General Manager - Airport Lounge - Hyde Park Hospitality

Airport Lounge General Manager

The General Manager is responsible for every aspect of operations at a premium shared-use lounge opening inside the Chicago Midway International Airport. The dedicated space managed is for guests to relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy an elevated food and beverage experience along with impeccable guest service before their flight. General Manager develops new and emerging team leaders for sustained growth and effective day-to-day operations ensuring career progression and development while supporting workplace diversity initiatives. Responsible for the overall management of core services of lounge operations and will include Guest Check-In, Appearance Care, Concierge Services, Guest Service, and Food Delivery. Providing daily leadership and long-term strategic direction which will ensure the quality of product and overall service resulting in an enhanced guest experience and profitability.

The chosen candidate will establish and maintain a strong level of collaborative team leadership ensuring cohesiveness and representing as a strong liaison with Airport Dimensions, and all partnered relationships with the lounge. He/she/they will manage a strategic plan for Airport Dimensions that establishes a rapport, promotes partnership, and fulfills the overall company’s needs and expectations. Leads and facilitates business practices to uphold Company mission and values and ensure all regulations and compliance measures are always in place for a safe environment for employees and guests. This will include maintaining and implementing sanitary and food safety conditions as well as training to adhere to auditing procedures and statutory regulations. The General Manager through collaborative hands-on leadership will be a strong liaison focused on detailed articulate communication which will provide continuous guidance and mentorship to all lounge team members, client relationships, ownership, and partnered relationships. This position requires a dynamic and energetic individual who is focused on elevating the guest experience with a hands-on approach and will be very active in daily service operations. If you have experience managing food and beverage outlets at a hotel, private club, restaurant, or another hospitality venue we want to hear from you!

This is a seven-day operation; candidates must be available to work weekends and holidays when needed.

The Successful Candidate Should Possess:

• Hospitality Focus: Focus on guest satisfaction and providing memorable first-in-class experiences. Generous, friendly, and warm-spirited.
• Brand Ambassador: Will represent The Club brand within their individual lounge and the airport as a whole. Will promote the brand values and brand vision that Airport Dimensions envisions for The Club brand. The candidate should maintain a positive relationship with Airport Dimensions and work to elevate The Club brand image with all key stakeholders, guests and team members.
• Guest Experience: Maintains a friendly, cheerful, and courteous demeanor always ensuring the highest level of the guest experience. The ability to anticipate and meet the needs of guests, delivering best-in-class products and services with a commitment of continuous improvement. This includes seeking to meet guest needs, expectations, and demands quickly and effectively; remaining calm and professional when dealing with difficult guests; reviewing complaints from internal/external guests and taking action to remedy the complaint and treating the guest as valuable.
• Conflict Management: Encourages creative tensions and differences of opinions. The ability to help others’ or oneself avoid and/or resolve interpersonal conflicts through collaboration for a win-win outcome. Managing and resolving conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.
• Decision Making: The ability to make a good decision or lead a good decision-making process. The understanding when to decide, when to consult subordinates or peers and bring in a collaborative approach to the process, and when to step back to let others decide.
• Communication and Influence: Requires verbal and written communication skills to convey information that will be complex, and/or to others who may have limited knowledge of the subject in question. Role will require intermediate negotiation, influence, cooperation, tact, ability to articulate clearly, use of correct grammar, cultural context, and diplomacy, etc.
• Team Building: The ability to inspire, motivate, and guide others to foster team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. This includes clearly communicating and reinforcing goals of team, unity, cooperation, and excellence.
• Integrity / Honest: Behaving in an honest, fair, and ethical manner through all words and actions. Modeling high standards of ethics.
• Developing Others: The ability to motivate and inspire others to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and opportunities to learn through formal and informal instruction.
• Passion for Hospitality: A passion for training their team in all areas of hospitality using the training program and structures that are provided by Airport Dimensions and Hyde Park Hospitality.
• Strategic Thinking: The ability to formulate priorities and objectives and implements plans consistent with long term goals of the organization.
• Technical Credibility: Full use and application of standards, principles, theories, concepts, and techniques in area of expertise. Focuses primarily on own area of specialty. Exposure to related disciplines.
• Analytical Thinking: The ability to systematically gather information from a variety of sources, analyze information, identify implications of data, and draw appropriate conclusions. Draws appropriate conclusions, generates viable alternative solutions to a question or a problem, and evaluate the consequences of choosing each alternative.
• Continual Learning: Assess and recognizes own strengths and weaknesses and pursues self- development.

Job Responsibilities

• Provides ongoing collaborative hands-on leadership for all aspects of the lounge including team members, third party partnerships, client relationships, and ownership
• Full ownership of all guest requests, service failures, and remedies. Consistently deliver exceptional guest experiences to guests
• Maintains excellent relationships with guests and clients as well as other departments
• Responding and resolving all guest complaints, ratings, and reviews within the time frames that Airport Dimensions has specified
• Conducts HR functions including recruiting, hiring, progressive counseling and terminations
• Oversees scheduling, payroll, and team training
• Motivate, coach, mentor and develop frontline (hourly) and management staff
• Ensure full compliance to lounge operating controls, SOP’s, policies, training programs, including all required certifications, procedures, and service standards
• A strong understanding of P&L statements with full responsibility for the P&L along with the ability to foresee potential budget variances and react with impactful strategies
• Manage on-going profitability of the lounge, ensuring cost effectiveness and guest satisfaction targets are exceeded
• Initiate and develop improvement actions plans and carry out costs savings
• Achieve company and client financial targets and goals
• Uphold and elevate high standards regarding health, safety, and cleanliness
• Ensure Hyde Park Hospitality standards are met including compliance with company food and safety programs
• Report and track maintenance issues within the lounge
• Closely monitor lounge reports daily and make decisions accordingly. Prepare monthly reporting for ownership and other stakeholders
• Ensure all decisions are made in the best interest of the lounge and partnerships.
• Senior most person assigned to the location
• Establishes a safe work environment for employees by performing safety audits and inspections, conducting safety-related training, and maintaining on-going communications with employees
• Comply and ensure your team follows all TSA and local airport authority regulations
• Maintain all required employee records including all employee discipline records to comply with Hyde Park Hospitality progressive discipline standards
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications And Experience

• Management experience in fine dining, hotel, or other upscale hospitality venue of at least five years at least 5 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, with significant including food and beverage and guest relations experience, ideally including experience in airport locations; with 1 to 2 years of experience as a General Manager or Asst. General Manager in a large operation
• A Bachelor’s degree related to business or hospitality, or equivalent experience is required
• Ability to follow all safety, health, and liquor rules and regulations
• Proven leadership and experience with managing effective client and partner relationships
• Specific physical characteristics and abilities are required to perform the work, such as above-average agility and dexterity; and long periods of walking, standing, bending or carrying moderately heavy items
• Demonstrated leadership abilities with creating and growing a successful team
• Demonstrated ability to grasp a large complex business at a base level and use this understanding to set overall strategy and drive business improvement
• Possess the ability to manage multiple priorities, demonstrate professional communication skills, and exhibit a passion for a high-level of guest service
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with a range of audience including front line employees, clients, and corporate management
• Has experience in financials, preparation, and oversight
• Excellent communication and computer skills are needed, including knowledge of MS Office
• Requires ability to maintain a presentable and polished appearance in keeping with service standards in a best-in-class environment
• Maintaining current state approved alcohol certifications and food handlers / food safety manager certifications as required
• Must be able to pass and obtain security background check and clearance to work in airport environment

Benefits

• $80,000-$90,000 Annual Salary
• Medical Insurance (Health, Dental, Vision)
• Disability Insurance
• Vacation and PTO
• 401K Plan with generous Company Matching
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee Corporate Discounts for nationally recognized products and services (childcare, electronics, entertainment, hotels, home, groceries, restaurants, auto, travel, and pets)

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Hyde Park Hospitality (HPH) is a young—but dynamic and fast-growing—company built on deep roots in the food business. HPH earned Crain’s Fast 50 Award in 2023 for being one (ranked 24th) of the fifty fastest growing businesses in the Chicago-area! We provide services ranging from airport concessions, management staffing, brand licensing, to contracted food and facilities management. With a 75% diverse senior management team, HPH values diversity and welcomes everyone with necessary qualifications and experience, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, and any other protected status, to apply. Learn more about us at hph-us.com.