Food & Beverage Manager

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the relationship with the appointed catering Operator: manage the Catering & Restaurant Management Agreement, hold the Operator to its service levels, and escalate or enforce where standards slip.
• Set and maintain the Brand Standards Manual covering menu, recipes, plating, service style, hygiene and guest experience, and approve any proposed changes from the Operator.
• Own the Approved Supplier List: select and approve suppliers and specifications, manage pricing and quality, and ensure the Operator purchases only against it.
• Run the quarterly quality programme — mystery-shopper visits, hygiene and food-safety audits, and guest/resident feedback — and use the results to calculate the Operator’s performance-linked fee adjustment and to drive corrective action.
• Approve the Operator’s staffing establishment (headcount and roles) for each restaurant, and require the Operator to address or remove underperforming staff where standards are not met.
• Oversee point-of-sale operation, daily revenue reconciliation and banking, since Unity Homes controls the till directly rather than the Operator.
• Monitor the Operator’s regulatory compliance — public health and food hygiene licensing, fire safety, food-handler certification — and keep Unity Homes’ own risk position current.
• Report monthly to the Operations/Estates Director on covers, spend, wastage, incidents and Operator performance against KPIs.
• Handle escalated guest complaints and approve refunds/goodwill gestures within an agreed authority limit.

What we're looking for:

• Solid experience in food & beverage or hospitality management in Kenya (or a comparable market), ideally including exposure to contract catering, multi-outlet oversight, or managing an outsourced operator.
• Hands-on experience with supplier management and procurement, food cost control, and running quality or compliance audits — comfortable being on-site and checking things yourself, not just reviewing reports.
• Working knowledge of Kenyan food safety and public health licensing requirements.
• Financially literate: able to read a restaurant P&L, manage a budget, and reconcile till/POS data.
• Confident holding an external contractor accountable to a written standard, without needing to run their staff yourself.
• A genuine bias toward guest experience and quality over squeezing the last shilling of margin — this is the single most important trait for this role.
• Diploma or degree in hospitality management, culinary arts, or a related field is a plus; a strong operational track record can substitute for formal qualification.
• Ambition to grow with the business — this role is designed to expand as Unity Homes’ food & beverage footprint grows.