Food & Beverage Manager
Full-time
Application Deadline: 19 October 2026
Job Summary:
Reports to: Operations / Estates Director
Location: Unity One, Nairobi — with regular travel to the second estate as scope expands
Employer: Unity West Limited (direct hire — not the restaurant’s catering Operator)
Type: Full-time, permanent
Remuneration: Competitive, based on experience.
Unity Homes runs two restaurants attached to the leisure centres at our estates. Each restaurant is operated day-to-day by a specialist catering contractor (the “Operator”) under a management agreement, but Unity Homes retains ownership of the premises and equipment, all restaurant revenue, and control over food procurement and brand standards.
We are hiring a Food & Beverage Manager to be Unity Homes’ own accountable owner of restaurant quality: the person who holds the Operator to our standard, controls what and from whom we buy, and makes sure every guest experience matches the Unity Homes brand — because for us, the quality of these restaurants matters more than the margin they produce.
This is a Unity Homes role, not an Operator role. You will not be running the kitchen floor yourself day-to-day — the Operator employs and supervises its own staff — but you will be the person the Operator answers to, the person who signs off the menu and suppliers, and the person who decides whether the contract is working.
The role starts with responsibility for one restaurant. Once that restaurant is running reliably to Unity Homes’ standard, the role expands to take on the second restaurant, and from there has a credible path to leading food & beverage for Unity Homes’ next venture: a continuing-care retirement community, where dining quality and continuity will matter even more directly to residents’ day-to-day wellbeing.
Key Responsibilities:
- Own the relationship with the appointed catering Operator: manage the Catering & Restaurant Management Agreement, hold the Operator to its service levels, and escalate or enforce where standards slip.
- Set and maintain the Brand Standards Manual covering menu, recipes, plating, service style, hygiene and guest experience, and approve any proposed changes from the Operator.
- Own the Approved Supplier List: select and approve suppliers and specifications, manage pricing and quality, and ensure the Operator purchases only against it.
- Run the quarterly quality programme — mystery-shopper visits, hygiene and food-safety audits, and guest/resident feedback — and use the results to calculate the Operator’s performance-linked fee adjustment and to drive corrective action.
- Approve the Operator’s staffing establishment (headcount and roles) for each restaurant, and require the Operator to address or remove underperforming staff where standards are not met.
- Oversee point-of-sale operation, daily revenue reconciliation and banking, since Unity Homes controls the till directly rather than the Operator.
- Monitor the Operator’s regulatory compliance — public health and food hygiene licensing, fire safety, food-handler certification — and keep Unity Homes’ own risk position current.
- Report monthly to the Operations/Estates Director on covers, spend, wastage, incidents and Operator performance against KPIs.
- Handle escalated guest complaints and approve refunds/goodwill gestures within an agreed authority limit.
What we're looking for:
- Solid experience in food & beverage or hospitality management in Kenya (or a comparable market), ideally including exposure to contract catering, multi-outlet oversight, or managing an outsourced operator.
- Hands-on experience with supplier management and procurement, food cost control, and running quality or compliance audits — comfortable being on-site and checking things yourself, not just reviewing reports.
- Working knowledge of Kenyan food safety and public health licensing requirements.
- Financially literate: able to read a restaurant P&L, manage a budget, and reconcile till/POS data.
- Confident holding an external contractor accountable to a written standard, without needing to run their staff yourself.
- A genuine bias toward guest experience and quality over squeezing the last shilling of margin — this is the single most important trait for this role.
- Diploma or degree in hospitality management, culinary arts, or a related field is a plus; a strong operational track record can substitute for formal qualification.
- Ambition to grow with the business — this role is designed to expand as Unity Homes’ food & beverage footprint grows.
How to apply:
The application deadline is 19 October 2026. Click the button below to apply.
Values we live by
1
Act With Integrity
Represent the organisation in an honest, ethical and professional way and encourage others to do so.
2
Deliver Results
Take the initiative to innovate and seek and apply specialist advice when required.
3
Constantly Improving
Support a culture of quality service in the organisation, demonstrate a thorough knowledge of procurement procedures, and identify and respond quickly to operations needs.