Bar Manager – The Welder’s Dog Armidale

Location- Armidale, NSW

Venues- The Welder’s Dog – Marsh St Bar & Beardy St Brewery

Position Type- Permanent Part-Time or Full-Time

Hours- Approx. 28–38 hours per week, depending on the successful candidate

Salary- Competitive salary/package based on agreed hours, experience and capability

About the Role

We’re looking for a Bar Manager to take ownership of the day-to-day hospitality experience across The Welder’s Dog’s two Armidale venues – our Bar (LittleDog) and Brewery/Entertainment space (BigDog).

This is a hands-on role centred around customer experience, hospitality standards, smooth venue operations, stock management and leading a great team.

Events, entertainment and marketing are managed elsewhere within our team, allowing this position to focus on what happens inside our venues and making sure both operate at a consistently high standard.

Importantly, we’re not just looking for a particular hospitality résumé.

Previous hospitality or management experience would certainly be advantageous, but we’re equally willing to consider someone coming from another industry who has the right character and transferable skills.

We’re looking for someone who is warm and welcoming, organised, dependable, a genuine team player, willing to learn and comfortable taking responsibility. Someone who notices what needs doing and is happy to chip in rather than being restricted by a job description.

Our approach is built around our ‘ICE Cool’ ethos:

- Initiative – Look for ways to make things better.

- Connection – Build genuine relationships with customers, staff and our community.

- Enjoyment – Help create venues that people enjoy visiting and working in.

Customer Experience & Hospitality

The Bar Manager will play a major role in setting the standard for how people experience The Welder’s Dog.

- Be a visible, approachable and welcoming presence in our venues.

- Build relationships with regulars while making new customers feel equally at home.

- Lead by example when it comes to friendly and attentive service.

- Help the team develop strong product knowledge and confidence with customers.

- Read the room and maintain the right atmosphere, music,



lighting and energy.

- Proactively resolve customer issues.

- Help create a consistent hospitality experience across both venues.

Venue Operations & Stock

- Lead service during rostered shifts.

- Ensure the venues are properly prepared for service.

- Maintain high standards of cleanliness and presentation.

- Oversee opening and closing procedures.

- Manage stock levels, ordering and stock movement between venues.

- Assist with stocktakes and monitor wastage and discrepancies.

- Maintain accurate POS products, pricing and operational processes.

- Monitor RSA compliance and responsible service practices.

- Identify maintenance and operational issues and make sure they are followed through.

- Work closely with the brewery, kitchen and broader management team.

Team Leadership

We want someone who works alongside the team, particularly when the venues are busy.

- Create a positive and supportive team environment.

- Set explicit expectations around hospitality and operational standards.

- Onboard and train new staff.

- Coach staff during service.

- Provide constructive feedback and recognise good performance.

- Keep communication flowing between the venues and management team.

- Jump in and help wherever needed.

Who We’re Looking For

There are a few different backgrounds that could work well for this position.

You may already be an experienced bar or hospitality manager. You might be an experienced bartender or supervisor ready to take the next step. Or you might come from retail, tourism, customer service, accommodation or another people-focused industry and have the personality and organisational skills to transition successfully into hospitality.

More important to us is finding someone who:

- Genuinely enjoys dealing with people.

- Is naturally warm, inviting and approachable.





- Is a strong team player.

- Takes ownership and follows things through.

- Is organised and dependable.

- Can stay calm and helpful when things get busy.

- Is comfortable making decisions.

- Is willing to learn.

- Takes pride in maintaining high standards.

- Is flexible and prepared to help wherever required.

Hospitality experience can be taught. Character, attitude and genuine care for customers and teammates are much harder to teach.

Hours & Flexibility

We have deliberately left some flexibility around the structure of this role.

We’re open to approximately 28–38 hours per week, depending on the successful candidate, what they can bring to the position and their preferred level of employment.

For the right person, this could therefore be structured as a substantial permanent part-time role or a full-time position.

There will also be some flexibility around the timing of hours as the role develops. However, this is fundamentally an operational venue leadership position, so the successful candidate will need to be generally available during our peak bar periods, including evenings and weekends.

We want to find the right person first and then establish a structure that works well for both the individual and the business.

What We Offer

A key role across two established Armidale venues, with genuine ownership of the customer and operational experience.

You’ll have the support of a broader management team, with events, marketing and other business functions managed separately, allowing you to concentrate on leading the venues well.

We offer permanent employment, flexibility around 28–38 hours per week, remuneration structured appropriately around the agreed FTE and experience, training and support, and the opportunity for the role to grow as your capabilities and responsibilities develop.

If you think you’d be great at this role but don’t have the traditional hospitality background, we’d still encourage you to apply. Tell us what you can bring to the team and why you think you’d be a great fit for The Welder’s Dog.

Enquiries can be sent through to the General Manager: ••••@theweldersdog.com.au

📌 Bar Manager (Armidale)
🏢 The Welder's Dog
📍 Armidale