General Manager

Turn up the volume on London's home for soul, jazz, reggae and great food.

Soul Mama is a live music venue and restaurant in Stratford, East London, founded by YolanDa Brown OBE DL, with site 2 opening soon and more locations on the horizon. We're building a joyful, inclusive cultural brand where outstanding artists and vibrant hospitality meet.

We're now looking for a 
General Manager
 to take full ownership of day to day operations at our flagship site in Stratford. Leading the floor, the team, protecting the numbers, and making sure every guest leaves happy (and comes back with friends). As we scale, this role will help set the operating standards for future locations.

The role

You will be the heartbeat of Soul Mama day to day... responsible for service, standards, people, compliance, and commercial performance.

You will:

Lead the venue, every service

• Be the most visible leader on site: host, solve problems, calm fires, elevate the room.
• Ensure smooth delivery of live shows alongside full food and drink service, including tight table turns, clear comms with the kitchen and bar, and confident show changeovers.
• Maintain Soul Mama's warm, joyful, professional guest experience at all times.

Run operations and standards

• Oversee FOH, bar and floor teams, and work closely with Head Chef / Kitchen leadership to deliver great service, quality, speed and consistency.
• Ensure the venue is guest-ready at open, and compliant at close (cleanliness, safety, stock, cash, reporting).
• Own all licensing, health & safety, food hygiene, right to work, fire safety, security and incident logging.
• Ensure responsible alcohol service and adherence to licensing conditions at all times.

Manage and develop the team

• Recruit, train, coach and rota FOH, bar and support staff; build a culture of accountability, trust and pride.
• Lead pre-service briefings so everyone understands the night: timings, menu notes, allergens, special guests, VIPs, sold-out items, upsell focus.
• Handle staffing issues professionally and fairly, including lateness, performance reviews, conduct concerns and payroll queries.

Protect the numbers

• Control labour costs, including rota planning to agreed labour % targets.
• Oversee stock control across bar and consumables: ordering, deliveries, stock counts, wastage and variance investigations.
• Track daily sales, spend per head, comps/discounts and cash handling, and report against targets.
• Support accurate settlement of promoters/acts and reconciliation of ticket revenue vs F&B performance on show nights.

Be the bridge internally

• Work closely with Programming / Marketing to understand what's on, who's coming, and what the night needs commercially.
• Feed back from the floor: what's selling, what guests ask for, which shows drive spend, pain points, staffing pressure, sound levels, table layout issues, etc.
• Act as the main point of contact for site-level partners (security, cleaning, maintenance, tech/sound, suppliers).

Drive continuous improvement

• Create and document strong SOPs that can be lifted and dropped into future Soul Mama locations.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue (upsells, pre-orders, VIP tables, brunch packages, group bookings, corporate hire).
• Hold regular service reviews and action plans.

About you

• 3+ years in a General Manager / Deputy GM / Senior FOH Management role in a busy restaurant, bar, live music venue or late-night hospitality environment.
• Strong floor presence. You don't hide in the office. You set the tone.
• Confident managing teams in high-energy, high-pressure, high-volume service.
• Proven experience with rotas, labour % targets, stock control, cashing up, supplier relationships and site-level P&L awareness.
• Excellent grasp of licensing, health & safety, food hygiene, right to work checks and incident reporting.
• Comfortable handling guest escalations and sensitive situations (billing disputes, noise complaints, intoxication, refunds, etc.) in a calm, respectful way.
• Able to collaborate with marketing / programming, but commercially disciplined about what is operationally realistic.
• Strong written and verbal communication. Straightforward, honest, reliable.
• Flexible to work evenings and weekends (this is hospitality + live music).
• Must have the right to work in the UK.

What success looks like (first 6 months)

• Consistently smooth services with clear ownership, confident teams and no surprises.
• Labour cost, stock variance and cash control are tight and documented.
• Guest complaints drop, repeat visits and group bookings rise.
• Strong rota planning, fair distribution of shifts, and improved staff morale / retention.
• Health & safety, licensing and compliance are fully in order, auditable and inspection-ready at any time.
• Clear playbook / SOPs that we can copy-paste into site 2.

Benefits

• Competitive salary dependent on experience, with performance-linked bonus.
• Staff meals on shift and complimentary/discounted show tickets.
• Pension and professional development opportunities.
• The chance to help shape a growing brand from the ground floor.

How to apply

Email 

with:

• Your CV
• A short cover note (max 300 words) telling us about a service or venue you've run that you're genuinely proud of
• One change you would make, on day one, in a live music / dining venue to improve guest experience 
  and
   spend per head

Soul Mama is an equal opportunities employer.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive team and culture. If you need any adjustments at any stage of the process, please let us know.