Summary: The Restaurant and Lounge General Manager - Specialty Dining is responsible for the overall leadership, financial performance, guest experience, and daily operations of Tia Carmen and Carmocha, Grand Hyatt Indian Wells' signature specialty dining venues created in partnership with Chef Angelo Sosa.
Tia Carmen celebrates the beauty, stories, land, and farms of the Southwest through its dining experience, while Carmocha offers globally inspired small plates alongside an expansive bar and lounge. Together, these venues provide distinctive culinary and hospitality experiences for resort guests, local clientele, and the surrounding community.
This position leads the front-of-house operation and partners closely with Chef Angelo Sosa, culinary leadership, Food and Beverage leadership, hotel departments, and external partners to deliver exceptional dining experiences. The General Manager serves as a visible ambassador for both venues and the resort, ensuring that service, food and beverage quality, atmosphere, programming, and guest engagement consistently reflect Grand Hyatt standards.
In addition to leading daily restaurant and lounge operations, this role oversees special events, culinary programming, entertainment, vendor activations, brand partnerships, and promotional experiences that drive awareness, revenue, repeat visitation, and loyalty among resort guests and the local community.
The salary range for this position is $95,000 - $120,000. Final compensation will be based on factors including experience, education, and qualifications.
This position is eligible for a $5,000 sign-on bonus, provided as a one-time payment.
Key Responsibilities Restaurant and Lounge Operations- Direct the daily operations of Tia Carmen and Carmocha across all applicable meal periods and service experiences.
- Maintain a consistent, elevated level of service, hospitality, food quality, beverage quality, cleanliness, ambiance, and presentation.
- Establish and uphold service standards, operating procedures, opening and closing routines, and brand expectations.
- Maintain a visible presence on the floor and in guest-facing areas, actively monitoring service flow, pacing, table touches, and overall guest satisfaction.
- Oversee reservations, seating strategy, table pacing, guest flow, waitlist management, private dining, VIP arrangements, and special requests.
- Partner with Chef Angelo Sosa and culinary leadership to ensure effective communication between the front and back of house, consistent menu execution, and smooth service flow.
- Maintain strong knowledge of food, wine, spirits, beer, cocktails, and current dining trends.
- Ensure compliance with health, sanitation, alcohol service, workplace safety, and other applicable regulations.
- Resolve guest concerns promptly and professionally while protecting the reputation of the restaurants, lounge, and resort.
- Use guest feedback, online reviews, operational reports, and business trends to identify opportunities for improvement.
Events, Activations, and Partnerships- Plan, coordinate, and execute restaurant and lounge events, culinary experiences, tastings, pop-ups, chef collaborations, holiday programming, live entertainment, and seasonal activations.
- Manage recurring and one-time vendor activations, including beverage tastings, spirit or wine partnerships, product showcases, brand collaborations, and promotional experiences.
- Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Events, Revenue Management, and Food and Beverage teams to develop, promote, and measure special programming.
- Serve as the primary operational contact for outside vendors, brand partners, entertainers, culinary collaborators, and event stakeholders.
- Review activation proposals, menus, floor plans, staffing needs, production requirements, timelines, contracts, and operational impacts.
- Ensure all activations align with the identity of Tia Carmen and Carmocha, resort standards, guest expectations, and applicable legal and safety requirements.
- Coordinate event-day execution, including vendor load-in, setup, staffing, service, entertainment, guest flow, breakdown, and post-event follow-up.
- Track event results, including attendance, revenue, guest feedback, operational performance, and return on investment.
- Build relationships with local businesses, community organizations, hospitality partners, and influential guests to increase awareness and visitation.
Team Leadership and Development- Recruit, select, onboard, train, schedule, coach, and evaluate restaurant and lounge leaders and associates.
- Develop a high-performing, service-oriented team culture grounded in accountability, professionalism, inclusion, and genuine hospitality.
- Provide ongoing training in service standards, menu knowledge, beverage knowledge, upselling, responsible alcohol service, guest recovery, and event execution.
- Develop assistant managers, supervisors, and emerging leaders through coaching, delegation, feedback, and succession planning.
- Maintain appropriate staffing levels based on business volume, reservations, events, activations, and operational needs.
- Conduct pre-shift meetings, lineups, menu tastings, service observations, and regular communication sessions.
- Recognize strong performance and address performance, attendance, and conduct concerns promptly and consistently.
- Partner with Human Resources to support recruitment, employee relations, compliance, retention, and engagement initiatives.
Financial and Business Performance- Own the financial performance of the restaurants and lounge, including budgets, forecasts, revenue goals, labor costs, food costs, beverage costs, and operating expenses.
- Review financial statements, sales trends, labor reports, inventory results, guest counts, average checks, capture rates, and other key performance indicators.
- Develop and implement strategies to drive revenue, increase average check, improve profitability, and strengthen repeat business.
- Manage labor through effective forecasting, scheduling, productivity, and deployment.
- Oversee inventory controls, purchasing practices, product receiving, storage, waste reduction, and beverage accountability.
- Partner with culinary and purchasing teams to maintain food quality and cost-control standards.
- Evaluate the financial performance and operational return on investment of events, activations, promotions, and partnerships.
- Prepare reports and business updates for hotel and Food and Beverage leadership.
Brand and Guest Experience- Serve as a brand ambassador for Tia Carmen, Carmocha, Chef Angelo Sosa, Grand Hyatt Indian Wells, and Hyatt.
- Create memorable, personalized, and authentic experiences for resort guests, local guests, VIPs, group attendees, and repeat customers.
- Build relationships with regular guests, local clientele, travel professionals, community partners, and resort stakeholders.
- Ensure that Tia Carmen and Carmocha maintain distinctive identities while supporting the overall resort experience.
- Collaborate with other hotel departments to coordinate guest preferences, celebrations, group experiences, and resort-wide programming.
- Promote a culture of innovation, respect, service orientation, and inclusion.
Benefits Hyatt colleagues work in an environment that demands exceptional performance while offering meaningful rewards, including:
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage after 30 days of full-time employment
- Paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave
- Life insurance, 401(k) with matching, flexible spending account, and employee assistance program
- Tuition reimbursement
- Complimentary employee meals and parking
- Referral bonuses
- Free and discounted room nights, including Friends & Family discounts, subject to applicable waiting periods
- Career growth and relocation opportunities within Hyatt
- Opportunities to learn and develop within a teaching hotel environment
Qualifications:- Five or more years of progressive restaurant leadership experience, preferably in luxury hospitality, upscale dining, high-volume restaurants, or resort operations.
- Previous experience as a Restaurant General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Food and Beverage Director, or comparable senior restaurant leader.
- Proven success managing full-service restaurants, lounges, or multiple dining concepts.
- Demonstrated experience with budgets, forecasting, P&L management, labor costs, food and beverage costs, inventory, and profitability.
- Strong knowledge of elevated restaurant service, wine, spirits, beer, cocktails, and beverage programming.
- Experience planning and executing special events, culinary experiences, entertainment, vendor activations, or brand partnerships preferred.
- Experience collaborating with celebrity chefs, culinary partners, marketing teams, event producers, vendors, or external stakeholders preferred.
- Experience managing reservations, VIP service, private dining, entertainment, and high-touch guest experiences preferred.
- Proven ability to recruit, develop, motivate, and retain high-performing teams.
- Strong understanding of food safety, sanitation, responsible alcohol service, workplace safety, and regulatory compliance.
- Proficiency with point-of-sale, reservation, scheduling, inventory, payroll, and Microsoft Office systems.
- Strong financial, analytical, organizational, and administrative skills.
- Refined verbal and written communication skills.
- Creative, entrepreneurial, and solution-oriented approach to hospitality and business development.
- Ability to remain composed, professional, and guest-focused in a fast-paced environment.
- Bilingual English and Spanish skills preferred.
- Required certifications must be maintained in accordance with applicable regulations and hotel standards.
Work Schedule and Physical Requirements- Full-time management position requiring flexibility to work mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends, holidays, and varied schedules based on business needs.
- Ability to remain on one's feet and move throughout restaurant, lounge, kitchen, event, and service areas for extended periods.
- Ability to bend, stoop, reach, lift, and move supplies or equipment as needed.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with frequent interaction with guests, associates, vendors, and partners.
- Ability to maintain composure and make sound decisions during high-volume service periods and special events.
