Restaurant & Cafe Group Leader

Job description / Role

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group's entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day

Overview of the role

To assist the Food & Beverages Manager in the execution of the IKEA Food Service Concept in the IKEA Restaurant & Café, IKEA Bistro, IKEA Swedish Food Market and IKEA co-worker restaurant by ensuring that the daily operations of the kitchen and production area is supervised and directed at the highest standard way to strengthen the IKEA store's position as the best home furnishing store in the local market.

What you will do

CUSTOMERS
- Ensure our guests are always in focus and strive to make them smile. Meet and serve our guests showing empathy and care. Willing to listen and support them with an attitude based on the IKEA values.
- Lead by example and a good ambassador for the IKEA store in all contact with our guests, and give them a good reason to return again and again.
- Always look at our store through the eyes of our customers. Have a daily dialogue with our guests to get continuous feedback about their experiences and to learn more about their needs and wants, then act based on their input.
- Empower and encourage the team to take immediate action to meet the needs of guests and give input on how to continuously improve our meeting with them.
- Ensure our guests have a great shopping experience always throughout the day.

COMMERCIAL
- Maximize vitality and commerciality of IKEA FOOD in your store to increase sales and profitability according to your goals.
- Ensure an effective implementation and presentation of the IKEA FOOD range matrix.
- Actively contribute and support all marketing and in-store activities by integrating IKEA FOOD in the store's Commercial Calendar and use these as an opportunity to proactively drive sales.
- Ensure effective and economical handling of range changes including management of outgoing range and activities in your function according to the set timelines in the Commercial Calendar.
- Ensure that the daily work routines are in place, that the displays are well-filled and the range is presented in an optimal commercial way.
- Initiate actions to fill the restaurant at off-peak time and increase turnover per seat.
- Cooperate with Commercial SFM & Bistro Manager to enhance the link between the Restaurant and the Swedish Food Market.
- Maintain in-depth knowledge of the competition on the local food market. Use this information to initiate immediate action, to secure an appropriate price distance. Give input on changes done to your IKEA FOOD Manager.
- Equipments Maintenance and documentation of visits and plan if break down.

STEERING THE BUSINESS
- Work actively to make the IKEA store successful and high performing, today and tomorrow by attracting visitors, achieving sales growth and reasonable profitability, ensuring the satisfaction of guests and co-workers, and excellent operational performance as measured through our defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Monitor and control the food costs, operational costs, productivity, sales mix and recipe cost.
- Responsible for the efficient organisation of the business area in relation to financial performance i.e. gross profit, costs, hours planning, productivity levels, absence management and holiday planning to agreed service levels.
- Ensure the implementation and follow-up of the SOP rules and guidelines.

OPERATIONS
- Ensure that the IKEA Quality and Food Safety Policies and routines are followed.
- Report any food incident, or potential incident, through CASY and inform my manager. I contribute to creating a "safety first" culture where co-workers are encouraged to raise and discuss concerns and solutions.
- Ensure there is the right number of co-workers in the right place at the right time to run my area successfully.
- Work proactively to avoid bottlenecks and consistently improve customer satisfaction.
- Ensure the daily operational routines and actions set out by my manager for the area are implemented

Requirements

Required skills to be successful
- Must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Must be able to build working relationships
- Must be able to speak and understand English
- Must have proven leadership abilities and lead by example
- Must have the ability to bring out the best in co-workers and to motivate and develop the organisation
- Must have the ability to create an environment where the IKEA values are a strong and living reality that embraces the diversity of co-workers and visitors

What equips you for the role
- Must have a minimum of 2-3 years food service supervisory experience, preferably in a high-volume business
- Must have an interest and knowledge of culinary or food service industry
- Must have a strong customer focus
- Must have the ability to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, and constantly changing retail environment
- Must have analytical skills
- Must have multitasking capabilities
- Must be computer literate

About Al-Futtaim Retail

Al-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past 30 years. We have developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencer's in both regions with over 75 stores offering both fashion & food options.

Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse workforce which includes over 100 nationalities across 12 countries. Join us today and make a difference...

About the Company

Established in the 1930's, the Al-Futtaim Group initially operated as a trading enterprise. Rapid development throughout the 1940's and 50's saw it establish itself regionally as an integrated commercial, industrial and services organisation, positioning itself one of the leading business houses in the lower Gulf region. Today, it operates collectively over 40 companies bearing the Al-Futtaim name, dominates many market segments in the UAE, and has expanded its sphere of operation to include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt.

The Group comprises a diverse range of strategically positioned operating subsidiaries and associate companies, structured to give the Al-Futtaim Group the flexibility and versatility to keep ahead of local competition while keeping pace with the ever-evolving global business scenario. The Groups continued investment in world-class systems technology is clear evidence of its commitment to maintain leading edge performance and service delivery.

The success of the Al-Futtaim Group can be attributed to a business approach that combines the ability to change with the traditional values of integrity, service and social responsibility that define its core business philosophy. This, linked with the Groups belief in decentralisation, gives the heads of the operating companies a high degree of functional autonomy and authority, providing the Group with essential flexibility, and individual employees a clearly defined work culture and sense of responsibility.