General Manager - Eagle & Child Pub

Join us at EIT:

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we’re on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you’ll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at www.eit.org.

Your Role:

As part of our growing hospitality offering, we are seeking an exceptional General Manager to lead operations at The Eagle & Child, a flagship pub, café, restaurant and bar operation set to open July 2027. This is a unique opportunity to combine outstanding hospitality leadership with the high standards and ambition that define EIT.

As General Manager, you will take overall responsibility for the successful operation of The Eagle & Child, leading all aspects of service delivery, team performance, financial management and guest experience. Working closely with the Executive Chef, Executive Director and EIT senior leadership team, you will drive operational excellence while creating a welcoming and memorable destination for guests. You will be a visible leader, balancing a strong presence on the floor with effective oversight of business operations, people and performance.

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead the day-to-day operation of The Eagle & Child across all food and beverage departments.
• Deliver exceptional guest experiences and consistently exceed customer expectations.
• Manage, motivate and develop a high-performing team, fostering a culture of pride, accountability and service excellence.
• Take ownership of financial performance, including budgets, forecasting, stock control, labour management and profitability.
• Identify opportunities to maximise revenue while controlling costs and maintaining quality.
• Work collaboratively with the Executive Chef to shape and evolve food and beverage offerings.
• Ensure all food, drink and service standards are delivered consistently to the highest level.
• Oversee recruitment, induction, training, performance management and employee development.
• Manage employee relations matters, including disciplinary and grievance processes, in line with company policies.
• Maintain a safe, compliant and productive working environment, ensuring adherence to health and safety and food hygiene regulations.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and represent The Eagle & Child in promotional, PR and community engagement activities.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation and operational excellence across the business.

Requirements

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• Significant management experience within a premium hospitality, destination pub, or high-end food and beverage operation.
• Commitment to delivering exceptional hospitality, developing people and creating outstanding guest experiences.
• Experience working closely with chefs and culinary teams to develop food and beverage offerings.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate and develop high-performing teams.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing budgets, labour costs, stock control and financial performance.
• Experience delivering exceptional guest experiences and maintaining high service standards.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to balance strategic thinking and hands-on operational management.
• Experience recruiting, coaching, training and developing employees.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and team engagement skills.
• Strong organisational, planning and problem-solving abilities.
• Sound knowledge of food and beverage operations and service standards.
• Knowledge of health and safety, food safety and compliance requirements within a hospitality environment.
• Ability to work collaboratively across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Flexible, adaptable and committed to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Desirable Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• Experience leading promotional, PR, community engagement or brand-building activities.
• Experience using EPOS, stock management and forecasting systems.
• Track record of driving revenue growth, improving profitability and identifying commercial opportunities.

Benefits

We offer the following benefits:

• Salary – Up to £70,000 (dependent on experience) plus travel allowance & bonus
• Enhanced holiday. Our annual leave allowance is 25 days plus 8 bank holidays and an additional 3 days between Christmas and New Year. You will also have the opportunity to purchase an additional 5 days annual leave in January and July.
• Pension - Employer contribution 7.5%, minimum employee contribution 5%
• Life Assurance.
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance as standard for you, your partner and any dependents. Including hospital Cash Plan
• Employee discounts
• Electric car scheme
• Nursery Salary Sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Family Planning
• Neurodiversity support including advise and assessments
• Coaching & Therapy services

Working Together – What It Involves:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).