Bar Lead at The Warbler Hotel

Bar Lead

The Warbler Hotel | New Orleans, Louisiana

Department: Food & Beverage Reports to: Front of House Manager / General Manager Status: Tipped hourly, non-exempt Compensation: $15.00 per hour, plus gratuities and/or participation in the applicable tip pool Outlets: Fine-dining Spanish restaurant bar and seasonal upstairs pool bar

Help Us Create One of New Orleans' Most Memorable Bar Experiences

The Warbler Hotel is looking for an accomplished, curious, and people-centered Bar Lead to help build an industry-leading bar team and beverage culture.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can combine exacting technique with genuine hospitality. The Bar Lead will collaboratively develop bar menus, coach and inspire the bar team, and interpret The Warbler's beverage identity across two distinct experiences:

• A refined Spanish restaurant bar where sherry, vermouth, gin tonics, cocktails, cava, and an exploratory wine program take center stage
• A relaxed, guest-facing pool bar where seasonal drinks, responsible service, and polished ease define the experience

The ideal candidate understands that an exceptional bar is about more than recipes. It is created through disciplined preparation, thoughtful conversation, technical consistency, responsible service, an inclusive team culture, and the ability to recognize when a guest wants to learn and when a guest simply wants to be served.

High Expectations

• We pursue excellence over perfection. The Bar Lead sets clear standards, trains the team, models efficient execution, and holds every drink, station, guest interaction, and control procedure to a consistently high standard.

What You Will Lead

Beverage Program and Bar Culture

• Help create an industry-leading bar team and a culture grounded in hospitality, learning, accountability, and inclusion.
• Collaborate on the development and execution of cocktail menus for the Spanish restaurant bar and seasonal pool bar.
• Serve as a primary contact for beverage-related public relations and promotional opportunities.
• Develop innovative training concepts that strengthen technical knowledge, service judgment, and professional growth.
• Teach and model award-worthy operating and service standards.
• Develop bartenders both technically and culturally, recognizing when to coach, when to redirect, and when to lead through demonstration.
• Partner with the General Manager to manage bar costs, minimize waste, and complete inventory counts as needed.

Cocktail, Spirits, and Spanish Beverage Execution

• Execute each cocktail according to its approved recipe and presentation, including dilution, temperature, ice, glassware, garnish, build method, and finishing details.
• Maintain consistency across the restaurant and pool-bar programs.
• Prepare Spanish-inspired and classic cocktails using sherry, vermouth, brandy, gin, amaro, aperitifs, citrus, seasonal fruit, herbs, and house-made preparations.
• Prepare intentional gin tonics in which the gin, tonic, garnish, ice, and glassware work together without unnecessary decorative excess.
• Serve sherry in the proper copita or designated glassware, at the appropriate temperature, and make clear recommendations across styles such as fino, manzanilla, oloroso, palo cortado, and Pedro Ximénez.
• Demonstrate fluency in classic and contemporary methods, including stirred, shaken, built, swizzled, thrown, batched, and carbonated drinks.

Wine, Beer, and Vendor Partnerships

• Deliver informed wine-by-the-glass service featuring sparkling wine and cava, Spanish whites and reds, natural or biodynamic selections, and rotating international wines.
• Verify vintages, pricing, and availability before making commitments to guests.
• Demonstrate proper bottle presentation, opening, sparkling-wine service, preservation, basic decanting, and cellar-temperature awareness.
• Work constructively with vendors to recommend bottles across price points and styles.
• Recognize when rare, allocated, or highly detailed requests should be elevated to a manager.
• Maintain professional vendor relationships that reflect The Warbler's expectation that partners feel like an extension of the brand and team.

Guest Experience and Responsible Service

• Welcome bar guests promptly, offer water, provide a thoughtful orientation to the menu, and acknowledge waiting guests with a realistic commitment of attention.
• Match the guest's desired level of engagement, from generous conversation and education to quiet, efficient, and discreet service.
• Use guest names only when known and appropriate.
• Maintain bar seats, service wells, restaurant tickets, and guest conversations without sacrificing accuracy or pace.
• Understand the restaurant's Spanish menu, seasonal pool-bar fare, common allergens, and appropriate beverage pairings.
• Practice responsible alcohol service with tact by using food, water, pacing, and manager support while protecting the guest's dignity.
• Adapt outdoor service to weather, sun, wind, guest attire, glass restrictions, hydration needs, and safe movement through the pool area.

Operations, Controls, and Technology

• Open and close bar stations to approved standards and pars.
• Prepare spirits, wine, sherry, vermouth, beer, juices, syrups, garnishes, glassware, ice, tools, and point-of-sale systems for service.
• Maintain pristine wells, backbars, tools, citrus, bottles, and glassware.
• Process cash, card, room-charge, complimentary, and transferred checks accurately.
• Secure inventory and document spills, voids, shortages, unavailable items, and maintenance concerns.
• Train and direct barbacks during service.
• Complete inventory counts and requisitions as assigned.
• Follow sanitation, cash-control, alcohol-control, allergen, and chemical-safety requirements.
• Upload and manage beverage information, invoices, and receipts using Margin Edge.
• Maintain weather-ready outdoor mise en place and appropriate pool-bar serviceware.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• Previous bar leadership experience
• High school diploma or equivalent
• At least two years of bartending experience in a full-service restaurant, hotel, cocktail bar, or comparable high-volume environment
• Demonstrated cocktail technique and working knowledge of beer and wine
• Experience developing bartenders or support team members
• Accurate cash-handling and point-of-sale skills
• Sound judgment regarding responsible alcohol service
• Ability to work evening, late-night, weekend, holiday, private-event, and seasonal outdoor shifts
• Ability to attend tastings, recipe training, menu rollouts, inventory assignments, and service meetings.

Preferred Qualifications

• Fine-dining, luxury hotel, rooftop, resort, or pool-bar experience
• Formal beverage education through WSET, BarSmarts, Court of Master Sommeliers study, sherry education, or comparable training
• Experience with Spanish wines, aperitifs, rare or allocated wines, natural or biodynamic producers, and wine-inventory controls
• Working knowledge of cava, Spanish wine regions, vermouth, Spanish brandy, gin, and sherry styles
• Experience controlling beverage costs and maintaining accurate inventory.

Physical and Work Environment Requirements

The Bar Lead must be able to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation. The role may require:

• Standing and walking for up to 8 to 10 hours
• Bending, reaching, squatting, lifting, shaking, stirring, and performing repetitive bar movements
• Lifting and carrying up to 40 pounds
• Moving cases, ice, and kegs with approved equipment and team-lift procedures
• Working around wet floors, broken glass, noise, cold storage, heat, sun, wind, rain, cleaning chemicals, and crowded service areas.

Compensation and Benefits

The Bar Lead is a tipped hourly, non-exempt position with a starting wage of $15.00 per hour, plus gratuities and/or participation in the applicable tip pool in accordance with property policy and applicable law.

The source role description identifies this Bar Lead position as eligible for benefits that may include medical, dental, and vision coverage; paid time off; employee meals; retirement-plan access; and advancement opportunities, subject to applicable plan eligibility requirements.

Required Certifications

Successful candidates must obtain or maintain the certifications required for the position, which may include:

• Applicable state or local food-handler certification
• Responsible alcohol-service certification, such as TIPS or the applicable state equivalent
• Allergen-awareness and chemical-safety training.

Join The Warbler

• If you are energized by Spanish beverage traditions, precise cocktail execution, generous New Orleans hospitality, and the opportunity to build people as thoughtfully as you build drinks, we invite you to apply.
• Bring your knowledge. Bring your curiosity. Bring your standards. Help us create a bar experience that feels personal, creates belonging, strengthens the team, supports shared prosperity, and consistently delivers at a high level.

Equal Opportunity and Accommodations

• The Warbler Hotel is an equal opportunity employer committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Employment decisions are based on legitimate business needs, job-related qualifications, and individual merit. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to legally protected status under applicable federal, state, or local law.
• The Warbler Hotel provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices, unless doing so would create an undue hardship or direct threat as defined by applicable law. Applicants who require an accommodation during the application or interview process may contact hr@curenola.com.

Salary : $15