Restaurant Operating Partner - Knoxville TN

Job Description

Restaurant Operating Partner – New Restaurant

Knoxville, TN

Are you ready to take charge and make your mark in the hospitality industry? We’re searching for a dynamic Operating Partner to lead the way in launching an exciting new full-service restaurant with a full bar in Knoxville, TN.

This isn’t just a job—it’s a unique opportunity to become an owner and invest in your future. With a stake in your restaurant’s success, you’ll grow personally, professionally, and financially. Imagine turning your hard work and leadership into equity and long-term financial returns.

If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and the drive to lead a groundbreaking concept from the ground up, this is your chance to shine.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead the new restaurant launch, managing vendor procurement, staffing, training, and ensuring flawless execution.

Collaborate with ownership to establish strategic goals, budget forecasts, and growth initiatives.

Build and inspire a high-performing team focused on delivering exceptional guest experiences.

Oversee daily operations, ensuring excellence in both front-of-house and back-of-house workflows.

Drive financial performance, including profit forecasting, cost controls, and increasing revenue.

Establish a culture of passion, teamwork, and accountability.

Qualifications:

5+ years of proven success as a General Manager, Owner/Operator, or Managing Partner in the full-service dining segment. High-volume, fast-casual scratch kitchen experience may also be considered.

A strong entrepreneurial mindset with the skills and motivation to oversee new business operations.

Exceptional financial acumen and a deep understanding of the numbers driving restaurant profitability.

A history of stability and success within the restaurant industry.

Proven ability to lead and inspire diverse teams in fast-paced environments.

Natural leadership skills; humble, articulate, intelligent, and professional.

Compensation and Incentives:Competitive base salary of $65,000–$75,000, based on experience.

Real equity opportunities extended after 12 months of success—you’ll share in the business you help to build.

Long-term career growth alongside the company.

Single-member insurance coverage as part of your benefits package.

Why Join Us?

Our goal for every Operating Partner is ambitious yet achievable—surpass $250,000 annually in income and returns within 5–7 years. You’ll have the opportunity to lead, build, and grow a concept while directly benefiting from your efforts and contributions. This is your chance to turn your vision into reality and build lasting success in an environment that values intelligence, humility, and professionalism.

Join the Team

We’re seeking high-caliber leaders who are ready to roll up their sleeves and create something extraordinary. If this sounds like you, take the first step toward building a partnership with us.

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Company Description

Since 2000, Gecko Hospitality and its dedicated Franchise Partners and Recruiters throughout the United States have been pioneers in the hospitality recruiting industry. The value that Gecko Hospitality provides to its Clientele is evident in the advanced networking and technology skills our professional recruiters possess in identifying qualified restaurant professionals.

Our national network consists of 37 regional offices that are driven to meet the needs of the hospitality industry. In addition, Gecko Hospitality offers the largest selection of hospitality jobs, restaurant jobs, hotel jobs, resort jobs and club management jobs online. Our specialized, hospitality-focused team covers all 50 states and Canada with over 80 Franchise Partners and recruiters. Gecko Hospitality was founded on providing the finest restaurant jobs nationwide to the highest performing candidates. More importantly, our Franchise Partners and recruiters began their careers in hospitality and there is no finer training ground for recruiting than real life experience.

At Gecko Hospitality, we are passionate about making sure that every member of our recruiting team is familiar with our philosophies. In the same way that we learn about people when developing relationships and friendships, we want our people to have a sense of Gecko Hospitality's values and insight into our company's "personality." With this insight comes a greater understanding of how values "fit" with Gecko Hospitality's values, why we do things the way we do as well as providing a basis for making decisions that are appropriate to those values. We all play a part in keeping these traditions and philosophies alive.

We want every member of our recruiting team to understand that we are only as good as how well we follow these philosophies on an every day basis. Gecko Hospitality is all about achieving results by being motivated. This motivation to achieve results comes from within. No one can motivate us, nor can we motivate anyone else. As leaders, all that we can do is provide an environment where people motivate themselves to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Along with this philosophy, each team member possesses the following traits for which we are proud: honesty, integrity, desire, determination, listening skills, rapid learning, responding in a timely manner, effective communication skills, thoroughness, empathy, compassion, and most of all we want every team member to have a strong work ethic that motivates them to produce superior results both for our candidates and for our Clients.

At Gecko Hospitality, you certainly have... more choices

Full-time