor compliance, fire/life safety, and labor compliance for the property. Membership & Guest Experience Manage membership leadership . Hire and oversee the Director of Membership accountable for acquisition, retention, satisfaction, and CRM systems. Hold the function to clear performance standards. Set the service standard . Define what exceptional hospitality feels like at every touchpoint — from arrival to departure, email to event — and ensure it is delivered consistently. This standard becomes the platform standard. Integrate F&B with member experience . Use food and beverage as the primary engine of member engagement through signature events, recurring programming, chef collaborations, and bespoke private experiences. Team & Culture Build the team . Hire the full opening team — service, events, membership, and back-office support. Scale from core team to 30-60 staff at peak depending on event volume. Lead the culture . Establish a service culture that is warm, precise, and entrepreneurial. Train, coach, and develop the team. Set the tone. Develop platform talent. Build career paths within the property and actively identify and develop future General Managers, F&B leaders, and events leaders who will run subsequent venues. Pre-Opening (Summer 2026 through 2027) Build the systems. Select and implement POS, reservations, events CRM, membership CRM, accounting, payroll, inventory, and procurement systems — choosing tools that will scale across multiple properties. Develop the playbooks. Author comprehensive SOPs for service, events, opening/closing, cash handling, inventory, and guest recovery. These become the operating manual for every future venue. Lead operational readiness. Partner with development and design on FF&E selection for F&B and event spaces, kitchen design review, and full operational punch list. Build the financial plan . Develop the opening-year budget, staffing model, and revenue plan in partnership with ownership. Create the unit-economic model used to underwrite future properties. Launch the brand locally. Partner with membership and marketing teams to seed relationships with local hospitality partners, wedding planners, and corporate event buyers well before opening. Candidate Profile The right person has recently been the operating leader of a multi-restaurant business or high-volume F&B operation and is ready to apply that experience to a single high-impact property with significant event volume — then scale what they build into a multi-property platform. We value proven operators who have run real restaurants, made the numbers work, and are energized by the challenge of building from scratch. Required Experience Five or more years in senior F&B leadership, including recent experience running a multi-unit restaurant business or a major hotel/club F&B operation with significant event volume. Demonstrated P&L ownership with documented results on revenue growth, cost discipline, and margin improvement. Strong banquet and events operations background: BEOs, captain structures, banquet kitchen logistics, and high-volume service execution. Track record of hiring, training, and retaining hospitality teams in a tight labor market. Experience opening or repositioning a property is a strong plus. Experience scaling a hospitality concept across multiple locations is an even stronger plus. Skills & Style Operator first. Comfortable in the kitchen, on the floor, in the office, and in front of a member or event planner. Knows the difference between a busy 90-cover service and a 280-guest plated event and can plan for both in the same week. Numbers fluent . Reads a P&L, builds a labor model, prices an event, and knows where the margin lives in every line of the menu. Service obsessed. Has clear opinions about what great hospitality feels like and the discipline to make it repeatable — at one property and across five. Builder mentality. Energized by a pre-opening environment with ambiguity, long lead times, and the chance to define the operation from scratch. Equally energized by the prospect of doing it again at the next property. Platform thinker. Designs systems, hires, and playbooks with replication in mind, not just the current location. Direct, low-ego, and accountable . Comfortable working closely with engaged ownership. Education Bachelor's degree preferred. Hospitality, hotel school, or culinary credentials are welcome but not required. What matters most is the operating record and results. Compensation Competitive compensation package of $175,000 - $225,000, performance bonus tied to F&B revenue, margin performance, and member satisfaction, plus a long-term incentive aligned with the success of the platform — including value created at subsequent properties. Relocation support to Ithaca is available for the right candidate. Location & Schedule Full-time role based in Ithaca, New York. Relocation is required ahead of opening; hybrid arrangements during the early pre-opening phase will be considered for exceptional candidates. The role requires availability on evenings, weekends, and during peak event periods, as expected of a senior hospitality operator. As the platform expands, the role will involve regular travel to new-property markets. Please send a résumé and a short cover note (maximum one page) describing one multi-unit or high-volume F&B P&L you have personally led and the specific actions you took to move it forward. References from owners, GMs, or chefs you have worked with will be requested at the finalist stage. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and encourage applications from all qualified candidates. Pay:
$175,000.00 - $225,000.00 per year Benefits:
Employee discount Flexible schedule Health insurance Paid time off Professional development assistance Relocation assistance Vision insurance Work Location:
In person
