HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCE MANAGER - PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Job Summary

The Hospitality Experience Manager is responsible for leading the overall front-of-house experience across the contract. This role serves as the key hospitality leader for guest engagement, café presentation, GEM execution, service standards, communication, and the daily customer journey.

The Hospitality Experience Manager will lead and support the GEM team, ensuring every café delivers a consistent, welcoming, efficient, and high-quality guest experience. This position will work closely with operations, culinary, marketing, client leadership, and site teams to improve participation, increase guest satisfaction, support digital adoption, and ensure the front-of-house experience reflects the expectations of the client and the Compass/Eurest brand.

Key Responsibilities

Guest Experience Leadership

• Lead the overall front-of-house experience across all assigned cafés and service locations.
• Provide daily direction, coaching, and accountability for GEMs and front-of-house team members.
• Ensure a visible hospitality presence during peak and non-peak service periods.
• Create a welcoming, polished, and guest-focused environment that supports participation and employee engagement.
• Serve as a champion for hospitality, guest satisfaction, and service consistency across the full contract.

Team Management

• Lead, train, schedule, and support GEMs to ensure consistent execution of service standards.
• Establish clear expectations for GEM visibility, guest interaction, issue resolution, and communication.
• Conduct routine check-ins and observations to reinforce hospitality behaviors and service accountability.
• Support GEMs in acting as ambassadors for promotions, new programs, wellness initiatives, technology rollouts, and guest education.

Front-of-House Standards

• Monitor café readiness, cleanliness, merchandising, signage, menu communication, traffic flow, and overall presentation.
• Ensure front-of-house areas are organized, inviting, easy to navigate, and aligned with brand expectations.
• Partner with operations and culinary teams to address service gaps, speed of service, product presentation, and guest concerns.
• Reinforce standards for service counters, condiment areas, beverage stations, seating areas, micro markets, and promotional displays.

Guest Feedback and Service Recovery

• Actively listen to guests and identify trends, opportunities, and recurring pain points.
• Respond to guest concerns with urgency, professionalism, and follow-through.
• Partner with site leaders to resolve issues related to wait times, product availability, service flow, communication, and overall experience.
• Use Voice of the Customer feedback, surveys, comment cards, digital feedback, and direct guest conversations to improve the experience.

Program and Digital Adoption

• Support guest adoption of new technology, ordering platforms, kiosks, self-checkout, mobile tools, loyalty programs, and promotional campaigns.
• Ensure GEMs are trained and prepared to educate guests during rollouts and service changes.
• Partner with marketing and operations on signage, wayfinding, QR codes, launch support, and guest communication.
• Help reduce friction in the guest journey by making the experience easier, faster, and more intuitive.

Client and Operational Partnership

• Partner with the client, operations leadership, culinary teams, marketing, safety, and finance to align the guest experience with contract expectations.
• Support employee appreciation events, family days, wellness activations, pop-ups, promotions, and other engagement initiatives.
• Provide feedback and recommendations to improve participation, satisfaction, and perceived value.
• Help ensure consistent execution across cafés while allowing for site-specific needs and guest preferences.

Reporting and Continuous Improvement

• Track guest feedback trends, GEM activity, service observations, and action items.
• Share regular updates with leadership on wins, opportunities, and corrective actions.
• Use data, guest comments, and field observations to identify improvement opportunities.
• Support action plans that improve participation, service consistency, speed of service, and overall satisfaction.

Essential Functions

• Walk cafés and service areas daily to observe guest experience and operational execution.
• Coach GEMs and front-of-house associates in real time.
• Support peak meal periods and high-volume service windows.
• Communicate effectively with guests, associates, managers, and client representatives.
• Assist with events, promotions, digital adoption, and guest education.
• Travel between assigned locations as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support the overall contract experience.

Success Measures

• Improved guest satisfaction and Voice of the Customer results.
• Increased GEM visibility and engagement.
• Improved front-of-house consistency across cafés.
• Stronger guest adoption of digital tools and new service models.
• Reduced guest complaints related to wait times, communication, wayfinding, and service flow.
• Increased participation through a more welcoming and easier-to-navigate guest experience.
• Positive client feedback regarding hospitality, responsiveness, and execution.

Qualifications:

• Prior experience in hospitality, food service, retail, guest services, hotel operations, or front-of-house leadership preferred.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams across multiple locations or service points.
• Strong guest-first mindset with a passion for hospitality and service excellence.
• Ability to identify service gaps and turn feedback into action.
• Comfortable supporting technology rollouts, guest education, and change management.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to work collaboratively with operations, culinary, marketing, client contacts, and hourly associates.
• Professional presence and ability to represent the company and client partnership with confidence.

Desired Skills and Attributes

• Highly visible and hands-on leadership style.
• Positive, approachable, and solutions-oriented.
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multi-site environment.
• Strong eye for detail in presentation, cleanliness, merchandising, and guest flow.
• Ability to build trust with guests, associates, managers, and client partners.