General / Operations Manager

ABOUT THE ROLEWe are recruiting an experienced General Manager to lead the day-to-day and strategic operation of a leading late-night events venue, Colour Factory. This senior post carries full responsibility for operational delivery, licensing and compliance, financial control, staff leadership, facilities, bar operations, and external stakeholder management. The remit includes shaping culture, setting standards, and ensuring the venue runs safely, efficiently, and to a consistently high level for artists, audiences, partners, and neighbours.Experience overseeing food court or kitchen operations, including multiple traders and food hygiene compliance, is desirable but not essential.KEY RESPONSIBILITIESOperational leadershipAct as the central point of coordination for all departments, ensuring smooth pre-event, live, and post-event operations.Hold or obtain DPS status, uphold the premises licence, and ensure conditions are met at all times.Lead incident management and post-incident follow up, including statements, reports, evidence collation and authority liaison.Maintain robust SOPs for opening, trading, cash handling, alcohol service, guestlists, queues, searches and close-down.Safeguard the customer journey from entry to exit, including show calls, changeovers and EOP sign-off.Staffing, leadership and people operationsBuild, lead, and motivate high-performing teams across bars, floor, technical, production, security, ticketing and office.Oversee recruitment, onboarding, induction, rota planning, and training matrices; coordinate payroll inputs and approvals.Run performance management, 1-to-1s, and development plans; manage conduct, capability, and grievance processes in line with policy.Maintain accurate personnel records, right-to-work checks, and training certification logs.Diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and neurodivergenceChampion an inclusive, respectful workplace and audience environment.Demonstrate awareness of and sensitivity to POC and LGBTQIA+ communities, accessibility needs, and neurodivergence in staff and audiences.Embed fair recruitment, training, progression, and representation practices.Ensure welfare, safeguarding, and safer-spaces policies are visible, understood, and enforced.Finance, controls and administrationOwn the day-to-day financial controls: daily takings, safe counts, floats, tills, cash lifts, variances and end-of-night sign-offs.Oversee reconciliations, supplier invoices, payment runs, and aged payables; track accruals and event settlements.Monitor labour, GP, stock variance, and wastage; implement cost controls without compromising standards.Maintain structured logs for ordering, purchasing, maintenance, incidents, and complaints.Prepare weekly ops summaries and monthly reports for the Managing Director and where relevant, investors or a board.Food and beverage oversightLead bar operations, cellar and dispense standards, stock controls, deliveries, line checks, and product quality.Desirable experience: oversight of food courts and kitchens, coordinating multiple traders, service standards, allergen management, and food hygiene compliance.Uphold Challenge 25, intoxication management, and refusal logs; monitor pour policy and waste.Venue, facilities and technicalKeep the venue safe, clean, and guest-ready; set standards for presentation and housekeeping.Manage planned and reactive maintenance with contractors; keep asset registers and service schedules up to date.Ensure statutory compliance and inspection cycles are current: fire alarms and emergency lighting, extinguishers, PAT, EICR, gas safety where applicable, water hygiene, first aid kits and accident books, CCTV uptime and retention.Sales, marketing and event supportSupport programming, advancing, and event delivery, coordinating with promoters, agents, artists, and partners.Contribute to audience development, customer communications, and on-the-night execution to protect brand reputation.Provide accurate post-event feedback on operations, staffing, and bar performance to inform continuous improvement.Community, neighbours and authoritiesRepresent the venue at Pubwatch or Clubwatch, licensing and police meetings and local forums.Maintain professional relationships with the licensing authority, police, EHO and other regulators.Proactively manage neighbour relations, including noise management, dispersal and complaints handling.Legal and compliance frameworkYou will ensure compliance with relevant UK legislation and best practice, including:Licensing Act 2003 and premises licence conditionsHealth and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Management of Health and Safety at Work RegulationsRIDDOR and accident reporting requirementsFire Safety Order, emergency lighting and alarm testing regimesFood Safety Act and Food Hygiene Regulations where food traders operateGDPR and data protection, CCTV usage and retentionSmoke-free legislation, drugs policy, and safer-spaces policiesSIA deployment and record keeping for contracted securitySystems and toolsExperience with modern venue and hospitality systems is expected. Useful platforms include:POS and PDQ systems, ticketing and guestlist tools, workforce management and rota software,stock and inventory platforms, digital incident logs, and document control. Familiarity withResident Advisor or Eventbrite style ticketing, and Deputy or similar workforce tools, is advantageous.Core outcomes and KPIsBeverage gross profit within target, with controlled wastage and stock variance within tolerance.Labour cost as a percentage of net sales within budget, with accurate rota forecasting.Cash and till variances within tight limits, with prompt investigation and resolution.Zero critical compliance failures, passing internal audits and authority inspections.Incident rate managed and reported, with clear corrective actions.Event delivery on time and to specification, with positive artist and promoter feedback.Staff retention, training completion, and engagement at healthy levels.Neighbour and authority relationships maintained with minimal complaints.Accurate and timely weekly and monthly reporting to the Managing Director.Essential Knowledge, skills and experienceSenior leadership experience in hospitality, nightlife, or large-scale venue operations.Proven operational command during live events, with calm decision-making under pressure.Strong financial literacy: reconciliations, cash controls, labour management, supplier management, and GP analysis.In-depth understanding of licensing, DPS responsibilities, alcohol retailing, refusals, and incident recording.Excellent people leadership: recruitment, induction, rotas, training, performance and conduct management.Clear, confident communication with staff, artists, promoters, suppliers, neighbours, and authorities.Track record of implementing SOPs, audits, and corrective action plans.Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and neurodivergence awareness.DesirableOversight of multi-trader food courts or kitchens, including allergens, HACCP style controls, and EHO liaison.Experience with workforce management platforms, ticketing systems, POS back-office and digital reporting dashboards.Knowledge of dance music culture and contemporary audience expectations.Shift expectations and example patternsThis is a flexible mix of office hours and late-night event operations. Example patterns are provided for transparency and may vary with business needs.Weeks with major weekend eventsMonday: OffTuesday: 10:00 to 18:00 (office-based)Wednesday: OffThursday: 10:00 to 18:00 (office-based)Friday, Saturday, Sunday: From 19:00 until close (venue-based)Weeks with weekday events or general operationsMonday: On (office or event-based)Tuesday: 10:00 to 18:00 (office-based)Wednesday: On (office or event-based)Thursday: 10:00 to 18:00 (office-based)Friday, Saturday, Sunday: From 19:00 until close (venue-based)Days off are balanced across the week depending on weekend commitments.Authority and reportingBudget holder for day-to-day operational spend within agreed limits.Approval of rotas, labour targets, and routine purchasing.Escalation to the Managing Director for capex, contract awards, or non-routine spend.Weekly operational review with the Managing Director, monthly performance report with KPIs, risks, actions, and forecasts.How to applyPlease send a CV and a covering letter outlining your relevant experience and your approach to leading complex late-night venue operations. Include examples of compliance, financial control, people leadership and event delivery that demonstrate ..... full job details .....