NI Manager of New Restaurant Openings

You may know us as a company with great food and hospitality…You may also know us from being named to the FORTUNE Magazine “100 Best Companies to Work For®” list. What you may not know is we are a company driven by the efficiency of our new restaurant opening team.

The New Restaurant Opening (NRO) Manager ensures the NRO process occurs on time, within budget, that the staff is effectively trained up, and the restaurant is properly prepared prior to the initial restaurant opening. The NRO Manager will provide key direction, support, and development for the operations team. Working closely with the other NRO team managers to identify, design, and implement new restaurant opening processes, development tools, and measurements that will assist the operating team with improving pre and post opening performance.

The position will also work closely with support center teams as necessary to initiate the design, development, schedule, and implementation of new programs, systems, and tools pertinent to new restaurant openings.


You’ll thrive in this position if you are:

• A Natural People Leader: You are a leader adept at providing others with a clear direction, helping them navigate areas of opportunity, and getting results through others. You naturally inspire, motivate, develop, and empower individuals and teams while setting the gold standard yourself.
• A Relationship Builder: You're a master at building genuine relationships with people at all levels inside and outside of an organization. You easily establish a warm relationship, building credibility and an effective network around you.
• A Creative Thinker: You have an uncanny ability to think outside the box, using the resources at hand to make learning materials understandable, interactive, and engaging, and fun.
• A Project Planner: You elegantly use your project management toolbox to keep your team organized and stakeholders informed.

Administration/Planning

• Effectively encourages and supports succession planning and maintains current and accurate NRO people planning rosters. Conducts the interviewing, selection, and building of new restaurant opening certified training teams.
• Plans and executes NRO Trainer Offer Confirmations, travel arrangements, and travel per diem, including operations support and CT support.
• Sources and selects Corporate and NRO Trainer hotels based on company standards.
• Monitors S/NRO coordinators routine and ensures project completion that follows the NRO timeline.
• Collaborates with the Director of Culinary, Regional Manager & Chef to place all NRO orders.
• Provides updates to the Training Department on necessary changes or revisions to existing training materials.
• Plans and leads weekly status update calls with Talent Department representatives and external advertising partners to align on NRO staffing progress and needs.
• Plans and executes NRO Kickoff and Debrief calls with corporate department heads.
• Maintains current library of training materials, tools and handouts for new restaurant opening trainers, managers, and corporate operations support.
• Monitors, reports on, and completes assigned annual projects to support department improvements and key initiatives.
• Manages and approves time keeping for all subordinate staff.
• Supports the Training Department with creation, implementation, and piloting of training resources, training events, NMRO and other training programs.
• Works operations shifts during non NRO season including working management shifts, when necessary, in coordination with Director of Operations and applicable Regional Manager.
• Creates contingency plans based on volume or needs of the NRO including additional NRO support trainers and travel.
• Reviews guest, opening training team, and restaurant management team feedback to discern areas of opportunity for future improvements.
  

NRO Set Up/Training

• Responsible for the setup and execution of the NRO Job Fairs and Hiring Events, which includes, pre job fair conference calls, in person meetings with the operations team, ordering of supplies, interviewing, and onboarding of new staff members.
• Serves as functional expert on new restaurant opening operations planning, set-up, training, policies, and procedures by ensuring that all quality, operational, and training standards are met by NRO operations teams.
• Manages all NRO Certified Trainers to ensure new restaurant opening training is executed on time and on budget while maintaining company standards during the opening phase of operations.
• Works with Director of Culinary and Regional Manager and Chef with coordinating and managing all aspects of the opening NRO orders. (i.e.: Smallwares, All Food & Beverage, Office Supplies etc.)
• Works in concert with Director of Culinary and Regional Manager and Chef team on the opening smallware’s order Check-In plan as well as opening restaurant setup aligns with company standards.
• Coordinates with NI Supply Chain Manager, Director of Culinary and Regional Chef to ensure all NRO vendors are setup and contacted.
• Coordinates with I.T. and A-Cost to confirm NetChef is setup and operational.
• Effectively coordinates with NRO Culinary team to ensure family meal menu creation and execution during NRO training.
• Responsible for the successful execution of restaurant relocations and maintenance of documentation.
• Supervises and provides guidance on NRO processes and systems to direct reports. Provides performance feedback for each NRO and the annual review of NRO Trainers and NRO Coordinators.
• Promotes a fun and positive work environment with a strong focus on development and one on one or group instruction.
• Ensures Train the Trainer certification class is conducted 30 days post opening Supports Train the Trainer during non NRO season where applicable.
• Works operations shifts post opening based on needs of the NRO and supports NRO 30 days post opening with training and staffing needs.

Financials

• Is responsible for writing the annual budget utilizing previous years trends. This includes NRO templates (high/normal) for openings and Department cost center expenditures.
• Responsible for new operations including people planning, materials, and tools ensuring that all restaurants are opened on time and on budget.
• Regularly monitors and reports pre-opening financials as appropriate through final reconciliation of each NRO.
• Manages expenses of company-provided credit cards for all NRO-related purchases.
  

Communication and Organizational Skills

• Participate / Lead weekly calls with Training Team/ Regional Managers/ NRO Team/ restaurant teams.
• Keeps Division Vice President of Operations, Director of Operations, and Regional Managers informed on NRO training activities and progress.
• Ability to write grammatically correct documents to fit Company style. Must possess editorial skills with a detailed eye for proofing grammar, punctuation, style, content, and flow of information.
• Ability to gather information and translate the idea or concept into a logical, user-friendly written product.
• Excellent phone skills to communicate with vendors and internal or external guests.
• Possess high level organizational skills with multi-task capabilities. Ability to readily adapt to changing priorities. Ability to prioritize projects with minimum direction while effectively managing time to meet deadlines.
• Takes initiative and maintains a productive routine and schedule – setting weekly / monthly plans.
• Ability to respond to a wide variety of requests for information utilizing diverse resources.

Restaurant Operations & Training Experience

• Strong knowledge of all aspects of Operations Management roles to include service, beverage, and culinary operations standards.
• Strong knowledge of all company policies and procedures.
• Proficient in restaurant systems, technology, administrative work and manager routines.
• Proficient with staff and mgmt. training programs.

Leadership Skills

• Driven to pursue ways to improve all training systems and takes initiative to act on them.
• Ambitiously seeks out opportunities to demonstrate service mindedness towards our restaurant teams and guests.
• Builds relationships with our partners in CCF Support Center.
• Collaborates with others until results are attained.
• Provides world-class support for restaurant teams.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Consistently maintains a professional appearance and demeanor.
• Understands the importance of working cohesively with teammates in pursuit of a unified front.

Additional Information:

Area Assignment, Travel & Work Schedule

• Work from North Italia restaurant locations (3 days) and home office (2 days)/corporate office where applicable, when not at an NRO.
• Travel 60% of time. Including extended workdays during NROs.

• Minimum of 1+ years of management experience with North Italia.
• High School or Equivalent education.
• Certifications in ServSafe – Food, Alcohol & Allergens.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Knowledge of a variety of software programs including MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and Power Point.

Named to FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For®” list every year since 2014, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a leader in experiential dining. We are culinary-forward and relentlessly focused on hospitality. Delicious, memorable experiences created by passionate people—this defines who we are and where we are going.

We currently own and operate 353 restaurants throughout the United States and Canada under brands including The Cheesecake Factory®, North Italia®, Flower Child® and a collection of other FRC brands. Internationally, 34 The Cheesecake Factory® restaurants operate under licensing agreements. Our bakery division operates two facilities that produce quality cheesecakes and other baked products for our restaurants, international licensees and third-party bakery customers.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace for all. We welcome applicants from a wide variety of identities, ideas, perspectives, backgrounds and experiences to apply. The Cheesecake Factory offers reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities.

#SoCheesecake #LifeAtCheesecake

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