Restaurant manager job description template

What a restaurant manager does

Restaurant managers carry the full weight of a small business on every shift: staffing, food cost, guest experience, food safety, and cash. The role also sits right on the line of the FLSA's executive exemption, which is why restaurant chains have paid large overtime settlements to assistant managers who spent most of their day working the line. A good description is clear about what management work actually involves.

Restaurant manager job description template

Copy the description, replace everything in [brackets], and cut any line that isn't true for your job. The duties and requirements are a starting point written by HR practitioners, not a legal standard, so edit them to match the real work.

Restaurant manager

Details
- Department: [Department]
- Reports to: [Manager title]
- Location: [City, State, or remote]
- Employment type: [Full-time, part-time, or seasonal]
- FLSA status: [Exempt or nonexempt]
- Pay range: [$X to $Y per year]

About [Company]
[Two or three sentences about what your company does, who it serves, and why people like working here.]

Job summary
We're hiring a restaurant manager to lead our team, run great shifts, and keep guest satisfaction, food quality, and profitability on track.

What you'll do
- Lead daily operations, open and close the restaurant, and manage shifts.
- Hire, train, schedule, coach, and discipline front and back of house staff.
- Monitor guest satisfaction and resolve complaints.
- Manage food and labor costs, inventory, and ordering against budget.
- Ensure food safety, sanitation, and alcohol service compliance.
- Handle cash, deposits, and end-of-day reports.
- Maintain equipment and coordinate repairs.
- Plan promotions and support local marketing.

What you'll need
- Two or more years of restaurant experience, including at least one in a supervisory role.
- Certified Food Protection Manager credential, or ability to obtain it within [30] days.
- Knowledge of food safety, labor scheduling, and cost control.
- Availability for nights, weekends, and holidays.

Nice to have
- Degree or certificate in hospitality management.
- Experience with [POS and scheduling systems].
- Bar or beverage program experience.

Skills
Leadership, Scheduling and labor control, Cost management, Guest recovery, Food safety, Calm decision making.

Physical demands and work environment
Restaurant. Requires standing and walking for long shifts, lifting up to 50 pounds, and working nights, weekends, and holidays.

Pay and benefits
[$X to $Y per year], based on experience and location. [List benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plan match, paid time off, and training.]

Equal opportunity
[Company] is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview, contact [name] at [email or phone].

How to customize it for your job

• State the salary range and whether the role is exempt or hourly.
• Say how many staff the manager supervises.
• List bonus structure tied to sales or cost targets.
• Describe the schedule, including closes and weekends.

Then check it against the HRTally job description standard, our 10-point checklist, and run it through the inclusive language swap list. Both take about five minutes.

How much to pay a restaurant manager

Half of US food service managers earned more than $33.36 an hour in May 2025, and half earned less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That national figure is a starting point, not a pay range. Pay for the same job can differ by 30 percent or more between metro areas, so check the BLS occupation profile for state and metro data before you set your range.

To convert between hourly and annual pay, use our salary to hourly calculator. If you hire in a state or city with a pay transparency law, the range must appear in the posting itself. Our pay transparency laws guide lists where, and our guide to salary bands explains how to set ranges you can defend.

Exempt status, licenses, and legal notes

FLSA status: Depends on duties. Job titles don't decide overtime eligibility. Duties and pay do. Our guide to exempt vs non-exempt employees walks through each test, and the overtime calculator shows what a nonexempt employee is owed.

Restaurant managers can be exempt under the executive exemption only if their primary duty is management, they regularly direct at least two full-time employees, they have real input on hiring and firing, and they're paid on a salary basis above the threshold (federally $684 a week, higher in several states). Managers who mostly cook, serve, or run a register are often nonexempt despite their title. The FDA Food Code, adopted by most states, requires at least one certified food protection manager on staff.

This is general information for US employers, not legal advice. Laws change and vary by state and city, so confirm the current rules or talk to employment counsel before you rely on them.

Interview questions to ask

Ask every candidate the same core questions and score answers against the same criteria. Structured interviews are fairer and predict job performance better than open conversation.

1. How do you build a schedule that controls labor without leaving shifts short?
2. Tell me about a time food cost went over budget. What did you change?
3. How do you coach a server whose guest scores are slipping?
4. Walk me through how you'd handle a health inspection that turns up a violation.

When you're ready to schedule, use our interview invitation email template. For a full hiring process, read the recruitment process guide.

Frequently asked questions