Small Things Hospitality Group | Brisbane

We’re a growing independent hospitality group looking for a practical, commercially sharp General Manager to help lead the next stage of the business. This is not a behind-the-desk role. We need someone who is visible in the venues, close to the teams, strong on standards, and capable of turning day-to-day improvements into real business growth.

We’re honest about where we are: we are a small business with good venues, good people, and a lot of room to improve. The right person will see that as an opportunity. They’ll be motivated by building better systems, lifting team performance, improving consistency, and helping turn a hands-on owner-led business into a stronger, more scalable operation.

About the role

As General Manager, you’ll work closely with ownership to lead operations across multiple venues. You’ll be expected to understand the numbers, lead from the floor, develop managers, improve systems, and create a more consistent standard across the group.

You’ll be involved in

- Leading venue managers and key team members across multiple sites
- Improving daily operations, accountability, service standards and team culture
- Driving revenue, wage control, COGS, profitability and practical commercial outcomes
- Building systems that make the business more consistent and less reactive
- Coaching managers and team members to take more ownership
- Identifying operational problems and getting directly involved in fixing them
- Protecting and raising standards across food, beverage, service, cleanliness and guest experience
- Working with ownership on growth, structure, reporting and business improvement





This role suits someone who has scaled venues before, understands small business realities, and enjoys the hard, practical work of making hospitality businesses better.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone with:
- A hands-on approach — you are comfortable being in service, on the floor and close to the action This point cannot be stressed enough, this is NOT primarily a desk job

- Proven multi-venue hospitality management experience
- A strong track record in improving sales, profitability, systems and team performance
- Experience helping small or growing businesses become more structured and scalable

- Strong operational judgement and the ability to make good decisions quickly
- Confidence leading managers, not just frontline staff
- Commercial understanding across labour, COGS, revenue, guest experience and profitability

- High standards around communication, accountability, cleanliness and team culture
- The ability to build trust with both owners and venue teams
- You do not need to come from a corporate background.

In fact, this role is probably better suited to someone who understands independent hospitality and enjoys the challenge of building structure inside a growing business.

Who this role is not for





- This is not a role for someone who wants to manage only from an office, through reports, meetings or occasional venue visits.
- It is also not the right fit for someone looking to step into a fully polished, already-systemised group.

We are improving quickly, but there is still plenty to build.

- We need someone who is comfortable being close to the floor, close to the numbers, close to the people, and close to the problems — then helping turn those problems into better systems, stronger standards and better results.
- If you want the title of General Manager without the hands-on ownership that comes with it, this probably is not the role for you.

- If you are motivated by building something stronger and can bring both commercial discipline and practical leadership, we’d love to hear from you.
- I’d include it, but I’d avoid going harder than that in the public ad. Save the sharper filtering for interview questions and screening.

Why join us

- This is a genuine prospect to have a serious impact in a growing hospitality group.
- You’ll work directly with ownership, have influence over how the business develops, and play a key role in shaping the next stage of the group.

- For the right person, this is a chance to build something — not just maintain something.

To apply Please apply with your CV and a short note, in your own words, telling us:

Tell us about a time you helped scale, improve or turn around a small hospitality operation. What did you change, and what was the result?

Generic or copy-paste applications are unlikely to be prioritised.

📌 Hospitality General Manager – Hands-On Multi-Venue + Small Business Scaling (Brisbane)
🏢 Small Things Hospitality Group.
📍 Brisbane