General Manager - 10 GC/Highball

POSITION SUMMARY: The General Manager at 10 Grand Central is responsible for leading the daily operations and ensuring budgeted targets are hit for both revenue and costs. They are also the leader of the team, directing and ensuring the employee experience, and guest experience are in line with the standards, vision, and goals of both establishments. The General Manager actively leads by example, inspires, and teaches skills that will elevate the guest experience, their teams, their restaurant, and ultimately Highball Ltd. as a company. 

The General Manager must have a full understanding of each area of the business.  As such you will be responsible for the fiscal health of the business including the weekly reporting and follow up pertaining to sales, labor, food and beverage COGS, marketing initiatives, and overall guest engagement in the restaurant.

The General Manager will also need to build and grow a strong team. They will be responsible for sourcing, interviewing, onboarding, training hourly team members, and growing great talent from within.  

About Highball Ltd.

Highball Ltd. is a new bar and lounge from the team behind PDT, the award-winning speakeasy cocktail bar in New York City’s East Village. Located on the 11th floor of the striking 10 Grand Central building—just steps from Grand Central Terminal—Highball Ltd. is a beautifully appointed Art Deco–inspired space designed for elevated drinking and relaxed sophistication.

As the name suggests, the bar centers on impeccably crafted highball cocktails, alongside a focused selection of other classic and contemporary drinks, light bites, and shareable snacks. The atmosphere is swanky yet welcoming, blending refinement with approachability.

Highball Ltd. will serve a dynamic mix of guests: professionals from the building, commuters passing through Grand Central, and cocktail enthusiasts who seek out exceptional bars as destinations. The result is a vibrant, all-day-into-night space dedicated to world-class cocktails, thoughtful hospitality, and timeless style.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following and may change or be adjusted at any time:

Leadership: 

Bring to life the Highball Ltd. values. Engage and inspire the management and line staff. 

• Work with the Managing Partners to develop and execute strategies to achieve operational goals at the restaurant level.
• Serve as the ambassador of Highball Ltd. to their team and the community.
• Is a leader for the entire team and unites both FOH and BOH towards a common goal of continually raising the bar.
• Conduct weekly meetings and attend daily preshifts
• Leads with an “If you see something, say something” approach to providing feedback to all team members.
• Actively participate in service and the day-to-day operations of Highball Ltd.
• Delegate key areas of responsibility to managers and lead team members and hold them accountable for following through.
• Handles all staff responsibilities in partnership with the HR team  (includes: training and development, employee relations, disciplinary action, documentation, terminations, etc.)

Guest Engagement:
Ensure we are actively engaging with guests, before, during and after their experience. 

• Is acutely aware of the atmosphere of the bar and restaurant and works to constantly monitor and adjust it throughout the day.
• Work with the team on contributing to PR and marketing to activate company wide and bespoke strategic initiatives.
• Ensure the restaurant team is delivering on our service standards and 100% table touches are non-negotiable at every service.
• Work the floor during guest hours to create hospitality legends and cultivate regulars.
• Ensure consistent execution of Food, Beverage, Service, and Hospitality that aligns with the company’s values.
• Actively listens and engages on all social media channels. Responds to guest reviews, both written and verbal, with the ability to creatively solve problems and develop robust solutions that result in fans for life.
• Leads the restaurant team to deliver a great guest experience in order to build lifelong repeat guests.
• Is responsible for handling all repairs and maintenance issues of the space in collaboration with building management
• Ensures the entire space looks, smells, and feels on brand (lighting, temperature, bathrooms, cleanliness, and seating arrangements)

Business Acumen and Compliance:
Operate smarter, play offense with sales, and build trust with guests and investors.

• Work with the Director of Operations and Managing Partner to implement, monitor, and fine tune clear strategic initiatives to ensure that top and bottom-line targets are achieved.
• Focus on a proactive approach to managing prime costs, with an eye on the daily, weekly, monthly and annual projections, and budgets.
• Deliver correct staffing levels, schedules, and systems that allow the restaurant to achieve excellence in operations while taking care of the bottom line.
• Submit weekly costed schedules and accurate inventories, that deliver a great experience while remaining fiscally responsible to budgeted targets.
• Forecast and monitor weekly sales and labor numbers and adjust at the moment to ensure hospitality and financial targets are achieved.
• Communicate targets, goals, and data to the management team in order to achieve financial targets in real-time.
• Lead daily and weekly walk through’s to ensure facilities are up to our standard.
• Ensure that HR practices are consistent with the brand’s values and compliant with all local, state and federal laws.                                    
• Lead a best-in-class approach to cleanliness, safety, sanitation, and food safety.
• Exhibit a mastery of all Highball Ltd.  operational systems, including the ability to train and delegate to direct reports.
• Ensures Bookkeepers have accurate payroll, inventory, and supporting information to provide timely reporting.
• Provide monthly commentary on Financial performance actual vs. budget with actionable tactics going forward.

Employee Development: 

Identify/hire great people and develop them into great leaders.

• Create a talent pipeline of lead FOH and BOH team members.

• Interview and approve the hiring of all hourly team members.
• Ensure that operational and training standards are consistently followed and executed by the entire restaurant team.
• Create a structured learning and development plan for hourly team members
• Lead the behavior that creates a safe and enriching workplace for all employees.
• Conduct talent reviews and performance evaluations on a timely basis; recommend promotions or corrective actions where appropriate. 
• Provide feedback and hold all salary and hourly team members accountable to
  PDT values, goals, and standards.
• Ensure new company initiatives are supported and communicated clearly to all managers and team members.
• Lead and foster a restaurant culture that promotes employee development and coaching on a daily basis.
• Conduct Monthly New Hire Orientations for all new team members

Additional Skills and Responsibilities:

• Exude excellence in hospitality for all employees and guests.
• Possess excellent strategic planning skills, with an emphasis on delivering, executing and assessing action plans.
• Proactively communicates to ownership and partners. 
• Excellent time management, organizational, strategic thinker and multi-tasker
• Ability to adapt and lead change.  
• Analytical and organizational skills, as well the ability to define and effectively solve and deal with a variety of changing situations under stress.
• Must possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to resolve conflicting interests with the goal of obtaining cooperation.
• Passion for exceptional hospitality, food, and beverages.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.  
• Self-driven, results-oriented, and possesses a solid track-record of leading high-caliber, upscale restaurants.
• Flexible work schedules, including nights and weekends
• May be required to lift, carry, push, or pull heavy objects up to 50 lbs.
• Kneel, bend, or stoop, ascend or descend stairs; be on feet for extended amounts of time

Preferred Experience:

• 3 years in a senior leadership level overseeing a full-service restaurant or bar and ownership of P&L.
• NYC Food Protection Certificate
• Proven Track record overseeing $3 million in revenue.
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred.
• Strong foundation of beverage knowledge and barmanship
• Well versed in restaurant industry specific labor laws.
• Proficient in a variety of technology systems, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), Payroll, POS, and COGS Systems.
• Strong communication and organizational skills are essential, as well as the ability to effectively train, coach, evaluate, and discipline employees.