Chief Operations Officer (Casual dining) at AMSCO (African Management Services Company)

Ad Visible Until: 26 October 2018

The Big Square brand is operated in Kenya by Interstrat Ltd, a local company which also operates the Pizza Mojo brand. The first Big Square restaurant was opened in August 2012 and in late 2015 the Pizza Mojo was introduced. Since then eight additional restaurants have subsequently been opened with a further four earmarked by the end of 2018. Presently, Interstrat Ltd currently employs 480 employees and this is expected to increase exponentially as the company embarks on its growth plan of increasing its footprint to 30 stores by 2020.

Ref: KEN000225/MM

Vacancy Type: Permanent

The overarching role of the Chief Operations Officer is to be responsible for the performance of Big Square as delivered in the restaurants. This includes (i) delivery of the brand promise regarding service, product quality, and compliance, (ii) meeting the business’s financial and non-financial objectives, and (iii) ensuring the central kitchen is fit for purpose and operating to plan. This role

Reports to: CEO

OVERVIEW OF BIG SQUARE

The Big Square brand is operated in Kenya by Interstrat Ltd, a local company which also operates the Pizza Mojo brand. The first Big Square restaurant was opened in August 2012 and in late 2015 the Pizza Mojo was introduced. Since then eight additional restaurants have subsequently been opened with a further four earmarked by the end of 2018. Presently, Interstrat Ltd currently employs 480 employees and this is expected to increase exponentially as the company embarks on its growth plan of increasing its footprint to 30 stores by 2020.

This casual dining chain serves diversified, unique and innovative products to its Kenyan customers of all ages, in a charming environment. The casual dining concept in Kenya has experienced a boom and the industry is primed to become even more dominant in years to come. In addition to the traditional sit down service, all our brands extend service to cover: take away, delivery and outside catering serving an average of 56,000 customers every month.

SUMMARY OF THE ROLE

The overarching role of the Chief Operations Officer is to be responsible for the performance of Big Square as delivered in the restaurants. This includes (i) delivery of the brand promise regarding service, product quality, and compliance, (ii) meeting the business’s financial and non-financial objectives, and (iii) ensuring the central kitchen is fit for purpose and operating to plan. This role needs to be delivered in our existing restaurants and accommodate our new restaurant opening plan in Nairobi and beyond.

The Chief Operations Officer is a partner to the Chief Executive Office and will be expected to help set the overall strategy for the business, design the process for this to be realised in the company’s operations, and ensure its continued and successful implementation. In addition, the Chief Operations Officer will be required to work closely with the Head of Finance, Human Resources, Marketing and Business Development to ensure these departments are well coordinated to deliver the company’s annual objectives in Kenya.

The role is an excellent platform for a high performing operational leader to move into a more senior general or country management position.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Leadership and communication skills are paramount to successfully manage 460 operations staff many of whom are early in their career and therefore needing continual training and management. You will have high emotional intelligence, be a clear and confident communicator both verbally and in writing, be fluent in English, be approachable and engaging with your team and peers, and lead by example in delivering the Big Square brand promise.

In order to plan, coordinate and monitor multiple activities across our growing portfolio of restaurants you will have first class organisational skills and by nature you will enjoy planning and task delivery.

Big Square strives to give each of our customers a fun and dignified dining experience. The Chief Operations Officer will have a deep appreciation of the requirement to deliver great customer service and ensure it is delivered in each and every customer engagement.

Responsibility for achievement of our financial objectives requires financial literacy and the Chief Operations Officer being comfortable in preparing a financial budget, reporting on performance against budget, and understanding how operational activities and financial performance intersect.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic

• Live the company values and support the continual development of the company culture
• Implementation of the Strategic Plan
• Assist the Central kitchen and stores team with capacity building, logistics planning, product quality/consistency and forward planning in order to enable them support our future growth plans
• Liaise with the Development Department on a regular basis in order to ensure that new shop openings are well-planned and executed

Financial Management

• Monitor and achieve turnover vs target
• Improve profitability at restaurant level
• Engage existing and possible new/international suppliers on a regular basis in order to reduce input cost, ensure logistical effectiveness and keep them abreast of growth plans

Talent Management

• Capacity building in order to position our brands for future growth
• Design the organisation structure, performance metrics, incentive plans, and performance management techniques for all operational staff
• Identify training needs and work with the training team to implement the training and development plan

Customers

• Improve and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction by making their experience memorable with every visit, constantly innovate and implement unique experiential concepts in order to achieve this

Compliance

• Maintain Standards by improving compliance of brand standards
• Develop an approved suppliers list and product spec document
• Maintain a strong relationship with our strategic partners (Suppliers, Vivo, Kobil, Knight Frank and various land lords) by meeting with them on a regular basis
• Implementation of all company policies and procedures

Innovation

• Regular product development, keeping up to date with local and international trends
• Pioneer new products and concepts to keep us ahead of competition
• Work with marketing to deliver a continual growth plan
• Develop and implement a marketing calendar with the marketing dept.